Shoestring Gardening: Condo Landscaping on a Budget
When Red I and I moved from Los Angeles, we bought our place in Chelsea sight unseen. We were actually looking to rent, but the owners of another unit said that we were a "financial risk," and said that they were going to look for someone else to rent it to. Now I admit, I have a hard time saying no to a challenge. If this woman says I'm a financial risk, well then I'm going to just buy a place instead. In the long run it worked out better for me. Red and I bought a loft at a steal, our mortgage is a few hundred dollars less a month than renting would be, and that rental unit sat unoccupied for a few months. The only problem was, we weren't that familiar with the neighborhoods of Boston. Case in point, if I had ever seen Chelsea, I probably wouldn't have moved to Chelsea. The building had just been renovated into artist lofts, and most people, like us, were first time home buyers. We were sold on the idea that Chelsea was an "up and coming" neighborhood. If you've never been to Chelsea, its pretty much the ghetto. The grittiness of the neighborhood fostered a sense of community, and many summer nights were spent drinking in the courtyard. After the first year we realized that the builder has cut a few corners.
Renovated during the height of the housing boom, the developer had cut costs wherever possible. The brick needed to be repointed, and the landscaping was sorely in need of an overhaul. Problem was, that there was no money in the budget for landscaping, and no landscape architect to offer advice. Fast forward four and a half years. Red ran to be a trustee on the condo board, on the platform of being "a doer." He volunteered to tackle the landscaping, and he was going to do some of the work himself to keep the costs down. The budget had money for regular maintenance, but not much left over. From what people tell me, Chelsea used to be home to a giant clay pit, that supplied bricks to Boston. To say the least, the soil sucks. To make a long story short, lots of plants have died. (yes many plants were hurt in the making of this story.) One of the biggest eye-sores was what we call the "pee mound;" A large mound of packed dirt and mulch next to the dumpster, that all the dogs pee on. It was ugly, smelled bad, and quite frankly depressed me as I walked past it everyday. Red had the brilliant idea of digging the dirt out, and building a raised box out of railroad ties. Once we filled it in with potting soil and peet moss, we could plant flowers, and bushes.
Most people were really receptive to the idea, but when the quote came back from the landscaping company, it dwarfed the landscaping budget. Never one to take no for an answer, Red decided he would build the box himself. He spent just over $600, and two weekends of work. Pressure treated lumber, rebar, and six inch galvanized studs from home depot, transformed a dark smelly mound into a pretty raised flower bed. Now the only problem is that it makes other parts of the property look worse.
What do you think? Does it look good, or am I biased. What other things could we do to improve the landscaping on a budget, and if anyone knows of a way to get rid of dirt let me know.
~Meghan
