Our work on the enclosed area of the yard (which we have dubbed “Phase 1”) is largely done for now, which means we can move into “Phase 2,” which will be the orchard on the side of the driveway and down to the area beside the shed in the backyard. We figured out where we want the fence to go (the driveway section of fence is already started), and it will terminate at the yellow gate, enclosing the landscaped section on the west side of the yard. There is a partial stone staircase there, but it stops half way down the hill and the rest of the way is just mud. We’ve both fallen on the hill and it’s super hard to get up and down. Building a proper staircase was on the list but we can’t afford it for a little while, so that’s on hold. We are able to get the area ready in the meantime, however, so we started trimming the plants back and one thing led to another… and we decided to remove the junipers completely.

After the giant junipers were trimmed back, we discovered that the stone stairs didn’t stop halfway down the hill, they turned and continued under the overgrown bushes!

I weeded them then scraped all the built up mud off with a trowel, uncovering the stairs. They come down right in front of the shed door, and with a few new rocks and a rejig of the old ones it will work perfectly! No need to build an expensive set of stairs after all, woo hoo!