Spring brings warmer weather and that means it will soon be time to get outside and start some new spring yard projects. See what I’ve got planned for our yard this spring.
We had our first real hint of spring this past week and like so many neighbors we saw getting outside to clean up their yards, I too spent some time out back starting to take inventory of the spring yard projects I’d like to tackle this year.
The last couple of years I have really taken an interest in gardening, planting and landscaping. We started with our patio and pont and then last year we rebuilt our small garden, fenced it in and I designed and built my tiny garden shed.
We had also planned to lay stone around the beds in the garden and do some additional planting around the perimeter of the garden fence but with the Pandemic and the early stay-at-home orders, we weren’t able to get those projects complete.
Over the summer, we got into rebuilding the side porch (a project we hadn’t planned on starting when we did) and then when we bought the beach cottage, our projects at home got put on hold.
Now that Spring is right around the corner and we are finally seeing warmer temps which has melted most of the snow, I’m anxious to get some small projects done in the yard so today I thought I’d share with you a few of the things on my list.
2021 Spring Yard Projects
Add a Skirt / Screen around the bottom of the deck
After painting the deck last year, the last step is to add a screen or skirt around the bottom so you can’t see under it. It’s not attractive when sitting around the fire pit and the boys are always getting under there. I am imagining a vertical slat kind of screen made of cedar but we are having trouble finding cedar lumber locally. I plan to look in DE during our next trip because I also have some plans for cedar at the beach house.
The above image is essentially the look I’m going for though my vision puts the wood slats a bit closer together. I want something simple and clean that wont draw too much attention.
Add more planter boxes to the garden
Most of my spring plans focus around the garden. I’d like to start by adding another couple of planter boxes to the three that are already there. I’d like to add one near the gate and then at least one in the far corner where the dirt pile used to be. This will help keep the raspberries under control and I’ll have more room for planting.
Add stone to the walkways around the garden
Once I have the final planter boxes in place, I’d like to add stone between all the planters instead of dealing with mowing grass in there. It was a real pain last summer trying to mow between the boxes and stone was part of our original plan anyway. It will also tie into the patio area which I think will look nice. The images above are some of my top inspiration for what we are going for. We’ll be using the same stone that we used around the patio but what a difference it will make!
Build a gate for the garden fence
Also part of our original plan last year was building a custom gate for the garden. It never happened so even if it’s a task I need to take on by myself, it’s something I want to see happen this year. The boys are always trying to get into the garden and once we plant, I wont want them in there.
Seeing this adorable vintage fence makes me want to paint our garden fence white too! Isn’t it adorable?
Replace the window into the workshop with a door and clean up the garden area just outside.
Our garage is one of the coolest things about our property. Some people assume from photos that it’s the house or a house when in fact, it’s a three car garage with a workshop and a full second floor that was once a hardware store.
We have used the upstairs for junk storage and have had many conversations over the years about what to do with it. B isn’t really into the idea of a “man cave” and at one time I was going to turn it into my storage and studio space leaving the shop purely for consultations and the shop.
We talked about turning it into a studio apartment (for a minute) and have rolled around several other ideas; none of which ever really seemed right.
For the past year or so, B has started talking about turning it into his workshop. He loves the upstairs workshop (studio) on This Old House and so that has become the plan. Once his tools are moved upstairs, the downstairs workbench will become my work area (something I’m super excited about). Moving both our areas to the far side of the garage means having an entrance into this part of the garage for easy access to the second floor workshop for B and my small work room seems like a great idea.
This would also finally give us an excuse to clean up this dark, forgotten corner of the yard and give it a purpose. I’ve talked so many times about putting something back there and now I’m thinking a little stone pad and maybe a potting table would be perfect just outside the future door. I also have a super cool concrete laundry sink that I’ve been wanting to incorporate into a potting bench / area for a while so this might be the perfect spot in the shade and right off the garden. This is always a cool, shaded spot so it would be a great place to hang out in the summer too.
I haven’t taken photos of the inside of the garage yet except this one taken looking out the window I’m talking about. It’s right at the bottom of the steps to the upstairs space and right beside the workbench that will become my spot. The inside of the garage currently a disaster between all the projects we have going on. I’ll share photos when we start getting into these projects later this year.
Add flower beds around the perimeter of the garden fence
This is a project I was prepared to do last year but our flower order never came in. It’s a long story but I will simply say this, do your research about Burgess before ordering anything from them despite their beautiful catalogs and affordable prices.
My experience two years in a row aligns with most of the reviews online. The plants I have received have done well and they do provide good instructions for bringing back the dormant plants, but actually receiving what you ordered is an entirely different story.
This year, I’d like to complete the planter beds around the outside of the garden fence and along the edge of the yard on that side.
Add a stone path along side of deck
The small strip of yard between our side deck and the neighbors doesn’t see a lot of sunlight and it’s not really usable for anything. We’ve planted privacy screen plants that hopefully will grow taller this year but other than that, it’s not usable for anything.
Last year I started imagining what we could do with it to make it more attractive and usable. Because it’s the access to the basement adding a stone path similar to the one to the back gate may be a great solution. This is a potential project for later this spring or summer.
We’ll be balancing projects between home and the beach house which will be keeping us pretty busy. The good thing is having a plan for the projects we want to accomplish and I feel confident that we’ll be getting a lot of things checked off our list this Spring.
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