Once the septic was buried and the lot was cleared I worked with the excavator to regrade the hillside, then put in flagstone steps and rock retaining walls in front. New asphalt driveway curves up to the cottage. Seeded the bare slope with straw mulch for erosion control and ringed everything with fresh dark mulch beds.
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Before Old roadside stone wall before — overgrown but salvageable as the spine of the new beds.
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During Mulch dropped curbside, ready to spread across the new beds.
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During Both machines back working the lakeside yard. Logs and stone staged for the patio.
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During Fresh mulch beds, flagstone going down, more stone stacked for the next phase.
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During Security cam fisheye showing the deck stairs and the ladder laid across the new mulch yard.
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During Overhead camera view of the front-yard hardscape mid-project.
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Footpath through dense pachysandra. Decided to keep this trail and just clean it up.
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After Slope freshly seeded and strawed for erosion control. First good rain would tell us if it took.
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After More straw along the tree line. Mulch borders edge the lawn from the woods.
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After Lakeside yard seeded and strawed after the regrade.
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After Front hillside graded smooth with fresh dark soil ready for seed.
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After Stone steps and the retaining wall in, mulch beds dressed.
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After Hillside in front of the cottage finished and mulched.
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After Stone steps and rock walls walking up to the entry. Reads like the cottage was built for this approach.
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After New asphalt driveway curving up to the house. First time in years you could drive up without bottoming out.
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After Same drive from the lake side. Mulch beds, seeded grass, finally a finished property.
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After Security camera view of the new driveway and mulch border. Last shot of the landscape phase.
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