Why yes, our backyard did consist of dirt, exposed tree roots, failed drainage tubing, and weeds. Just perfect for a toddler, right?
I swear, it was like walking into an abandoned lot every time you dared to step off of our deck. Which we didn't dare to do very often, let me tell you.
Then we did this:
And by this, I mean we had four trees taken down, including a massive oak tree that I would have loved to have kept, but it was growing over the house, and every time the wind blew at all, I freaked out with thoughts that the stupid tree was going to land on my house. So, yes, it had to go, along with a willow tree whose roots were taking over the water supply, a dead dogwood, and a stupid tree in the front yard that shed leaves 365 days a year. That was a nice little step in the right direction.
Then last Monday, the extensive yard work started. Our whole yard was dug up, everything was leveled out, new drainage was installed, some sod was laid, etc, etc, etc.
Everything was looking so much better...until the monsoon hit on Tuesday night. At which point, we were left with this:
Obviously, we were a little off on where we thought the water was coming from, and we did absolutely nothing to stop the river running through our yard...so, that's nice. And really, really muddy, too.
Luckily, this all hit when we were in the middle of the work, and not after we had finished all of the work, so we're doing a little bit of a mid-project redesign. We're adding a much, much larger drainage area, as well as some additional sod to the upper level of the yard (which was going to be all pine straw originally). So, yeah. We'll get there. At some point.
I hope.
