After several visits, a few rounds of negotiations, and signing our names a gazillion times, my wife and I moved into our new home on May 15, 2009. Those initial visits allowed me to get an overview of what I was getting into. Now that I'm officially here, I can dive into a little more detail. My father-in-law, who was visiting from Austria, grabbed his much-nicer-than-mine camera and took a bunch of pictures for me. It's time to see what I have to work with.

First, I see that I don't actually have a garage. Since there's no door, this is technically a carport. That will be changing soon.

I see I have a side yard to the left of the driveway that is quite overgrown. I'll have to dig in and see what all of this is.

I see I've got a mature barkless tree next to the garage that, thanks to my realtor, I now know is a crape myrtle. It's surrounded by some variety of ornamental grass.

I see I've got a large bush cluster next to the crape myrtle that looks like it has the potential to overtake the garage if left unchecked.

I use the term "bush cluster" because it is actually two separate bushes that have grown together, which can be seen a little more clearly in the photo above. One of my new neighbors was kind enough to identify the two red-ish shrubs as loropetalums. The two green shrubs to the right of the steps are some variety of Holly. I have no idea what's in the planters on the porch.

I've got some kind of tall shrub/small tree to the left of the pine tree in the photo above. To the right of the pine tree is what I later learned is a flowering dogwood tree.

The very tall pine tree dominates this side of the yard. It looks like it's dropped a few branches over the years. But it seems to be doing well otherwise.

I see something familiar ! The large tree in the center of the photo above is a Sweetgum. I know this because I had one in my front yard in Columbia, Missouri.

And I see I've got a lot of grass to mow.

There is another tall pine tree to the right of the Sweetgum in the photo above.

The photo above is another view of the giant pine tree next to the driveway with the dogwood tree in the foreground.

The mailbox area features an odd-looking shrub. While it seems to be ok from this angle, the other side is a bit weathered. Symmetry isn't one of its strong suits.

And by "weathered," I mean that it looks like it's been broken off a few times, possibly by someone overshooting the driveway. This isn't the healthiest looking shrub I've ever seen. But it's green and growing.

The photo above is another view of the abundance of grass in the front yard. I'll do a lot of walking each time I cut the grass. This is good because I need the exercise.

At the time these pictures were taken, what I knew as "gardening" consisted of nothing beyond keeping the grass cut and the bushes trimmed. After I moved in, I looked at this yard and figured I would be ok because I could do both of those tasks quite well. What was before me was just a bigger version of what I had been doing for decades.

Actually "planting" something, however, was another story. My experience in trying to actually put something in the ground and get it to grow was mainly limited to filling in the bare spots in the grass. And that was hit or miss at best.

I knew I could handle the maintenance requirements of a larger yard. But in case I ever got the urge to try my had at actual "landscaping," I now have a giant blank canvas of a front yard at my disposal.

There's plenty of room here in case I want to embark on a landscaping project in the future.

The photo above is another shot of the Sweetgum tree.

My father-in-law must have really liked the Sweetgum tree because he took several pics of it during his visit.

The biggest drawback of a Sweetgum tree is the abundance of those small "grenades" it drops all over the place. Mowing them sounds like fireworks. Walking barefoot in my yard is not advisable under any circumstances !

Looking into the backyard, I see a lot of tall grass and shrubs that look like they haven't been trimmed in a long time. The ornamental grass seen in the photo above looks identical to what surrounds the crape myrtle next to the garage. I also see something that looks like it has fallen over near the neighboring fence.

In other words, I see I've got a lot of work to do with just basic maintenance. Grass needs cut, bushes need pruned, weeds need pulled, leaning dead trees need to be removed, etc. The best part is that all of those tasks fall under basic maintenance, something that I'm very familiar with and have been doing for decades. And I've got all summer to get everything done.