This is just one of the many things we learned during our housebuilding process. We were stretched for money and thought that it'd be easy to live without a driveway until we could afford one. WRONG. The dirt, the dust, the mud...it made life with children extremely difficult. Bearable, yes. But very very unpleasant. It seemed like everything in the house was covered in dust and dirt. It got into the carpets, a fine layer of it covered everything in the garage. Cleaning was futile.
Now that I'm back at work full time, the bank has so graciously 'given' us the money to do our driveway. Who knew that a bit of concrete or asphalt would be so expensive! We are in the wrong business. I wander if it's too late for another career change?
The day the diggers, trucks, steamrollers and team of 7 men arrived, was a very exciting day indeed! Wyatt climbed up on a box so that he could see all the action too.
The men hard at work...it wasn't a painless process. We had to get the crew to come back to the house THREE times to do repairs and finish the job. (not to mention the cracked front tile, chipped plaster on the house.....grrrrr!) Don't you just LOVE tradesman? But finally we have a driveway, and the children can play outside mud and dust free. Oh, wait...they're boys! They'll never be completely mud and dust free. The driveway has made our house look so much better. Don't you agree?
Love the curbing to help keep our gardens (yes...there are two planted already) under control. We can fit about 7-8 cars parked tight. Maybe we should have a party to test it out?
Look the tiles are grey! The rest of the tiling will be done this week
After the driveway was in, we joyously (and I do mean joyously...it was a big occasion!) water blasted the mud and took out every item in the garage to clean. It felt so satisfying to clean off a years worth of filth that was slowly eating away at our happiness. Yes that's a bit extreme, but I wouldn't wish a mud pit front lawn/driveway for anyone.
Beg, borrow, steal. Get it put in with the house.
Now onto the rest of the landscaping. It's massive. A massive section, and a massive undertaking. Luckily we have entrusted the help of an landscape architect to design it for us. Best decesion e-v-e-r. It's going to be fab, and all we have to do is condition the soil (it's mainly clay), grow the plants, get more contractors to do all the hardscape, and win the lottery. We'll do it piece by piece.
This summer the goal was the front entrance way gardens, the retaining walls (still a work in process) and the driveway. I love how it looks so far.
Our big section, requires hundreds (maybe thousands) of plants. Maybe I'm a bit out of touch...but concrete and plants?! Who would have thought they'd both cost a small fortune. My investigative skills led me to discounted plants from city council and also a plant propagator who has just about anything you could want for a fraction of the cost of the nurseries....but they are tiny.
Our plan. Buy the small propagated plants, repot and fertilize them, then watch them get established till they are ready to be planted. We have a couple hundred scattered around the yard growing, and will plant a few more hundred this fall.