Loving the re-designed flower bed, we decided to use the same look on another flower bed in the upper lawn area. It is right next to our back door and houses our air conditioning unit. The previous owners had planted some beautiful bushes but they were unruly looking, no matter how much trimming we did each year.

So, K and I got to work cutting down the bushes (Golden Splash) and pulling out all the roots, landscaping fabric and bark mulch. The roots, for the most part, came up easily, with the exception of one main root that seemed to bury straight down into the ground. We just cut that off as low as we could and re-buried it.

While cleaning out the bed we realized that there was a full irrigation head with 4 nozzles, allowing us to add more lines if necessary. This was a great find! I plan on building some planters and had thought we may need to hand water them, but with this find, we will be all set to run irrigation through them.

Once the bed was cleaned out we gave it a rake to get the soil nice and even. We also checked the level of the dirt with our foundation as our home inspector had told us that some of the beds should be lowered. This one was ok and well below the top of the foundation.

The landscaping fabric was fairly easy to lay out. We only had the air conditioner and an irrigation head to work around. Armed with a utility knife, it was quick work to cut around both objects. We used the same technique as the last bed, pinching the landscaping fabric between the landscaping bricks to help ensure no plants or weeds can wiggle through.

Once the fabric was down, it was just a few loads of rocks and the bed was done. A quick afternoon job. With this bed being flat and not much to work around, it was extremely easy to fill.

Our plan is to also do this with the front yard beds as well. Eventually we will remove all grass from our front yard and convert it into additional parking. Before we get there though, we will clear out the beds, build some planters and clean up the look of the front of our house. I got started on pulling down a couple of the bushes, but we will have to dedicate a day to getting the junipers out.

For now I’m off to get some wood to build a screen around the air conditioner and a couple large planters.