I know… this is the post you’ve all been waiting on…. what did I do with the catio yard???

Well first… let me tell you, like the front garden, I thought I could get it done in a day. It would be a long day, but I was sure that is all it would take.

I was wrong…. so.very.wrong.

This is what it looked like when I got started:

Around the edges were several of the perrenials I brought from the town house. But the rest of it… it was a disaster of grass, weeds and Star of Bethlehem flowers.

Since the flowers had to be dug up and disposed of, I decided it was best to start there.

It’s a shame they are so invasive, because they are very pretty. But also totally out of hand. In fact, they were so out of hand that it took me a full day to dig them all up.

This is what the yard looked like at the end of that day:

I was pretty pleased with the results. Since the flowers had taken up so much of the yard, I figured I’d have the rest of the turf and weeds up in an hour or so the next day.

Nope.

That took another full day.

But finally, I had the yard clear and could start laying out paths and garden spaces. But I had to wait for a new day to do that.

Finally, I managed to get all my garden edging staked down, marking out my garden areas. And all the mulch down to mark out my pathways.

I started laying out my plants, and getting them all in the ground, but I ran out of mulch and soil to finish the job that day, so I waited to take final pictures.

Finally… the next day I was able to top up the soil and mulch all the garden areas and I could finally say it was finished.

Now technically it’s not because a garden is never truly finished. Like the front garden, the plants need to fill in and several of those empty spaces actually have bare root plants just waiting to burst forth.

So far, the only things in bloom are a pretty purple sage, and this neat little bleeding heart I found. It’s a different variety than the one I have in the front garden. This one will only get about 8 inches tall.

I also have to bring out some of my garden ornaments… AND I have the coolest outdoor pet bed coming for my spoiled little furballs.

I did string up some fun solar lights though.

They aren’t the best pictures, but you get the idea.

All in all, I’m thrilled with the transformation of the space. And I look forward to sharing with the you and the cats as it grows.