The sod went in, the rains came, perfect timing

The pots on the steps are there to keep the dogs off the grass at first, but as it turns out, it's totally ok to walk on it, and they love it. Lots of stuff waiting to be put in place, it is all coming together.

Ta-Da! The sod has arrived!

Ready for sod...

All that clearing this summer, now the ground is almost ready for sod. One pallet this week, and one next week.

The Great Blackberry Eradication Project is almost over.

- Those pots barricading the deck from the planting area are some of the Rescue Roses. Trying to encourage the dogs to take alternate routes so it won't be so hard on the sod once it is in.

Here's a photoshopped simulation of how it will look:

A-a-a-a-nd, here's the real thing, in progress:

The high price of neglect

It's another year of backbreaking clearing. Digging out the blackberries, weed eating 3' high grass, truckloads of green waste/dump runs. It's devastating. IT's overwhelming. I let it go, and it got more than away from me. It's rendered the back yard unusable.

Last summer we cleared the side yard, and it is still intact. Replanted and flourishing, hydrangeas and roses blooming, hollyhocks standing tall, Sweet Woodruff filling in. It's encouraging. And going to be even more beautiful.

This time, I hope to accomplish the same in the back, get it back to the well-on-its-way-to-garden-tour-material status. I have the benefit of mature plantings now, in the form of trees and some rhodies. Most everything else isn't there anymore, blackberries choked out every living thing. As we're clearing, daylilies are popping up and starting to sprout greenery again. A rose bloomed as if to say THANK YOU. Some things are being pruned back almost to death, and if they survive, good, if they don't they will just be replaced. It's not fun.

But there's hope.

Putting up the Costco Patio Lights

They're beautiful, they're heavy-duty old-fashioned looking lights at a super price from Costco. They look best when they're kind of randomly strung. I was going to hang them along the eaves, like you do Christmas lights, but it just doesn't have that same effect. But our deck has no pillars, there's nothing to string them TO. The trees aren't yet big enough/strong enough for the pull that would be exerted.

◼ Feit 48 ft Outdoor String Lights FROM COSTCO. (And there are colored replacement bulbs, for Christmas)

Reading up on how to string them, best advice is, run a guy wire, then clip them to the wire, which will bear the weight and put less stress on the electrical wires. Several bloggers have shown different ways they've created the necessary posts - some by embedding them in concrete in planters, allowing space for plantings as well. These have the benefit of being portable. These guys ◼ DIY Outdoor Lights installed electrical conduit as poles, embedding sleeves in the ground, and so they are also removable. ◼ THE BEST OUTDOOR LIGHTS

Like everything else, the idea of 'putting up lights' is easy. The actuality is a little more complicated. Where's the plug in? Do you need an extension cord? Where are you going to anchor it? House? Poles? Trees?

Let's say you are anchoring it to the facia, can you loop it back, to create a fan effect? But that puts extra pull on the anchor... so you may need bolts that go all the way through.

Still figuring it out, because my layout is not conducive to the kind of look I am after.

Meanwhile, the solar lights look great.

Solar pathway lights, some from Harbor Freight and some from Costco are installed on the white house trim boards, and on fenceposts. The ones on the greenhouse (from Harbor Freight) have been there for 5 years and still light up every night. The newer ones I just got at Costco, and I hope they last as long. I put them about 11.5" down the trim board, and at night the white trim lights up. It's a great look.

I also have some solar fencepost caps from Target (Smith&Hawken) - they've been going for a few years, too. Should have bought more.

The dollar store mini outdoor lights lasted for a year plus a little, but aren't lighting up anymore. They served their purpose, but they've been replaced by a nice big set from Costco that look fantastic at night, like a hotel/resort. Right now they're just tucked around, gradually being moved into place as each area is restored.

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This year's additions

A passel of terra-cotta pots, some Balinese wind chimes and smaller statuary picked up at an estate sale. A couple of fig trees (small) and a dwarf variety, in pots right now, to go in the ground later. Lots of annuals for color, some more white hydrangeas to go in the ground later, a peony. Gotta plant my deep purple lilac, too, it really was the perfect dark purple.