Backyard Preview

We've just started redoing the backyard and there's still plenty left to do.  I planned to wait and do one big blog post with photos of the entire yard when it's done, but I was so excited with the garage side garden that I had to post some photos now.

BEFORE

AFTER

With chicken.

The "Before" photos don't really do justice to how much had to be cleaned up and torn out.  Before it was a tangle of overgrown roses, weeds, grasshopper nests, shards of brick and stone, broken terracotta pots, sagging trellises, and the occasional sharp metal rod jutting out of the ground at toddler height. 

Now it's a neat arrangement of bougainvillea, with buried soaker hoses for irrigation and a thick layer of mulch on top.  Bougainvillea grows riotously in Southern California so it shouldn't be too long before these plants cover the entire two-story garage wall.

Not bad for just $40 and one day's work!