Here are pictures of a project before we began……or AS we began. Notice the orange paint which gives us an idea of where the next developments will ideally proceed to. We walk the site with the homeowner and use these marks as the ideational underpinnings of the deal. Here, the paint is shown indicating where the bed lines will be – at the forefront –

(click any pictures to enlarge)

…….And at the rear. In the picture below, we see the general outline of where we’ll be putting pavers. The goal is to increase the size of the walkway, for one thing. The 3 foot wide little approach to the stairs was not fun for bringing in furniture, lol, nor was it particularly attractive. We’ll see how successful we were when it gets all done. The other dire need was a for an updated irrigation system that actually worked. It would necessitate some drastic and total measures, just tailor-made for El Destructo and his Minions of Aesthetic Pain! (That’s us, by the way.)

These next pictures are my personal favorites! Imagine seeing the above pictures and then coming home that night to this!

“Steve- we changed our minds! Can you put it back like it was???””

Or this??? Looking better already!!! 😉

I was in Beirut once……………….ouch.

And, yet, we rallied! Yes, we needed to destroy it in order to save it, but we are – the very same week – showing signs of actually knowing what we re doing! This is not a small thing! To say this was a relief to the clients would be an incredible understatement. Fortunately, they had no choice but to believe what we told them. So we had that going for us.

So, after taking away those humongous piles of old sod, tree roots, defunct piping and the amazingly homely pile of junk which now constituted their front yard, we began actually accomplishing some order out of the Chaos.

First, we laid in the new pipes and redid the entire irrigation system. Burying that up meant we could pour our curb edging next, following lines we tried to remember! So we come up with something like this:

We begin laying pavers at the very remotest spot, back where it all “ends”, and work our way forward. Kenny is shown here addressing this issue on his knees and looking buried. But Kenny secretly enjoys it. Meanwhile, Cory goes for the cutting Kenny presents him with, having drawn lines in crayon and which he expects Cory to implement perfectly. Sadly, Kenny beat poor Cory to a pulp over his inability to get it right. But then Cory got revenge by over-feeding Kenny’s dog, but that’s another story.

Working his way out front, Kenny looks for shade! By the way, you can also see the flexible Funny Pipes for the relocated irrigation sticking up. Later, we will cap them with the heads and nozzles in the appropriate spots. Here’s the effervescent Cory at his station, worrying whether or not Kenny will kill him over this cutting business. Or did I say that already?

Hey, it’s taking shape! Having finished the project – as yet unmentioned – on the other side of the wide driveway…..shown here:

Which resulted in this:

They were somewhat happier now, on the Client end of things. So, back to Kenny seeking the always-elusive shade in Reno, Nevada. At least he is handsome, anyway. Things are definitely taking shape.

Ken buttoned up this bit of the paving, we adjusted and oriented the irrigation appropriately and pretty much wrapped this up in a day or two following the above picture. Laying the sod was always going to be quick – there are not a lot of easier chores in landscaping. We did add better soil and planted with some plants in the bed out front, giving us pretty much this finished product. What do you think? More curb appeal?

Here it is:

Later……..Kenny’s dog gained 15 pounds. Cory had to leave town.