Making a Sideyard Garden and Sitting Area

The delightful bluebells in the header at Bluebell Woods reminded me of garden planning. That in turn reminded me of my 'side garden' which started as a labour of love, to take approximately 10 x 20 feet of space and make it work as a path/sitting area/garden/access to the meter etc. I started to do the work myself but the darn cement patio pavers were beyond my strength. Blessed be my next door neighbour. Strong, good at planning, tenacious, strong (did I mention strong). 

The first picture was taken after we had done our best to clean the area up (it used to have a shed against the house - boy what that ever a tough job to take apart and move the construction materials, let alone the contents. We had built that shed about 28 years prior to the start of 'making' this garden area and it became our 'storage area' for lumber, cement blocks, anything we wanted to put out of sight. This area started to be cleaned up in 2007 and the final picture in this post is from 2009. The tar paper path was from the 'building the backyard big sheds' time (another huge undertaking).

So much soil had to be moved to the back corner of the backyard from this area. Then as you can see black garden cloth, navy jack, then sand was spread before the brick pavers were positioned.

When that job was finished larger sized gravel was added (as well as black garden cloth to control the weeds along the borders. I hauled in bricks for edgers as well as 2x4's. We brought in topsoil and I planted bulbs and perennials. Weeds grew very well in this area too, especially buttercups.

I loved this garden area when it was finished. It doesn't look quite as tidy today (take a look at the earlier 'yard walk' post) and I know I will need to be out cleaning out the weeds and dead undergrowth in the flower bed and the weeds that came up between and beside the walkway, but it has made a very convenient area for moving between the front and back yards, a place to sit (hide out) on a hot day (shady side of house). It makes me happy.

Thanks for visiting.

Linking up with:

One More Time February 17, 2014

The View From Right Here

  Funky Junk Interiors:SNS Link Party # 122
 A Southern Daydreamer: Outdoor Wednesday # 162
A Delightsome Life: Home and Garden Thursday
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From My Front Porch To Yours
The Vintage Farmhouse
The Savvy City Farmer
Somewhat Simple
The Brambleberry Cottage
Stuff and Nonsense Blog Hop
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Mary Alice of  Chateau Chic

Bunny Jeans Decor

Kelli of Adventurez in Child'Rearing'

Janice of Bluebell Woods