The next step in landscaping our yard was removing the four large stumps from what would soon become the garden. We had two maple stumps and two poplar stumps. So we rented a stump grinder (to the tune of $160) and went to work. And boy, oh boy, was it ever work! The stump grinder worked great, but it sure took a lot of muscle, a lot of time, and a lot of dirt in the face.If you’ve never used one before – imagine it as a cross between a chainsaw and a rototiller.

My brother-in-law was kind enough to help and so we were able to take turns running the machine. All said and done it took an average of a little over one hour per stump. Oh, and of course, the handle on the pull cord broke off, so we had to…. [things that our rental agreement said not to do...], but my neighbor is a small engine mechanic so he saved the day and another $160 for us!

Now with the stumps gone, four holes in the ground, and a whole pile of mulch – it’s time to move some dirt around. Who knows – I may just get a late garden in after all!

Last summer I bought a new house – as I’ve eluded to in some of my recent comments (and as evidenced my my lack of new posts since last August). The house had just been moved in and placed on a new basement, so there had been no landscaping done after the excavation and most of the back yard was still in it’s undisturbed state (as it had been for the past… 50 – 100 years?) There were a few rotting trees that were eager to fall on the power lines, so we decided it best to remove them even though it left us with a pretty bare yard.

We wanted to live in the house for a while before we made landscaping plans so we would know what exactly we wanted, so we didn’t do much in the way of landscaping last fall, except for removing the previously mentioned trees. Of course, with no garden I really didn’t have much to write about, so that’s why I’ve been a little absent (though I’ve enjoyed replying to your comments on my other articles).

But here’s the good news… I’m back! Over the winter I drew up a concept plan for our yard (seen a little further on in this article) and we are now working to making it all happen. Hopefully, as I keep you updated on my progress, you’ll see some dramatic changes. So to fully appreciate the before and after, here are a couple of before pictures:

This is in April, scraping back the black dirt… (Looking out from my back steps)

Then this is earlier today… (looking towards the house from the back alley)

So it’s a pretty empty slate, but with lots of possibilities. Here’s what I plan to do with it:

I’m going to be a bit late planting in the garden this year, but that & the greenhouse are my #1 priority. (Hey, you might get another tutorial on how to build a greenhouse.) But that’s for another day!