Dave and Jan had been in their new house in Cedar City for around a month when work began on the landscaping of their property. Because some of their California Life Group (which has met each week this summer to pray together on Zoom) expressed disappointment that they haven’t seen any progress reports for several weeks, this post provides some information and photos of the ongoing process of yard work.  Much of the work in the front yard was a part of their purchase, to be completed by the builder, and they were very happy with the work which was done.  The red stone retaining wall, the plants behind it, and the railing were Dave and Jan’s additions (with building help on the railing), but the builder did the rest.

The next challenge was the north slope of the property (on the right side of the photo).  Because of the slope, it wasn’t of much use apart from more landscaping.  So two Blue Spruce trees, three Bar Harbor Junipers, and quite a few Russian Sage plants were planted along the slope, and gravel was added on top of the soil for color.  Because of the slope, sheets of black plastic with felt on one side were laid down beneath the rock to control weed growth and encourage the rock to stay in place.  The wheelbarrow in this photo outlived its usefulness under the weight of many loads of soil and rock, so it has become a flower bed near the northeast corner of the house.

The next project was the back yard (on the west).  Because its soil was rocky and hard and its surface was too far from smooth, two 18 cubit yard loads of top soil were added.  Someone driving by saw the loads and asked if Dave and Jan would like help smoothing the load, but he failed to show up as promised.  So the mounds of dirt were smoothed in the customary manner, with shovels, rakes and a newer wheelbarrow – and, yes, Jan got in on the fun!

The plan is to fence the back yard (dirt portion), plant (or have planted) a lawn with a sprinkler system, and raise a garden (in season) at the southwest corner of the property, so ten cubic yards of garden soil came next.

The latest project has been the installation of a red pavestone retaining wall around the south and west sides of the house to contain a pea gravel walkway to help keep shoes clean when wet and snowy weather arrives this fall.

One of the recent additions to the landscaping process was the delivery of two promised red boulders by the builder and their placement on a mound at the northeast corner of the property – completing the front yard landscaping.

The builder of Dave and Jan’s house owns around a dozen lots in the neighborhood and, as you can see, is hard at work building other houses (like the three visible in the photo below – one barely visible, but almost finished) for future neighbors Dave and Jan are looking forward to meeting.

As you can  tell, like Rush Limbaugh Dave and Jan are “having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have” as they continue to develop their property and adjust to the new realities of “Life Elevated” (Utah’s state motto) in Cedar City.  As the sign hanging on the front door says, Dave and Jan are “Thankful, Grateful [to the Lord] and Truly Blessed.”