My summer project

When we moved into this house over a year ago, I knew there were things that would have to be done to make it a house that makes us happy. One of those things, is the back garden. It's not as large as we'd like, and in no way is it child-friendly. And with Elliot being so energetic and active, it seems a waste to not be able to just throw open the back door and let him run free. Which is why the back garden is my summer project! Wish me luck, here's a list of what needs to happen.

1) We need to find a new home for the sorry pond fish in that garden pond. Because we're going to fill it up. We considered putting a little fence around it to make it child-friendly, but who were we kidding? We're too lazy to look after the little things and I'm surprised they're still alive.

2) Next, we have to get rid of that filthy roof-bit on top of our decking. Not only is it disgusting to look at, it also blocks any light into my kitchen window. Then we'll have to put a little bannister around the rest of the decking.

3) You can't really tell from the third photo, but our back lawn is split into two levels. There are concrete steps down to those tiles. We're going to remove all the concrete tiles and tear down the pergola. I want the lawn to be one level across. And I have to remove the huge rosebushes. At our last barbecue last summer, a little girl almost fell into the thorny roses.

4) That last picture shows where the previous owner had a greenhouse. When he moved out, he left all these bricks and rocks and his old garden pots. We need to clear all of that out and replace it with my lawn. Grass everywhere is the look I'm going for. Maybe with some more interesting looking flowers and shrubs around the border. Something with actual COLOUR which is seriously lacking in our garden at the moment. I like clematis, does anyone else have any suggestions? Something colourful most of the year round, fairly low-maintenance?

Now that I've listed it like that, it doesn't seem to be that large of a job. I wonder how much of the work N and I can do. Is that realistic? With a new baby being born in the next 7 weeks?