Romaine's Big Project!

Hello dear listeners,

For months you had to endure listening to me talk about my HUGE yard project and at long last I am posting some pictures from the project. I hope you enjoy seeing a bit of my handy work. 

-Romaine

So silly me I forgot to take a pic of what the yard looked like before we started this project so I will just tell you the area where this project is placed was once grown over with brush and vines weeds. It took a full two weeks just to chop it all down. 

  

This is what part of the area looked like just after I put in the retaining wall. 

This was the first delivery. It was 8 cubic yards of mulch. 8 more arrive about 30 mins later!

This was the deep end of the retaining wall. The ground was slanted down toward the house and it caused flooding in our basement. The goal here was to level off the ground and put in a drain so the water wouldn't drain towards the house. 

Iris started spreading out some of the mulch in the early stages to help keep the weed stop stuff in place. 

Behind this pile of top soil is the frame for the garden. It is about 8" deep and already filled with the topsoil so the pile of dirt you are looking at is about half the size of what it started out as. This pile now has to be moved over to the deep end of the retaining wall to level off the ground. We walked it about 50ft one wheel barrow at a time. Oh and later we got a send 9 cubic yards of dirt delivered in the same place. 

Wet topsoil turns to mud. Of course it rained many times so we had to keep the pile covered. 

After about 75 loads in the wheel barrow this is what the ground is starting to look like. The dark soil was from the first batch of dirt. The lighter soil is from the second batch. Note the tamper that we used to pack down the soil. Next time I will rent a powered one. That shit was a pain. 

While Iris moved some dirt I built the garden. It is fully enclosed to keep the many critters out. Plus it had to be sturdy in the event the bear decided it wanted to try to climb it. 

Romie was very helpful. She liked moving the mulch. Here she is pictured on one of the two piles we had delivered. 

Under that weed stop is the wiring for the lighting that will be installed later. 

The ground in the deep end finally was leveled after we moved approx. 3 feet deep worth of dirt. In this picture you will see the next stage--Gravel. We then had to move enough gravel to cover a 10'x 20' area with 4"! (ADD Jeff was on hand for this task and did almost all of it himself) This shit was fucking heavy I might add. 

The gravel just need to be tamped and leveled at this stage...then it was time for the sand!

After the sand was leveled it was time for the paver stones. I moved them from all the way across the yard and Iris put them in place.

Iris finished the pavers and as you can see I have been busy during these last few stages putting up the hand railing around the patio area. In this pic you can see the little lights that I installed on the railing posts. 

The last of the mulch was spread out by Iris. I was busy putting in a stair case. 

Another view. 

Finishing touches on the pavers including additional lighting so people don't fall off the front edge of the wall. 

The garden was planted will all kinds of yummy food. Uncle john helped with this task along with Romie. 

Romie's picnic table was added along with a table and chairs for us. Plus, you can see Iris has a fire pit as well. On the right hand side there is the stair case that leads to the house. 

Romie's finished swing set. I put this together with a little help from Jeff and Iris. But mostly all me and in 3 days. Under the swing set is Romie's sand box. 

Another view. 

Romie and her cousin enjoying the new play area. 

So that's it kids. I hope you enjoyed this step by step view of my project. Overall, there were a few things I would have done differently but over all I am very happy with the way this project turned out.