At long last, my entire yard has been conquered. In truth, I thought the job was done several years ago. Turns out, my yard is bigger than I knew.

The additional area is a steep bank between my house and the neighbor’s. It’s chock-full of shrubs planted more than 20 years ago, several trees nobody planted, and blackberries. I thought it belonged to the neighborhood association for access to the land-trust area behind the house.

Per my request, a committee came out a few months ago to see about removing some overgrown trees. They said the trees were either mine or my neighbor’s, depending on where the actual property line is. Oh.

In my defense, the association removed lower branches from a maple tree in the strip shortly after I moved in. They offered to get it surveyed, but withdrew the offer for fear of getting in the middle of a dispute between neighbors.

Huh?

The neighbor and I agreed the property line was likely midway between our privacy fences. Any way the line could be drawn, the trees in question were on my property. I promised to keep him posted about my plans.

New Urban Forestry cleared the area for me. I was pleasantly surprised and maybe a little horrified. Talk about a difference…

I decided to call in a landscaper to develop a plan for the entire yard. We walked the lot together, talked about my likes/dislikes, and decided to focus on the bank for now. He came back a few days later with three options.

The first option was part of all three quotes. The second added more retaining wall to the front, and the third replaced the retaining wall in the back. Replacing the retaining wall fixes a few drainage issues and reduces the steepness of the bank. I went with the first (and cheapest) option. Daddy wants a new kitchen.

I wanted deer-resistant varieties that rarely or never need to be trimmed or cut back. A few days later, his crew installed the new landscape.

Initially, I kind of wished I’d had more input in plant selection. Involving me would have slowed things down a lot and likely frustrated the hell out of him. I may have picked different plants, but in the end, I’m happy and looking forward to watching it grow.