This post is meant to be my contribution to the landscaping thread but I’m putting it here because I didn’t want to take up too much space if no one was interested in an old project.
This is the house in NH that we moved out of a few years back (I see that the photo links aren’t working in the original post). But because I’m busy with other projects, the landscaping for our new house in CO will have to wait. The first 3 photos show the house not long after we moved in. The previous owner was a frustrated Texan who was really into turf so the property was basically a sloped lawn with a few randomly placed bushes and trees out in the middle of the New England woods. Their only attempt at landscaping was a narrow rock path surrounding a patch of flowers and weeds in front of the house. He really enjoyed mowing the lawn. I didn’t.
My plan. I knew that maintaining about 1 acre of hillside lawn in the woods is a full time job so my goal was to create a tiered garden that used the existing contours, trees, rocks, etc. as much as possible. The trick was to design around the randomly planted trees. My plan was that every rock and plant that needed to be dug up would be used somewhere else in the yard. I should add at this point that all my plans also had to take into account that the work would be done by myself and a few hand tools. I’ll focus on the landscaping nearest the house because that is where I put most of my time and we moved before I was able to complete the rest.
First up: get the yard ready for our dog. I enclosed about 0.5 acres to the side and back of the house with a split rail fence holding up 4” chicken wire. I planted grape vines along the front section to make the fencing slightly more useful. For reference, the plant to the far right is a pre-existing lilac that shows up in most photos. By the way, our dog had no trouble jumping the fence but she was trained to respect the boundaries, which was really important because the ravine just beyond the back fence was a wildlife freeway.
This is the beginning of the front driveway. The line of grass growing up the center of the photo marks the boundary between excavated and fill – the soil from the left of the line was dumped to the right to level off the driveway.
Jumping ahead a bit. This is a photo I used to show my wife what I was imagining in my head. This is the first load of stones that will be used for walkways and short dry-stacked walls.
The path to the mudroom was a broken ankle waiting to happen, so I spent a few days to put together a flat, wide walkway.
The top photo shows the garden in the first year. I cleared a section of lawn and planted blueberry bushes and tomatoes. The original lilac is hiding in the shade to the left.
The lower photo was taken mid-construction in early spring and shows the layout better because the plants haven’t filled in yet. The lilac is at center and the tree to the right is a newly planted cherry. The stone pile at centerleft is actually a “temporary” perch for the dog to keep her out of my way as she guards the area.
This is the view from the upstairs window that is visible in the previous photo. The riverbed was made from rocks found around the site and is actually functional because the French drains around the house empty onto it. The lilac and cherry are to the left. The other flowers are mostly rescued/recycled from the front of the house.
A few more views of the area
Skipping ahead a few years, this is the walkway to the front door
A view from the front steps looking towards the garage.
I used the last of the stones (the uneven, oddly shaped wall-rejects) to make a patio which was one of the last projects before we moved.
One last thing to add, this is the other side of the house. In the before photo you can see some granite slabs and stones holding back the hillside. A few years later (mid-garage build) water is controlled by French drains, improved sloping and a retaining wall.
We were sad to leave all the work on the house behind, but were happy to get away from our soul-killing jobs.
It's a smaller version of the kind pictured below, red letters on silver panels. It measures approx. 14' x 2'. I'm thinking of mounting it on the shorter northern wall to keep the southern wall a continuous wall of cabinets. I'll post photos once I get it home.
. I don't think he'll get it, but it would be absolutely amazing if he does. One of my friends lives in one of the "desirable" neighborhoods (the place where professional athletes live) where the original houses are getting scraped and replaced with ginormous palaces. He gets cash offers nearing $1M but doesn't even consider them because he thinks that they wouldn't be able to buy anything in the same area. 
