time to prioritize

It's been raining quite a bit around here lately, well quite a bit for San Diego, so we haven't been getting out into the yard as much as we would like. Not only have we not been getting out there, the rain has encouraged weeds to simply take over the property.

We had a few available hours today before the rain was supposed to hit, but there is just so much to do we didn't really even know where to start. So we ended up using most of today to take inventory of what we need to do, want to do and what we're going to do first.

Our first big project is going to clear out all of these weeds and plant something along that back fence, we're still not quite sure what. We need something to provide us with some sort of privacy from our neighbors, but that can also handle the small space and won't spew a ton of dead leaves into the pool.





Next, we're planning to take out all of these shrubs on either side of the patio and replace them with pavers. Yeah, the paver layout was set up for a flower bed of some sort, but we figure we have enough greenery all over this yard that we would rather make the patio larger. We'll just have to figure out how to add the pavers with out it looking all wonky.





Here we need to build something to hide this crawlspace and electricity meter while still keeping them accessible. This is not only an eyesore, but a tad bit dangerous come pool season. We're thinking some kind of removable bench, maybe with a hinged seat so the meter reader can just lift it? It would also be good for pool storage. We would also make it so that we can just lift the whole bench up and out of the way if we need to get to this crawlspace.



While we're at it, we would love to build something to hide this monstrosity of a pool motor.



We will also need to deal with all the weeds shooting up in between the pavers...it'll only take like five gallons of white vinegar, right?

We're hoping to get all of the above done by the beginning of pool season and then we'll move onto the rest of the yard.

I was hoping to start a vegetable garden this spring, but I'm not so sure that's going to happen. We need to keep things prioritized to keep my head from exploding and this hill is going to take a crap ton of work.

There was a bouganvilla tree on the other side of this fence that was sooo huge it hung over the fence and took up a nice chunk of our space. The neighbors are selling so they cut down the tree and opened up all of this space which I think would be great for a veggie garden. The problem is, there is a bunch of wood, bricks and crazy amounts of dead bouganvilla leaves piled there. Also that random wrought iron fence is stuck there partially buried and wedged in with cinder blocks. I spent an hour or so clearing out a bunch of this stuff, but there is still sooo much to do to just ready the space for gardening.



This space will be awesome for relaxing in the shade, but again, there is lots to clear out and we will also need to do some leveling which will also mean some retaining walls.



And here is the rest. I picture a meandering garden with retaining walls made of broken concrete. This will give us some level areas to plant different gardens and I would love to even plant some fruit trees towards the top. This is going to take renting a Bobcat machine, lots of loads of broken concrete, figuring out a watering and drainage system and lots and lots of work. I figure this won't happen for a few years. *sigh*



So yeah, we have our work cut out for us. I didn't even take pictures of the front yard which also needs an insane amount of weeding! One thing at a time though. We'll start with the patio and pool deck and move on from there. I will just have to be OK with the fact that I may not have my veggie garden right away...or maybe I'll squeeze it in...maybe.