Sod Summer: Part 1

When Tal and I bought our house over 2 years ago, our front yard was an eyesore due to lack of maintenance:

Last year, Tal and I improved our home's curb appeal by removing 11 dead or overgrown bushes, planting 17 new bushes, putting down landscape fabric, and spreading mulch:

This year, Tal and I are going to lay sod in our front yard. Before we can do that, however, we need to repair/replace our underground irrigation system, as well as till the front yard to remove the top layer of grass, roots, and leaves. 

When we're done sodding the front yard, Tal and I are going to clean up both sides of our house and then put down landscape fabric and mulch. 

Here's our to-do list: 

• Remove the 5 holly bushes in our front yard
• Repair or replace in-ground irrigation system
• Till the front yard to remove the top layer of grass, roots, and leaves 
• Put down compost
• Lay down sod in front yard
• On both sides of our house, remove grass and weeds
• On both sides of our house, put down landscape fabric and mulch for weed control

Last Saturday, Tal put our plan into action. Here's what our front yard looked liked on Saturday (and for the last  year):

Before

On Saturday, Tal pulled out 5 prickly holly bushes that were a pain to maintain and hateful to remove:

After

When Tal was done, he and I went to the yard waste landfill (where yard waste is converted to mulch) and dumped everything from the back of Tal's truck:

While Tal was working in the yard, Savannah was playing princess and washing Tal's truck. :)