The Back Yard

Welcome to Texas...and our (ha!) lovely Garden!! You know, gardening in our little corner of Texas takes a special touch, and a special kind of gardener. You have to be willing to watch your beloved plants bite the dust every August...you have to get a feel for growing veggies in the fall, for starting seeds in December and you have to develop a taste for wild landscapes that include natural yucca, bluebonnets, and prickly pears. Despite the challenges, I love trying to grow things here. At the moment, everything is burnt to a crisp, thanks to an EXTREMELY wicked summer, no rain and the water police breathing down our necks every time we went outside and turned on the water. But, There's always next year!

Would you like to take a peek at the Garden?? Well, I've nothing to show at the moment, except pictures of last year's big project - building a retaining wall, filling the yard and building a deck. We were very, very busy!! Well, at least my husband was. I supervised.

First, the Before Pictures - we built the retaining wall in January. It's 200 feet long, and wraps around the side of the house. It's 8 feet tall at the highest point. Yes, we did it all ourselves. I designed the wall, including the footer, the drains and the tie-back system. Tony built it, with occasional help from friends, neighbors and our children. THAT was a hoot...you should have seen him trying to get the girls to hold the plumb bob steady!!

The first photo below shows the retaining wall from the yard side, partially filled. The second photo shows the whole thing after it was completely filled in. We hired someone to haul in and spread the 5 tons of dirt. Yes, you read that right - 5 tons, about 50 cubic yards. That was waaaaaay too much to try to move ourselves with shovels and a wheelbarrow.

Here's what it looks like looking up at the house from the lower 40.

After!! View from the west side of the house. That's a renegade cantalope you see growing in the bed on the right.

The deck...I wanted to see the view down over our tiny, little branch of the Historic Brazos River, so Hubby built a deck for us. It extends out over the edge of the retaining wall. Future plans inlclude building a lower level and stairs down from the back edge.

Now, I know these pictures look nice and green....they were taken last year in July, back when it used to rain every now and then.

Any fellow Texans visiting this page?? Drop me a note, and we'll share stories:

....Links to sites with information JUST for Texas Gardeners!!

	The Front Porch
The Living Room	The Family Room	The Kitchen
The Home Office	The Sun Room	The Back Yard

This site created and maintained by Supermom Angela Pereira!! Honoring the 11th Commandment