Landscaping Blues

I hate my yard. I've always hated my yard. This spring I'm going to get into debt and do something about the yard.

The issue, of course, is what, exactly, should I do?

I know I want a minimal-care minimal-astetic yard, possibly covered with stone or slow-growth ground cover. I need a watering system, including soaker hoses to "water" the foundation. There are huge cracks in my driveway that need repair and/or replacement. I need a better fence.

Then the "bonus" stuff -- a paved seating area in the front and back yards. Maybe an outdoor fireplace. A nice bird bath. New exterior doors and screen doors for the house. And my dream, a small hot tub or exercise pool. That's an expensive dream, though, and it also requires upkeep, which I suck at.

So how far into debt do I go? Would it be better to get all of this work done now so I don't have to mess with the hideous yard again? Or should I go gradually? If I do it all now I can get a home improvement loan with a nice, small interest rate. And I want to do that without touching my home equity if possible, since the last thing I want to risk is defaulting and loosing my home.

I think I'll go buy software tonight if my class finishes their assignments early. And maybe go to Half-Price Books. No, I should start at Amazon and see if I can find anything on mid-century gardens.

This is going to be complicated. I know I need to have two trees removed, so I'm going to try to deal with that this week and early next week. Then I'll make a priority schedule, and start getting quotes to see how much this will cost. I wish we had a home and garden show in town. That would be a time-saver.

On the bright side, I've been a little down because I've always said I would hire a house-cleaning service if I ever invited a man to live with me. All the avoided house-cleaning arguments would be worth the expense. Anyway, this week I've been upset because it's increasingly unlikley I'll ever be in that situation. I'll never know the joy of house-cleaning service. It's a stupid, little thing, but it upset me. On Sunday I realized I can hire a service once my Mom moves in. I don't have to be in a relationship to have a clean house -- another person is sufficient motivation.

(later)

I think I need to refinance my home first. I just looked at a calculator that said I could cut my monthly payments by $300. Yeah, I think I could live with that.