day 1 - remove the stumps

Large view shows the dirt and the stump in all it's glory!
Our back yard beautification project has started! It looks a mess here at this point, but it will soon be gorgeous and inviting. When we hired garden designer Ann Hall we told her we wanted to make the yard facing the river canal into a Tropical Paradise. Ann is a native Floridian who knows her Florida friendly plants and came up with a great design based on getting to know us and what we like. She also dances with me in Nia class and recently joined blipfoto!

We envisioned a brick paver patio to set the stage, so we hired Besterman Hardscapes for the second time since moving to Florida because of their exceptionally high quality work. I have started an album that will hold a selection of photos related to this project for your perusal if you wish. This was day 1 of the paver project. It involved a bobcat to clear away the grass that had been killed with herbicide, removing 4 tree stumps, leveling and compacting the ground, adding special sand and compacting again and starting to lay out the puzzle of the pavers. They also needed to work around 2 sets of poles we had installed by the fence company; one for a pergola dining area (to be built) and one for a hot tub screen. It is already interesting to see this progress and I will be back with another entry or two soon!