My story begins in 2004. I was really dreaming of owning my first home in Kentucky. I was busy in my rookie year of real estate.
Since I was a first time homebuyer, I knew I wasn't really experienced with owning land. I had been a renter all my life or at least since I was 18. Sure, I had a small garden or two. Maybe had a deck with some container plants as I paid my rent. That was NOTHING till I had a BIG yard with a creek and a new construction landscape.
This property I bought was weed-city, USA. No good grass, no trees, or plants and clay dirt.
I was the second owner. The first ones lived in the house like bears with furniture for 10 months. Outside, they had never put in the first plant or pulled their first weed.
In the first picture this is how it looked AFTER I pulled out by hand all the 6 foot tall weeds that covered the whole area above and below the creek. Let me tell you, I met a few snakes that got whacked along the way.
I made a goal for myself to pull out 3 trash bags full of weeds each day till I had worked my way across the top of the creek. After I pulled them out...the first year was spent spraying for the new weeds that tried to sneak in. Then I had to deal with errosion. So I terraced it with treated lumber and rebar stakes. The guard rail was added in the 2nd year.
The first few years have been a bit of trial and error. With seed and flower donations from friends, it's now into the fourth year and finally I love the look of it. I'm here to tell you that one person CAN make a difference. Sure it looked overwhelming but I worked on it each day a bite at a time. Now I love seeing it each day. People that walk along the sidewalk are stopping to enjoy all the colorful wildflowers, poppies and Irises.
I took these pictures this morning to document my progress. I think my favorites are the poppies. Everything that is blooming, came up this year without me planting anything. That was thrilling to see what would bloom!
Sometimes when I am out there digging around and pulling weeds in my tall rubber boots(now that IS a funny picture)I think it is a stress reducer. I can concentrate on the task instead of business. I need that every now and then.
The creek in my backyard is a piece of heaven in the city. The sound of it always relaxes me.
I'm encouraging you to not let your landscape overwhelm you. Take a section at a time and work on it.
I feel that the yard and house are an extention of who I am. My personality. Or maybe it is the attention to detail I want it to represent. It hasn't cost a lot of money...just a bit of my time.
It might take a few years for your effort to blossom in a new construction yard. Just have patience.
Isn't that supposed to be a virtue? Good luck and have fun!
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Lizette Fitzpatrick - Baby Boomer Real Estate Relocation Specialist with Prudential Don Foster in Richmond, Kentucky.
Rated number #1 featured Kentucky Realtor® on Activerain.com and Localism.com. Publisher/Author for the only Central Kentucky email newsletter on local real estate listings and sold properties, Kentucky relocation, local events, homeowner information and fun! For more information on Lizette, Kentucky Horse Farms, Prudential Don Foster, Madison County, Fayette County, Richmond or Lexington, Kentucky click on Lizette.us.
See for yourself what Lizette's extraordinary clients have to say about their Kentucky real estate experience.
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