Uncovering the Driveway

It seems that this summer has been all about uncovering and reclaiming various areas in our property. When we're out there working, it's easy to imagine that there hasn't been a gardener living here for a very long time.  But in truth, it doesn't take long for nature to reclaim its wild ways if you let things go for even just one season.  So I'm not sure how long it's been since this particular area has been clear - could be just one year, could be a decade or more.    Who knows?

Anyway, we've been working all around our yard to get things into shape, removing weeds and grape vines and all kinds of wandering volunteer plants.   Our latest project has been the driveway.




As a quick reminder, here's an overview of our property.  The driveway comes in from the back right side of our lot, and curves up a steep hill around a big bend before eventually arriving at a large parking space near the house. There's a two-car basement garage under the house that just barely fits our modern sized cars - amazing, considering the house was built for 1925 sized cars!

To get a sense of scale, the entire property is 120 feet wide by 200 feet long.   From the house to the rear property line is a full 100 feet.   So, the driveway itself, including its bendy curve to the right, is an estimated 120 feet long or so, by about 15-20 feet wide at the smallest, and about 35-40 feet wide nearest the house.

Here's a photo of the driveway on the day we moved in... when I took this photo I was standing at the garage door, looking down the driveway toward the rear of the property.

And here's a view from when I was standing on the concrete stairway that leads to the sidewalk up to the house.

This was back before we had lifted a finger in the yard.  You can see a row of metal pipes sticking up along the driveway hill... those are remnants of an old chain link fence that had been partially removed.   It's pretty clear how much shade our driveway gets from the many mature trees in the back yard.   And the driveway hill - oh my, how many ditch day lilies are there, mixed in with who knows what kinds of weeds and vines and such!

Fast forward to this spring, we had our own wooden fence installed to contain our dogs in the left side of the backyard above the driveway.   (Chain link is not approved by our historical society, it turns out.)   Here's what we have been working with these last few weeks:

Further down the driveway, this is what it looked like:

   We saw the granite stones along the bottom of the hill and wondered what we might find if we dug around little bit. My husband started digging, pulling back the vinca and ivy, removing out the mud and root balls of weeds and day lilies, and this is what he uncovered:

The entire length of the driveway is bordered by a storm drain made out of granite pieces and cement.   

It took quite a few days of digging and pulling and shoveling, but we have gone from this:

To this:

On the hill we left the vinca, but took out the vast majority of the day lilies - there just weren't very many of them flowering, and they looked so weedy.  We took out loads and loads of vines, weeds, and debris.  We still have several stumps from old shrubs to dig out of the hill.   Once that's done, I think I'll plant some large hostas down the length of the hill.   With those and the vinca that will grow back in, this hill should look quite a bit more manicured than before.

We haven't completely finished the driveway project... down near the street there's about 10-15 feet on both sides that still needs to be cleared out.  

But for today, I'm enjoying the view on the upper portion, and feeling proud of our accomplishments!

Working on this property is such a labor of love.   There's ALWAYS something else that needs to be done - weeds to pull, trees to trim, plants to move.   Slowly but surely we are turning this little half acre of Baltimore history into our home.   

Thanks so much for dropping by.   I'd love to hear from you, please leave a comment to say hello!

In case you missed it, here's a quick recap of how we cleaned up the wild, crazy flowerbed beside the stone stairs to the driveway.    I tell you what, there are a ka-jillion spots just like this in our yard that need to be cleaned up and taken care of.  Here's one more crossed off the list:

While we're talking about yard transformation... (were we?) ... the North Side Yard garden is one of our best accomplishments this year.   So many hours (and dollars) have gone into making this a great place for relaxing.  Check it out!

I'd love it if you would follow me on Facebook and Pinterest.  You'll get more tips and information about making your yard and garden a special place for you and your family, and it'll be fun to share ideas and stuff! 

  

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Linking to:

Metamorphosis Monday - Between Naps on the Porch

The Scoop - Stonegable

Wow Us Wednesday - Savvy Southern Style

Home and Garden Thursday - A Delightsome Life

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