Zillow.com & Landscape Design Phase 1, 2, 2.1

I've decided to combine two blog entries since they go hand in hand. Sortof.

First, We visited Zillow.com recently to see what the same house around the corner sold for, and made a suprising discovery once there. When we wanted to view the satellite picture, Chris called me over to show me how clear and upgraded the pictures are now. I was stunned. They show everything! I think the picture of our house was taken in Winter 2006, as we don't have children's playtoys in our backyard, nor is there a tree in my neighbors yard anymore!

Anyhoo, here is the satellite picture of our humble abode.

The real reason this is so cool for me is that I get to peek into other folks' yards! It's amazing to see how many pools there are in this 10 year old neighborhood. HELOCs at work, I'm sure.

Now you can get an idea of how much stupid grass we really have. WAYYY TOO MUCH!

So Chris and I were doing something mundane the other day (can't remember what, but I'm sure it was rather domestic) when he mentioned that it would be cool to push out the South fence to make more room in our side yard for raised beds. We had once briefly chatted about it, but the idea was quickly lost upon us.

Now that the side yard is more usable, we find that we use our backyard every opportunity we get. I think I live in the backyard as much as I'm in the house when I'm awake. It would make sense to me to increase the space we have available for such outdoor pursuits.

We've always wondered why all of the other houses that have fences without a neighbor and face a street are 3'-5' setback, while ours is 10-12' setback off the court to our South. We've concluded that a retaining wall would have cost the original owners more to put in and make the yard larger, which at the time they likely couldn't afford. Now I won't hate on 'em for that reason, but it sure would have made the house sell faster, I'm sure!

Anyhoo, on to our projects.

Phase 1: Move 1/2 of California Sycamore trees to the front, if possible and feasible. I have a hard time giving up on a 10 year old fast-growing tree and starting anew. Build retaining wall with those suburban stacked stones you see everywhere (hey, they're the cheapest!). Fill in with dirt, and push fence out to within 3-5' of sidewalk. Phase 1 complete.

Phase 2: Rip out all front yard grass and irrigation system. Redo irrigation including mains, valves, pipes, and layout to accomodate lush, water-wise, native California garden in front. Throw in a few boulders and stone stairs for luck. Install computerized irrigation system that gets weather feeds and that I can also control from my home computer (<--- This is what I am looking forward to the most. Such a nerd I am.)

Phase 2.1: Redo back irrigation and some landscaping (change grass type). This is still in infacy stages of thought, really.

So there it is, our 2 year garden plan. I can't wait! (And neither can my neighbors who are watching the grass on the south side of the house die! Bwwaaahaaahaaahaa! Eat dirt!)