From an Ugly Dirt Yard to a Beautiful Oasis

When we moved into our house 2 years ago it had been abandoned for 3 years. The front yard was nothing but dirt with an ugly cypress within sight line of the front door. Two trees on the side of the lot was the only bit of color the lot had. We now have a beautiful front yard..

When we first moved here there wasn't anything in the front yard except dirt. There was a big elm tree and a weeping fig on the side of the lot but that was all. Near the end of the sidewalk was one huge ugly cypress that was in direct line with the front door. That was the first to go. then, since we live at the edge of the Mohave desert we didn't want to plant grass. Instead we just covered the main portion with gravel. It stayed that way for another year. And then we did this.

We had an old wrought iron table that didn't have a top. We found 2 old boards on the side of the road (score!) that fit perfectly on top. Hubby had made the birdhouse several years ago and it looks perfect along with a clay chicken pot and gorgeous sweet potato plant. Rusty the dog agrees!

After we placed the rock and mulch we decided to make a small patio using Sedona flagstones. We took plastic planters and spray painted them, then turned 2 upside down and the smallest one right side up and filled that one with bird seed

Drought tolerant plants need watering once a week. Here we have a rose, a native grass and a rosemary plant.

We needed a bit of color so we hung bike rims and tires from the trees after spray painting them. It took us 4 days to lay the rock, mulch and flagstones. Pretty good improvement we think.I love how our yard blends in with the neighbors. The folks living on the street say it reminds them of a park.

Original article and pictures take http://www.hometalk.com/9972101/from-an-ugly-dirt-yard-to-a-beautiful-oasis site