Day 1: Revamp, Redo, Rehab

Let's Start at the Beginning...

First, there was this.

And this.

I mean seriously, who's idea was it to paint this fence Macaroni & Cheese ORANGE?! There are several reasons why this was horrendous (and I know that this doesn't need much explaining, it's the definition of eyesore), the first of which being I'm a die-hard Georgia Bulldog. 
I literally cringe at the sight of anything orange. 

This was my personal nightmare. It had to go. 

So my roommate and I decided on a color and we painted. And painted. And painted. 

It took two solid weekends but we finally covered up the orange with a bright Kelly Green. 
Perfect.

Next, the hideous monster weed had to go too. 

Not only was it prime breeding ground for swarms of very thirsty mosquitos, but it was dominating our prime outdoor real estate! And as two City Girls on a budget, we couldn't afford to lose any precious square footage to the blood-sucking mosquito breeder. 

Finally, with that huge plant gone, we discovered we had more backyard than we ever realized! 

(I mean seriously, can you believe this is the same space??)

Naturally, upon discovering that the previous tenants had left us five very large, very durable outdoor planters, my mind went crazy with daydreams of lush container gardens, filled with beautiful flowers, humming birds, and bumble bees... 

...Granted, I may have also been dressed like Snow White and tra-la-la-ing these little critters into being extremely efficient helpers...

(I'm a kid of the 90s--I obviously believe that if you sing nicely enough to woodland creatures they'll help you with all of life's mundane tasks).

But here's the catch--my backyard gets very little sunlight. 

I mean, it is the city and while everything around us is only a five-story walkup (could be worse!), we are nestled neatly between several buildings so really only dappled sunlight gets through... 

Translation: my hopes of a Bippity-Boppity-Booping my garden into a lush floral paradise were as fictional as white mice turning into well-dressed henchmen to chauffeur me around the city.

Not one to be easily deterred, I figured it was time to hit the pavement and do some homework--figure out which plants would be best for a sunlight deprived outdoor space. 

Luckily, the Big Apple is full of incredibly knowledgable and friendly people who know TONS about gardening. 

Armed with the question of: 
"so what do you have that would do well in the near cave-like conditions of my backyard?"
(ok, ok, maybe I'm exaggerating, but you could sit out there all day long in the summer slathered in oil and never burn)

I scoured books and picked brains until I finally purchased some hardy, shade-lovin' plants...

Since it was Fall and the growing season was drawing to a quick close, I opted for some Autumn classics--kale, mums and boxwoods. 

Sure, I wasn't exactly creating any show-stopping container garden designs just yet, but it was definitely a start and our sad little backyard was taking its first steps toward rehabilitation!