So if you’ve followed Lil Blue Boo for a while you know that I like big projects. Big. And I like to find creatively inexpensive ways to accomplish them. (Like when we rented a crane and dug up 20 foot palm trees for our old house because they were free.) And I probably open up more cans of worms than my husband would like…but hey, the end result is always good, right? Here is what our house looked like three weeks ago:

When we first saw the 1960s-era ranch house last year I instantly had a vision for it. I knew it would be a lot of work and of course Brett would roll his eyes at my “grand plans for a ranch-house-homestead.” But eventually he was on board as I began clipping out inspiration from magazines and created this very-professional-rendering for a long term plan:

My long term plan included:

1. Regrading to increase drainage
2. Removing all the old tree stumps
3. Creating space for a large vegetable garden next to the Depot
4. Flattening a larger area in front yard for a gravel patio overlooking the town
5. Taking out and replacing the old basement retaining wall
6. Removing the long concrete sidewalk and adding a gravel driveway and parking area

Looking at it all as small projects it would have taken years of mismatching so instead I looked at it as one big project. Most of it we could do ourselves as long as we created a blank slate. It would also save us a lot of money if we created the right starting point so I decided to hire someone with big earth moving equipment who could efficiently get it all done in a few days.

Knowing what was going to take place, I spent the last month digging up all the flower bulbs in the yard to dry and store until next spring:

As the big machines were brought in, Brett starting pulling up all the old stone from the back patio. It was a pretty patio but it drained toward the house. We knew before we even bought the house that it was something we had to do. See the grates? Those are windows to the basement. There are windows all the way around but we decided to brick these up from the inside to just take away any chance of moisture of water getting in:

This is the super long sidewalk that led to an asphalt parking area, both of which are now gone:

No more patio but we’ll re-use all that pretty stone!

Yeah, here’s a big can of worms: the old retaining wall that was in disrepair. We tore it out and fixed the embankment, creating more space as well. Long ago there used to be a garage door under that concrete slab. Brett found a free double door from another project that he’ll build into place to let more light in:

Here is the progress just two weeks ago. I knew we had to get it right from the very start which meant basically starting from scratch and taking it back to the 1950s:

Below is the house today with grass seed just added. I’ve spent the last two days moving a sprinkler around and hoping it will rain. Please rain! I really like not having any plants right against the house, gives it a really clean, modern look.

Also, I’m researching trees to line the driveway with some day: small, not messy, one trunk, sturdy etc.

While Mr. Parton (Parton Excavating) was finishing up I asked him to level off the dirt next to the old train depot, so that I can put my garden there.  Now I just have to build a picket fence:

We did take out a lot of trees but not that many when you look at the whole landscape…just all the trees that could have fallen on the house. Here’s a cool shot that our friend Johnathan took using his drone. You can see the gravel driveway that was added in gray:

That one big huge tree in the middle is the one that Boo swings off of all day long. I hope that stays for a really long time:

I love working on the yard. Yesterday while monitoring the sprinkler I took a hoe and eradicated every weed on the property. And then I went after all the poison ivy, until I had to stop and take a shower with poison-ivy-soap because a long vine ricocheted and basically brushed against every exposed area of skin. The only hard part right now is keeping the kid and dog from tracking in too much mud. I’ve pretty much given up on mopping until the grass grows in. My current choice of attire these days: rubber boots.

And current choice of reading:

Boo is already the expert in gardening, she learned a lot this year in school:

My thumb is slowly getting greener…I’ve managed to multiply my succulents ten-fold.

If only we could eat succulents!

All posts on the House on Hospital Hill here.

Read all about the old train depot here. 

Since we moved in to our house in January we’ve been thinking about what we want to start working on as far as yard projects.  I used a combination of Google aerial maps and Zillow to create my own drawings of the property…and I have been sketching over transparencies with a china pen as I work through ideas. I like to think long term…like what would we have to start doing now that we can also keep adding to over the next few years:

We have a great blank slate to work with:

We took down a lot of trees to remove any that were in danger of falling on the house:

The power company took down a bunch too, and then kind of left a big ole mess:

Now we’ve got firewood for life, and our friends got a lot too:

The only gardening or landscaping I’ve done up until this point is digging up all the spring bulbs once their flowers fell off, dried them and stored them to replant at some point. I’ve still got a few more to save before the earth mover comes in:

Like these gorgeous Tiger Irises. I wrote this on Instagram about them: In floriography, the language of flowers, the purple iris symbolizes wisdom. The iris in general symbolizes faith and friendship. In Ancient Greece the purple variety was planted over the graves of deceased women to summon Iris, the messenger of the gods, to help guide the journey between heaven and earth. Also an iris: the Fleur-de-lis.

Oh and Boo planted a fairy garden:

We have a wood swing ready to go up:

And then there’s the depot. My plan is to make it a potting shed and have it be the backdrop for a garden.

Maybe I’ll actually get something to grow. My moss and succulents and potato plants are looking pretty good so far. I love this potting bench that Brett made me out of some reclaimed barn doors and 2 saw horses from Habitat. At the rate my moss is growing I’ll have about 4 feet of it in 4 years. It’s like watching water boil:

My theme is mountain-cottage-Japanese-ranch. Catchy, right? I like a little of everything. I like to dream big with a big plan and start small. So maybe one day we’ll have a curved gravel drive lined with trees, large boulders with plantings around them, pea gravel walkways, a garden kitchen and little niches here and there.  Oh and evergreens, hydrangeas, juniper and those pretty Japanese maples. And maybe some lavender. If anyone wants some poison ivy or poison oak we have a lot of that already, I’ll be working on replacing that little by little.

Here’s what I’ve been inspired by…I’m pretty sure if I throw all of this in a blender and I’ll get mountain-cottage-Japanese-ranch-Narnia:

       Follow Ashley’s board Mountain Landscape Inspiration on Pinterest.

And I’m always open to great ideas and suggestions. I know zero about landscaping. I just wing it and pick what I like and try to keep it as DIY as possible.

Read more about The House on Hospital Hill here.