At my landscaping class last week, I think I learned the most important lesson of the class - I can’t do it all.

The instructor was showing us how to conduct a needs analysis for our yard. He started out by listing out a bunch of options we can choose from, and we identified which we were interested in. About halfway through, the guy next to me questioned my budget and time. I was raising my hand for too many items.

At first, I was a bit defensive. I thought, why can’t I dream big and make plans for way down the road. But then, after thinking about it, I realized thats why I have a hard time - it becomes too overwhelming. I hesitate painting my craft room because if I ever have children, I would want it a different color for them. I get caught up on the long-term future and forget that I may not even be in the same house at that time.

So back to the yard…my instructor suggested taking my initial list of my wants and narrowing them down to my top five. I’m focusing mostly on the backyard because I’m completely clueless what to do. I had to determine my objectives before narrowing the list.

I want to:

• barbeque on a grill
• sit around a chimenea
• access the swing/creek, birdfeeders, compost heap
• store the two kayaks
• have a relaxing, natural, but clean view

That tells me I need to focus on patios/decks, pathways, and retaining walls. I’m not sure this helps that much, but atleast I got some thoughts written down, as a first step.  The squirrel in the photo was chowing down on some stale breadcrumbs I put out on the deck.