Remember earlier this week when we mentioned lining a garden pathway with newsprint to help create a weed barrier? Well, that was a big part of our weekend—check out what the efforts of all that digging, weeding, newspaper laying, and mulching wound up looking like.

After a little planning and a lot of sweating buckets in the summer sun (that's right, we worked right through the day when temps in our Texas backyard hit 102 degrees—with lots of water breaks), my husband and I wound up with these awesome pathways for our raised bed gardens. They're even lined with cedar mulch that was responsibly sourced right here in our state. The paths make our raised veg beds much more inviting and cohesive—it's even better to walk out there in the early morning to check on the plants and harvest tomatoes.

It was time to start thinking about our fall garden, so we were able to trim back some of our tuckered-out tomato plants and ready the bed for a crop of fall squash (which we hope won't succumb to the same vine borers we battled earlier this season).

We also made sure to become more water-efficient, adding soaker hoses (which ran us between $7 and $11 bucks a pop) to each of our beds and coming up with a watering schedule that will save us gallons and moolah in the long run.

This is the first phase of our backyard makeover. Plans for a patio, our own Unwaste Station compost bin, and even more gardening space are in the works! What do you think? Have any tips or suggestions for our backyard space?

Related posts:
• Combatting Garden Foes: The Squash Vine Borer
• What's the Most Efficient Way to Water Your Garden?
• Gardening Tip: Use Newspaper as Weed Blocker

(Images: Amber Byfield for Re-Nest)