Need Ideas - Help me!!! Summer Projects- BEFORE

In September we bought and moved into our new home. It's the first time we've bought a foreclosed property and it does need a little bit of work. Most of that work is yard work. Which kind of makes me cringe and also kind of makes me happy - I love the thought of doing this yard EXACTLY how I want it (well almost exactly - but budget conscience exactly). We did landscape our previous yard and hopefully learned a few things which will help us with our new yard.

This is the view of our new front yard last summer. It looks neglected and sad - the backyard is even worse and quite a bit of space to work on. It needs plants, plants and more plants!!!

 Plans for the front include watering the grass - duh! The previous owner did at least install a sprinkler system even if they didn't turn it on. Also I have already removed the ugly bushes and transplanted them all on the north side of the house. Evergreens should go on the north side to protect the house in the winter, so that's where I moved them. Hopefully they survive the transplant!

I've scoured the water-wise plant guides and resources and have picked a few of my favorites.

Already planted one Limber Pine and two Australian Pines on the north side of the house. The Limber Pine is doing well, but the needles on the Australian Pines are orange - not sure why.

We also planted a HUGE Northern Red Oak in the middle of the backyard. Our backyard is unfortunately facing west and will be pretty hot until that tree starts shading us. It will eventually be up to 80' tall x65' wide!!! I'm so excited about this tree!!!

We planted a few fruit trees too with plans to plant more this spring. We have enough room to plant quite a few trees so hopefully the kids will leave the poor things alone.

We have also already moved a dump truck-load of dirt into the flower beds in front and back. The yard needs even more dirt in the back. The previous owner did ZERO landscaping in the backyard. I take that back, they did lay some sod on top of the ground and then not water it or anything. I'm kind of glad they didn't do anything though, because most people just do 100% grass and I only want to do maybe 30% grass. I'm also particular about what plants I put in the ground and like to have lots of water-wise plants. We do live in a DESERT after all.

Other projects on the agenda:

Fencing the yard

As much as I would like to have a $5000-$8000 fence surrounding my yard - it just isn't in the budget. I found the above pictured fence online and think it will fit perfectly with the style of our new home and our cost conscientiousness. Installing a fence is our number one priority this spring. Keeping our little kiddos off the road is a big concern when we go outside. A fence will help SOOO much!

In-ground or above ground trampoline:

The next priority after fencing is backyard entertainment for said kiddos!!! I found the above pictured project online and we're seriously considering doing an in ground trampoline instead of one with the safety net. I remember being bounced off our trampoline when I was a kid and I seriously had the wind knocked out of me. Luckily nobody ever broke a bone or anything, but trampoline safety is no joke. The biggest question I have is will this work? I don't want to dig a giant pit in my yard only to have to fill it back up later.

Fire pit! and paved areas:

I found these fire pit pictures online too and I would LOVE to have one of these. I have no idea how hard it is to build one or how much it costs though. It looks expensive. Not sure if it's in the budget, but I would love some entertainment for us big kids while the little kids play and run around. I would also love to get to know our neighbors and roasting hot dogs and marshmallows seems like the perfect way to do just that.

We definitely want to pave a lot of our backyard. I've drawn my backyard master plan on graph paper and there is A LOT to do!

We'll have to see if we can fit it in the budget for this year or if it will have to wait until next year...