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The best part of homeownership is that there is no landlord. If I want to hang a big shelf on the wall that requires three anchor screws, I don't need to get anybody's permission. If I want to get cable installed in the upstairs bedroom, I don't need to have a written authorization to give to the cable company. And when we decide we want to play the stereo really loud we know there's nobody sharing walls with us that is going to come knocking on our door. The worst part of homeownership is that there is no landlord. When the garbage disposal decides to stop working, you have to buy a new one and replace it yourself. When the lawn needs mowing, you have to sweat your ass off and cut it with your own mower. And if you get really lazy and let the whole place fall into disrepair, you can't just move out and forfeit $100 of your security deposit -- you've got to fix it yourself. In preparation for this article, I took some time to dig up the photos we took of our house when we were house-hunting two years ago. While there are some legitimate excuses for the state of disrepair our yard is currently in, it's still quite embarrassing. Let's see the before-and-after:  Then: April 2007 Now: April 2009 Now, obviously we have some excuse for the poor appearance of our yard. The first is that we ripped out the in-ground garden boxes in order to build the vaulted square foot garden boxes. That resulted in the "mud pit," as we affectionately call it. The other thing that needs to be accounted for is the " Gus factor." When you let a border collie loose on your back yard on a regular basis, it's going to make the yardwork maintenance infinitely more difficult. Well, this week we're kicking off Operation Garden Party wherein we get our act together, spend part of our tax refund, and finally get our back yard into the shape we've wanted since we first moved in. Weather permitting, we've worked out a plan that should convert this overrun, grass-bare patch of land into the center of our summer entertainment plans in four short weeks. Or however long it takes for grass to grow. Detailed plans to come later, but for now I need to put my motivating factor into play: posting about it on the Internet. So for the record, here is the current state of affairs in our back yard. I'm planning to document its transformation, and it wouldn't be complete without getting the ugly truth of the situation out there up front. 
Existing patio: Step 1 is to kill the weeds and grow the grass
Mulch and pavers: The square foot garden boxes stay, but we'll be adding a mulch bed below, and a patio / firepit in the back "mud pit" area.
From the alley: Clearing out the overgrown wildflower garden will likely be the last step of the process.
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