Old House My House

Here in Brooklyn, as the Farmer's Almanac predicted, we have had a particularly cold and snowy winter, especially compared to the last few snow-free ones. The past couple of days, though, have presented a lovely sneak peek of what's around the corner: sunshine, temps in the 50's―SPRING! We even had a early-rising beetle flying around our apartment yesterday! Of course, a blizzard will probably hit next week, but I thought that in honor of these mild days, I would further elaborate on our outdoor space.

Back in mid-December, we were also blessed with a small window of record-high temp days, which fortunately coincided with the scheduled time for our backyard to be overhauled―regrading, hardscaping (brick patio, retaining wall, and steps to back area), new fence posts on both sides installed, and, of course, landscaping.

Enter Bob Reitmeyer of Chelsea Garden Center, with his wonderful, incredibly efficient crew. We applaud Bob―who lead his team and personally and perfectly cut and laid down the beautiful herringbone pattern of bricks on our patio―for making the whole yard so pretty and functional. If you had a chance to watch the "Back" web cam, you would have been amazed by the speed and scope of the transformation that began on December 15th and was completed on December 19th right before snow began to blanket the newly paved patio and wall. Check out the archived time lapse shots).

The row houses in our wonderful neighborhood typically have extra-deep lots compared to many other brownstone neighborhoods―130 ft. vs. 100 ft. This may seem puny to many of you, but here in the heart of NYC, a 20 ft x 90 ft backyard is absolute heaven! For us, a sizable yard was a requirement to give our three sons easy access to the great outdoors. Our plan includes a brick patio for dining/grilling/entertaining, then two steps up to the back third of the yard, which we are praying will have enough sunlight to sustain a nice lawn for the boys to romp around on. The downside of our extra-deep lots in the late summer is the abundance of hungry mosquitoes. We hope that citronella candles will minimize their buzzing.

Bob's crew also planted some beautiful bushes and trees, which we should be watching bloom after we move into the house (!). There are two white birches by the wall, and in front of the mud/guest room window, we chose a dogwood, a favorite of my father's, so he can enjoy it when he visits. We can't wait to see its first flowers in our little back yard!!