Front Yard Landscaping
The above image shows the condition of the landscaping back in the mid 1990s. However, in 2012, after several years without maintenance, this area was in very poor shape. The landscaping timbers were rotting. The ground was starting to erode, and the shrubs were much taller - almost up to the windows. The front yard needed a total renovation. This was a also trip hazard to little kids from both next-door houses constantly running back and forth through the area.
No photos were taken of the work done in 2012. It was a very big job. A lot of gravel had to be hauled away, and sod was purchased to cover the bare spot. The shrub bed on the opposite side of the porch was removed a couple of years later, after a digital camera had been purchased.
The strip of concrete blocks was put it to stop rain running off the roof from eroding a trench through the new grass, but don't tell the cats. They think that the blocks are just there as a convenient cat-walk.