Vintage Life: Good Fences...

We've knocked out quite a few big projects during our 1920s bungalow renovation.  At the same time, we've also been trying to get the yard under control.  I'll post a few photos to remind you how much the yard resembled a jungle.  The next-door-neighbor swears absolutely no yard work was done for about 10 years.

Although you might not notice it, that is poison ivy underneath the handicap ramp and completely covering the back yard.

Greg and I estimate we hauled about 9,000 pounds (4.5 tons) of leaves and vines, in addition to all of the limbs, from the back yard to the front yard.  We actually got in a fight with the City of Newberry about how much landscaping debris is allowed to be picked up from a residence.  We argued that since the former owner did not put out any debris for years, we had a credit coming to us, and besides, didn't the City *want* us to clean up this property?  In the end, our neighbors on either side allowed us to divide the piles into thirds, and then the City had to pick it all up.  #Winning.

Yes, you may have noticed that we also put up a privacy fence along the left property line that joined to an existing privacy fence along the back.  There is currently a chain link fence along the right property line that we plan to replace in the future.  We also planted small arborvitae evergreen trees along the sides of the backyard, which should grow 15+ feet tall.

This shot was obviously taken before we put up the new exterior siding.  I wanted to show you how it looked after we cleaned up the front yard, but before we started landscaping - in the next blog.