Sherri and I have owned our house for right at two years now. During that time, we have made it ours by making many improvements. When we bought the house, we wanted something we could upgrade and customize to our liking. Not quite a fixer-upper, but something that definitely needed some TLC. This time I am going to focus on the outside landscaping we've been working on. Next up, I will detail the interior upgrades.

Trees not only add significant value to property, but, if placed properly, can lower electric bills year-round. We recently planted four new trees. Two 3" caliper Cleveland Select Pears (15' tall each) and two 6" caliper Red Oaks. The oaks were planted in the back yard, while the pears went up front to go with our large Bradford Pear.

When we moved into the house, the fence was in terrible shape. It seemed that with each passing thunderstorm, another section of fence blew over. We decided to have on 110' section on the west side of the house replaced first. About 6 month later, the fence on the east side of the house (85') blew over as well. We ended up replacing it with the same 6' board on board capped fence as was on the west side. Just last month, we had the back fence (north) replaced as well. While this is a different type of fence (per the neighbors request), it also has metal polls sunk in concrete and should last us for years to come.

Additionally, I recently planted 13 red-tipped photinias along the back fence. Right now they are only about 12 inches tall, but they grow quickly and can get up to 25' tall! This should definitely add a lot more backyard privacy in the coming years.

Below are some before/after shots of the work we have done.

Backyard: West View

Backyard: East View

Frontyard: Before

Frontyard: After