Backyard Landscape At The New House

Last year we were excited to see that after the builder cleared our lot we were left with a beautiful oak tree in our backyard. 

It was such a welcoming site and could be seen over our home as soon as you pulled into our section. This pic was taken before closing last October. They were still working the landscaping install.

The builder laid sod down in the backyard and we were loving our oak tree though we knew that eventually we would be taking it down if we ever decided to put a pool in. Till that day comes we were enjoying the tree.

We would sit outback and swing everyday under the oak tree then literally over night one day this past spring it up and died! No joke. It was green as green could be and growing new leaves and then the next morning when I was coming home from taking the boys to school I looked and it was brown. I was heartbroken. Mr. Front Porch didn't believe me but sure enough when he came home he asked what the heck happened.

So not only were we dealing with a dead oak tree but we were also dealing with an almost dead backyard. When we moved in at the end of last Oct. unbeknownst to us our backyard was being attacked by sod worms. We had never heard of them before so had no clue. Basically if you see a bunch of little brown moths around and flying about your grass you need to treat your yard ASAP. The moths lay eggs and the eggs hatch and the worms eat your grass. They are almost impossible to get rid of. You have to treat your yard for several months. Our backyard was depressing to say the least.

After mentioning our problems to our warranty rep the builder graciously came back in June and took down the oak tree plus brought in new sod. We were so thankful! With that off of our list of things to get done we headed to a local nursery to purchase some tree fertilizer for our oaks in the front yard. Well that trip ended up turning into purchasing a landscaping package for our backyard.

Mr. Front Porch picked out a Burr Oak tree.

Then we picked out some single trunk Crape Myrtles.

A few multi trunk Myrtles as well. We always plant Myrtles at all of our homes. We just love them! When the builder was planting our landscape in the front yard we requested Myrtles instead of Magnolia trees. Did you know that Magnolia trees attract tree roaches!? 

Since we back up to a nature reserve we were worried about snakes. The sales gentleman told us to get some Variegated Society Garlic because it is known to deter snakes. 

I have never had rose bushes but these were pretty so we picked out a few of them.

Due to backing up to the nature reserve we have a wrought iron fence which leaves no privacy. To help combat that issue we chose a few of these holly trellis.
The best part of the landscaping package was that the nursery delivered and planted all of it! Before it was all delivered and planted we had a few other projects we wanted to complete.
Check back to see what we were up to. 

If you missed it I shared our fall porch here.

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