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My current project involves tidying up the backyard. It's a quarter acre block that has been pretty much ignored for the last few years and is in dire need of a makeover. I've been researching ideas on how to improve it and utilise the space better. To begin with, I'm focusing on removing the "bad" stuff (weeds, overgrowth, etc) and making it more manageable.

The yard itself is fairly plain and on a gentle slope. There's a steady 3 metre drop from the back fence line to the front yard, so the rain mostly runs right through. The soil is a black soil that gets very soggy when wet, then shrinks and forms huge cracks when it dries. Some of the cracks are so big you're in real danger of tripping and twisting an ankle in them. All this movement in the soil causes the Hills Hoist to tilt at alarming angles, gates and doors to be stuck closed and then suddenly swing open, and the house to shift and creak on it's stumps. It also causes random dips and holes to form in the yard, making mowing a tedious bumpy affair.

The main trees are two big mango trees on the southern side of the yard - one a stringy/turpentine, and the other a huge Bowen. They often have bumper crops, but it's difficult keeping the flying foxes and the rainbow lorikeets away from them. 

![Yard_Tales_01_Mango_Trees_01.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/sammie/PamFuwxG-Yard_Tales_01_Mango_Trees_01.jpg)
*I love the mango trees for their shade and all the birdlife they attract.*


A few years ago they built a large townhouse complex almost right to our property line in the back corner. Because of the slope a retaining wall had to be built and clean fill trucked in. While this was under construction we had a number of big rain storms and that brown, clay-ey fill washed through the yard, between the mango trees, through the outdoor covered area, and right through under the house. It left a slippery coating on the concrete and was a huge pain to clean up. It also introduced a heap of new weeds to the yard. These flourish wildly in that back corner and really need to be dealt with. There's also an annoying dip along the edge of the retaining wall that's filled with bits of concrete that the mower unfortunately always seems to find.

![Yard_Tales_01_Back_Corner.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/sammie/CUphUjDi-Yard_Tales_01_Back_Corner.jpg)
*This corner is neglected, full of weeds, and super painful to mow. That long grass is growing in the dip along the retaining wall.*


**My initial 3 big yard improvement goals are:**

1. To trim the lower branches of the mango trees to allow easier access underneath.

2. To tidy the build up of leaves and branches on the ground underneath the mango trees and move it all to the compost heap. This is going to be a big job.

3. To tidy up the back corner, removing as many weeds as possible and leveling out the big dip along the retaining wall. This should make it easier to effectively mow this section.

![Yard_Tales_01_Mango_Trees_02.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/sammie/8jVzVloT-Yard_Tales_01_Mango_Trees_02.jpg)
*A huge mess under there. Fallen branches, leaves, and strange plants.*

**Progress**

I made a start on Tasks 1 & 2 this weekend. Most of the lower lower mango branches have been trimmed and are piled up for the compost. Part of the ground cover has been cleared with the rake. I found so many baby mango trees that had sprouted. These all had to be removed. 

I was able to use some of the ground cover as mulch around other plants and the rest went into the compost bin. The plan for next weekend is to keep working on this, and to make a start on Task 3. Will hopefully have some good before and after photos to show!

Until next time,
@Sammie
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<center>*Original content created by @sammie, July 2020.*</center>