For those of us living at Casa del T-Bone, we have declared 2004 "Year of the Yard." I'm not just talking about lawncare here – we have some major landscaping issues to overcome.
In Texas, if a home's foundation is not cared for (and sometimes even if it is), the soil beneath it will shift and yee-yaw the house. Most new home construction is of the slab variety: a poured concrete base that sits directly on the ground. Our house is 40 years old, at which time slab construction was the most common method. The best ways to protect foundations include planting landscaping around the house to encourage watering the soil, and also helping the soil retain moisture.
Guess what? My house didn't have ANY landscaping when we moved in. As a result, the soil has washed away from parts of the house, and we no longer have a home that is perfectly level. Unable to afford foundation repairs right now, I will be constructing many flowerbeds, hauling much dirt and placing many landscaping stones. I will also be digging up many large rocks, as our yard is littered with them.
We hope to have two trees taken out on the east side of the house, which are attacking the roof. Plus, it would be awfully nice to have a nice new driveway that helps pitch some of that water around the house rather than into it. Our property sits on a curve in the road, and everyone else's cigarette butts, soda cans and assorted floating flotsam makes its way to our front door. If the Exxon Valdez had capsized at the corner, most of the oil would cover our sidewalk.
On the other hand, having an uneven foundation ...
1. Adds more character to our house.
2. Means that if we drop something, it rolls toward the back of the house and is easy to find. That included the Cutlet before he could walk or crawl.
3. Represents the state of the world today: it's all sliding down hill.
4. Lets us practice our downhill skiing technique while inside. Without skis.
5. Presents an "exciting" challenge. How boring it would have been to move into a perfect house that had been expertly maintained by the previous owners!
For any of you apartment dwellers getting the urge to do yardwork, come on down and help me. I've got a wheelbarrow and shovel with your names all over them!
Because of a bleak TV schedule last night, we watched Charlie's Angels: Behind the Camera. I bet Farrah Fawcett would help me with our yard – she's not doing much nowadays. Her hair would be good for sifting rocks out of the dirt.
i feel ya T. we don't have a single tree in our new yard. and you know how i love those flowers... not a tree...bush....nothing. dead grass...that's it. my flowers before were containters...i had container gardens. over 100 before i quit counting at the end of the season. i need some true landscaping mentoring. have you found any good websites for realistic landscaping? not the elaborate stuff with fountains and things...just the basics?
Ohh, I feel your pain! The yard is screaming to be scalped and cleaned up. But the weather is beautiful, isn't it?! You can't beat this time of year. I'm over here in Lewisville, T-Bone, so I could throw rocks at ya ;. I enjoy your blog, keep it up!
I lived in Texas for a school semester a while back and never noticed the slanting houses. Perhaps I just wasn't looking.
Good luck with your gardening. It can be fun if you have the right attitude (I think)
Cas
(sigh). I would love to have a house with a plot of land on which to do some landscaping. Right now I have to make do with the tar roof of my apartment building. But a girl can dream of a future!
The final straw at my old apartment was when they used hydraulic jacks to lift up the corners of the building to 'repair' it's foundation without posting any sort of warning, at least not to me. When I arrived home, every door frame, corner and window in my whole apartment had half-inch thick cracks running out of them. The doors wouldn't close and the bathtub was separating from the floor. The embarassing part I don't mind admitting, because it was funny, was that I immediately went outside with my cordless phone and sat on the ground in front of the building until my bf came and convinced me that the building wasn't going to collapse. I guess I'm just a ditzy brunette.