Finally!



Not fancy, but functional.


For years, I have been wishing for some boundary to our front yard. Our grass just runs right into both next door neighbors' yards, and not like I want to seem un-neighborly, but I would like a little privacy every now and then.

And the need for a boundary is greater now that I have two active twin toddlers who need a visual reminder of where they can and can not go.

So, after years of talking about it, and dreaming about it, we went out and purchased plants to put on our property line. I would love a little white picket fence, but our neighborhood isn't a fence neighborhood, and the fences are much more expensive than some greenery. And even though I would have liked some very high-brow boxwood hedge, we went with a quick solution that we could afford:

The very common aborvitae.

We bought a bunch of small ones -- very small -- but because they are small they will likely establish their roots faster and I know they will grow like weeds, since aborvitae seem to do. Someone remarked that it will be years before they provide true privacy, but it's OK, since I know I will blink my eyes and they will be 6 feet tall.

We managed to get one side of the yard planted this weekend, and it feels like a major accomplishment after years of talking about this. Hopefully the other side will be tackled by next weekend, although it's going to be a very rainy week for us in the Northeast. But we are halfway there, and after a few bags of mulch, the sides of our yard will be definitely defined for the little ones.

In other garden talk, I was so happy to see that "My Yard Goes Disney" returned to HGTV on Friday night! We love watching this show as a family, and Friday's premiere episode was definitely a very cute design that our whole family loved. They made a mini-golf course in the backyard! It was adorable and someone our family would love. The course even had an outdoor train track and a castle doll house. Love, love, love!

You can see more photos of this "My Yard Goes Disney" makeover at
 http://www.hgtv.com/landscaping/magical-backyard-makeovers/pictures/index.html

The show is on Friday nights at 8 p.m. We set our DVR and watch it as a family and always enjoy talking about whether this would be a makeover we would want or not. This one was definitely one we would want! (You can see some past episodes' video here.)