Uh, I Guess We're Adults Now

We hired a landscape architect to design our yard. Wow, that sounds ostentatious as I write it, or at best, very upper class. I mean, who do I know that ever hired a landscape architect? Well, besides my sister in law when they did their 1/3 acre design out of bare dirt. Well, it was necessary- if you'll permit me to explain. 

Our yard is a mess.  I don't mean that we didn't clean up the leaves, or mow the lawn, I mean that it is really mixed up. We have trees that are far too big for the space they are in, we have an irrigation system that is beyond garbage, and doesn't work worth a bean. We have weird plants and poisonous plants all over the place. We have grass that doesn't grow at all, and a deck that must come out since it is original to the house in '76. Yeah, it's barely hanging on. I don't even use the deck at this point, we go out the patio entrance to get to the yard. Our front yard is awful, and our side yard looks like a vacant lot, regardless that we work on it a few times a year. So it's time we swallowed our Scrooge-like tendencies and make the yard commensurate with the house. You already know about the idea for the play structure and the new irrigation (sprinkler system) but we also want to add a few trees, take a few out and change the walk up to the front door. The front walk up is made of smooth and very slick tiles that are very dangerous to walk up in any inclement weather. We need something that has some texture to it and will drain properly instead of pool water right where we walk. There is also no walk up from the street to the door unless you walk back down the cul-de-sac and then walk all the way up the driveway and come up the stairs to the door. As the crow flies, it would be much better to put a walk way in from the street that meets up with the existing stairs as a way to the front door. Sounds complicated, but it's not. It's just weird is all, and it's a safety issue at this point. If we put tiles or brick over the exiting tile we can alleviate a lot of problems. 

We also have quite an elevation change from the south end to the north end of our property, hence the need for the surveyor. My daughter came upstairs and said to me "Mom, I say hello to the man with the camera." My thought was, uh, what man with a camera? Show me honey, and she walked me downstairs to see the surveyors in our backyard taking measurements. I was relieved and I was glad they came so soon since I just called them last Thursday. When he gets the topographical map down it will go to the architect and the plans will begin. Hopefully we will only be a few months away from a completed yard. If Uncle Sam comes through like we think we possibly will have a wonderful place to spend the summer. No more trips to the park...all the packing and unpacking the car! We can just grab our sunscreen and hats and head out in our own yard to play. Whoohooo!  It's so close I want to make iced tea already!