Out Back

1:11 PM Unknown 0 Comments

When we first moved into our home our backyard was dark and shaded. There was a giant Oak tree that spanned over the entire length of our backyard. I loved the shady yard and have to admit it was definitely a selling point when we bought it. We live in the South and the heat can sometimes be miserable.

I enjoyed researching plants that grew in the shade and planted lush fern beds around the base of our tree. We had a tree swing for the kids and enjoyed many an afternoon out back.

Our shady yard was not without it's flaws, though.

It was impossible to grow grass for all the large oak tree roots, and don't even get me started on raking leaves and the acorns.

Oh the acorns! How can there be so many!

If you have an Oak tree you know what I mean.

If those things were worth money we could have been billionaires.

Fast forward a couple of years and a couple Hurricanes later and our beautiful tree became a bit of a headache for us.

Not only did we worry that it would topple and take out our house, but because of the shear size of it we worried it would take out our neighbors house as well. One year it was even the culprit for knocking out power for our entire street for 2 days.

A fallen limb from our tree took a power line down with it.

So, after a lot of deliberation we decided it had to go.

So, cut down the tree we did. Well not us personally, we hired someone, though I think at times my husband considered climbing it with a chain saw to save money. What can I say we are cheap and removing a huge hundred year old oak tree is expensive!

After the removal of the tree, we were left with a sudden realization.

What now? Our once shady yard was now a blindingly bright space with zero shade.

We rushed to put up a privacy fence to hide our our embarrassment of a yard from our neighbors.

In an attempt to make it more livable we built a pergola off of our workshop/garage to give us a little shade.

It did not fix the problem at all.

We completely stopped going in our back yard for a while.

When you live in a small home outdoor space is a must. So, in order to take back our backyard, we decided we needed to go tropical. Rather than fight the heat and the sun we decided to work with it. In came the pool and the tropical plants. Palms and hibiscus took over for the ferns.

(2010)

The pool allowed us to beat the heat of the Summers in the South and got us back outside.

That is my daughter splashing around when she was little.

Today, we have added 2 decks and our landscaping has changed a bit. The little work shop with the pergola has become a pool house complete with bathroom and kitchen. A door was moved to add better access. My kids don't splash around much any more, but my husband and I consider it our tropical paradise.

We live out side most weekends.