Though it is May already, spring has finally come to Northern Minnesota. We still have a couple snow banks in the front yard that have some tree cover, but for the most part the look of spring is around. Grass is greening up and the trees and plants are starting to bud. With this time comes all the yard work that you look around and see. From cleaning up all the branches that fell over the winter to getting the lawn breathing again from all the dead grass that may be choking it. Cleaning out the flower beds and shrubs and getting plants picked out for this year. All of this can be a challenge, but if you have a small local greenhouse, they will usually work with you to help you pick out plants and flowers that will make your landscape shine. My mom always told me one big project a year. If you look around, you can see 100 projects that could be done and if you think about all of them, it will overwhelm you. So my wife and I have been trying that theory and slowly it is coming to fruition. Tough part is picking which project to tackle first. The following are the projects we are considering on trying to get accomplished.
1- Lawn
I like a nice lawn but having a nice lawn is a lot of work. From aerating, dethatching, bagging all the dead grass, overseeding, watering, and the like, it gets to be a lot of work and time. The biggest issue for us is the trees in our yard. My wife would like to eliminate some of the trees close to the house to make the yard bigger and I would like to keep them to keep privacy. There is plenty of trees but we had 45 or so go down in a storm the other year so the yard is looking a lot more sparse. I think I know which way the decision of the trees will fall so I better get my chainsaw ready for action. We have a 2 acre lawn so that is a boat load of raking, seed, and water that needs to be done. Maybe I will have to try it a section at a time.
2- Pool
Lucky us, we just got a free pool from a cousin of my wife. We had talked about buying a small cheaper one to see if we would like it and this one dropped into our lap. 16 ft round and 4 feet deep. I am a little apprehensive because I get a little nervous with the liability that comes with having a pool. Kids having friends over and the like. A free pool might cost me a bit of money to get a fence and a deck with a gate on it to make it feel safer. I know the pool will go up but how extensive we get with fencing and decking remains to be determined.
3- Orchard and Fruit
I currently have two different locations where I have fruit plants. I have strawberries in the front and raspberries in the back. My wife would like them near each other and out of the way so they are not a focal point in our lawn. Problem comes with the 6-8 deer that roam through our yard. The more remote location, the likelier they are to gourge themselves on my berries and plants. Course if my cat would do a better job at keeping them away, I wouldn’t have to worry. I guess I will need to fence that area in as well. I would also like to learn how to graft apple trees and have a small apple orchard. I need to do some research on that before getting to carried away.
4- Patio
We would someday love an outdoor space that is nice for having back yard bbqs and the like. Right now we have a deck and some dead grass with an old picnic table. We wouldn’t mind a brick patio with a fire place in the middle with maybe a pergola or something of that nature. But sure would be nice if it is screened in as the skeeters get pretty vicious from the end of June through August. We have a gazebo with a sauna inside that I need to finish screening and trimming out so if I can get that done, we will more then likely just do an open air type oasis for our back yard retreat.
So as you can see, lots of ideas that could cost lots of money if we had it. So will probably do the budget conscious thing and put the pool up and fill it and call it good, mow the sparse lawn, move my berry plants, and cut down a few trees with the idea that I will get to the rest some year when I have time. I will wait to find out what project we are going to do from my wife. When I know, then I will pass it along in a post down the line. Maybe take some before and after pictures like I always think about after its done.
Till next time, happy spring!
