“Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. It is the accumulative weight of our disciplines and our judgments that leads us to either fortune or failure.”  ~Jim Rohn

{Quotes by Jim Rohn, America’s Foremost Business Philosopher, reprinted with permission from Jim Rohn International ©2011. As a world-renowned author and success expert, Jim Rohn touched millions of lives during his 46-year career as a motivational speaker and messenger of positive life change. For more information on Jim and his popular personal achievement resources or to subscribe to the weekly Jim Rohn Newsletter, visit www.JimRohn.com.}

Our backyard isn’t very big, but it’s big enough to end up looking a mess without consistent attention.  Along the same lines as the housework issue I want to commit to working a little every day so I can have a beautiful, usable backyard.

So a few simple disciplines, practiced every day…

I have great dreams for our backyard.  It’s a odd layout because our house is built into a hill, but it has great potential despite it’s design.  The hill part you see in the picture poses some interesting challenges.  First, it has a great big, gorgeous oak tree smack dab in the middle.  Any sort of ground cover I get needs to require very little water or else I risk killing the oak.  Second, without ground cover it’s a scene from the Grapes of Wrath, with piles of dust accumulating everywhere.  Third, because of the great big, georgous oak tree, the area is covered with a mixture of full light and shade (dappled light, as I like to call it) which makes my head want to explode when trying to find plants.  And fourth, we’re on a budget!

So, yesterday (while walking the dogs) I had a thought about wildflowers and wondered if they would work.  I did some research and finally bought some wildflower seed that is supposed to be good as a ground cover, looks pretty, can handle dogs running through it, is perennial, doesn’t require too much water, can be planted in the fall, fits into our budget and will be okay in dappled light.  Here’s keeping my fingers crossed!

My job over the next 31 days will be to prepare the ground (a little section every day), plant the seed, water it, keep the dogs off it and pray, pray, pray.

As far as the overall maintenance of the yard, I think I will work up a little schedule, just like the one I have for household chores and commit to a different section every day.  I find it’s easier to tackle huge projects when I break them into small chunks.

Do you have a green thumb?  

“Can we still invite our friends over to play when the yard’s all pretty?”