 Grading the edges. After the driveway was complete, Michael decided to regrade the section of front yard beside the new driveway. Note the line about three feet to the left of the driveway, where Michael removed the topsoil to expose the old yard surface. Michael laid out the topsoil shortly before the driveway was poured, which meant taking up substantial areas of the topsoil later. |
 Another Big Rock. When Michael began to grade the yard beside the driveway, he encountered yet another rock. |
 The Biggest Rock. It was a very heavy rock, but came out of the ground fairly easily by rocking it back and forth with a pick while shovelling gravel in underneath it. |
 A Big Rock Removed. This last rock was too heavy to move, but the hand truck worked well enough. |
 Covered With Dirt. Topsoil was spread out over the gravel once all the final grading was done. |
 Detail of Pipe Outlet. Finally, all the topsoil which had been previously spread on the front yard was broken up and raked out to level everything out, and grass seed was planted. |
 Mailbox. We also repainted the mailbox and added new letters and numbers. Mailboxes in this area are usually designed so that a snowplow can sweep its blade below the box without damaging the post. |
 Edge of Driveway. Here's a picture of the edge of our driveway and front yard, looking north. |
 Drain and Sidewalk. One of the luckiest breaks in the whole project was when Michael discovered a length of downspout in the garage that was longer than the old piece (so it ran all the way from the pipe above into the drain below), and wasn't all dented up like the old one was. In the end, we were very happy with how well it all looks. |
 A Finished Front Yard. Here it is: our newly completed front yard. Now all we have to do is wait for the grass to grow! |