It turns out our hedges…
…..are trees.
![005](https://nessjustinblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/005.jpg?w=300&h=224)
Justin looked them up and it turns out they aren’t bushes/hedges, they are suppose to be trees. The people who lived here before us let them get overgrown. Justin trimmed them back and freed up the bottom branches, it makes the yard feel a little bit bigger. Yay! We can use all the room we can get.
Since installing the screen we are unable to mow the lawn right up next to the the patio. We also cannot use the weed wacker because it would hit the screen as well. Our solution is to take the sod out next to the patio…
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Charlie really wanted to keep the dirt patch.
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We decided it would be best to make it a garden. It solves all our mowing issues. So off we went to Lowe’s for gardening supplies.
We picked up plants for the garden..
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We got two different dog friendly plants. We really had to search for something that would be safe if the dogs were to eat it. Zack is part cow, so we plan on him taking a taste at some point. The first plant we went with is a…
![029](https://nessjustinblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/029.jpg?w=300&h=224)
Yup, you guessed it a Sanchezia. I really love this plant, dog safe and my two fav colors(green and yellow). Next up we got…
![031](https://nessjustinblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/031.jpg?w=300&h=224)
A shrimp plant pachystachys of course. This one is dog friendly and went well with our leafy sanchezia friend. We also picked up a baby magnolia tree to add to the empty side of the yard.
![033](https://nessjustinblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/033.jpg?w=226&h=300)
And lastly we got 20 bags of red mulch.
![036](https://nessjustinblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/036.jpg?w=225&h=300)
From there I dug up and edged around the newly discovered trees in our backyard.
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Once I was happy with the edging, I started dumping in the mulch.
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with all the mulch in…
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While I was mulching Justin was laying the garden fabric for the plants near the patio.
![042](https://nessjustinblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/042.jpg?w=225&h=300)
I then set the plants on top in the spots that I thought they should go.
![044](https://nessjustinblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/044.jpg?w=225&h=300)
I tried my best to get them as even as possible, I wanted to get the tape measure out and make sure they were all the same distance apart. Justin said I was nuts and they looked good where they were.
![045](https://nessjustinblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/045.jpg?w=300&h=224)
From there we made slits in the fabric and dug into the soil to plant the sanchezia and pachystachys.
![049](https://nessjustinblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/049.jpg?w=300&h=224)
Boom they’re in! Time to add mulch!
![063](https://nessjustinblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/063.jpg?w=226&h=300)
We continued the garden fabric and mulch around the corner where we will eventually add a plant of some kind in the corner(possibly a small palm).
![065](https://nessjustinblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/0651.jpg?w=225&h=300)
Then Justin dug a pretty decent hole and planted the magnolia tree.
![071](https://nessjustinblog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/071.jpg?w=225&h=300)
And we were finished…
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Feels like a whole new backyard!