More landscaping...this time it's fences and not flowers. LOL

O.k. So when we moved into this house over a year and a half ago it was a wonderful location for the girls...the school is right down the hill behind our house. The girls literally walk out our front door and hang a quick right and down a small hill to school each day. All of about 2 minutes and they are in the playground. The inside of this house was PERFECT for us and we fell in love with it's charm. THEN we realized that the school kids used our front yard as the cut off to get to school....there is a perfectly good sidewalk that takes them directly to the small hill to the school, but NOOOOO they think that my front yard and right under our front windows, sliding themselves and their huge backbacks in front of my vehicle each day was the way to go. UG!!! So here's the progression of when we moved in until now....Garden, fences and finally a bit of peace and quiet from me having to yell at them every day..."GET OUT OF MY GARDEN". LOL

Taracotta


This was what we saw in the Spring after we moved in and the snow was gone...it was a bit of a drag. The front lawn was flat and had no character, the driveway where I parked the van was open up to whom ever wanted to walk through there as a shortcut...drove me insane.


You can see the worn down grass along the side of the sidewalk where the kids walked and trampled it down each day..four times a day as they go home for lunch here too. Then you can see where my van is parked kids would literally squeeze themselves in behind of the van to walk in front of my house...WHY? There is a perfectly good sidewalk for them on my side of the road.


You can see the elementary school in behind that truck parked there. I started parking my van as close to the house to cut them off from walking through the small opening I had been giving them all along. They STILL squeezed their way through.


O.k. So the front yard needed SOMETHING...it was so boring. I ended up getting rocks for free from one of my dad's friends who was landscaping himself and had unearthed these HUGE boulders all around his property...YEAHHHHH....Free rocks. Placed them where I wanted them in the lawn and cut a nice bed around them in a unique shape.





I was sooo excited after planting my garden and getting so many people tell me that I had done such a great job. It was a big improvement on what the other people had done with the place...(which was nothing) as far as curb appeal. I guess being there a short time they didn't want to put out the money for any sort of beauty and decided to just let the kids use it as a walkway. I was wrong however...my excitement for my new garden turned into tears EVERY DAY when school went in and let out each day with bully children who knew they'd get a reaction from me decided to hop the rocks, walk straight through what I had worked so hard to accomplish. I was so sad. I even had a mother (after telling her that her son had walked in my garden) say that It was my fault because I didn't have a fence to keep the kids out. WHAT!!!? This lady was turning my dream garden into a nightmare with her comment and I told her that we were planning to put fences up, but she needed to teach her child respect for others things. UG...!


The kids continued to harass me and so hubby gave into my continued rant about putting SOMETHING around the garden to ward them off. The majority of the kids stayed clear of the garden after the temporary fence went around. However, the kids that had harassed me before would slip under the fence as I was watching them from my livingroom window.
Spring 2006


Spring of 2007 we bought the supplies to put up a real fence around my garden. I got many people not understand why I didn't just put a fence along the side and leave the garden fenceless to keep the kids out of it. I laughed and told them that leaving it open in the front would certainly make them still go through and that to make doubly sure I was fencing the garden AND the driveway.


Hubby putting the finishing touches on the rail and post fence around the garden. Still needed to cut the tops down and we had a lot of neighbors really wondering what kind of fence we were putting up as they first saw how tall the posts were and were a bit scared. LOL


The girls testing the fence for stability. Yip...it's good dad.


There...all done, now the grass needs to grow back around the posts and the flowers need to start coming out and I'll be REALLY happy. LOL The kids were great for not walking through any more...Hey, they had no choice. You had the handful that tested waters by going over or under the fence...but the majority "Got the picture".


Now to confront the "side" walkway that the kids like to go through to get to the school...AHA...Lets just extend along the driveway half way to cut them off and so that's exactly what we did...Hubby working hard.


Daddy ran out of posts (LOL) and used the girls.





Finally done with the fencing for this year. The kids are now cut off from my garden and from under my windows and squeezing past my van and I'm a happy camper. I have about 6 to 8 inches to plant some nice colorful flowers along the driveway fence on the inside and that will be part of next springs landscaping. Along with some privacy plantings in the backyard.This fence was left over fencing from the other side of the house and so that's why it's got marks on the slats where they were nailed in a different spot. We are planning to stain the whole fence a nice deep brown to compliment the red shutters.