What to do with our big sad yard?

robwallis

Hello all. We are first time buyers, and we bought this big yellow house on Christmas Eve 2008. We love it, but we don't know what to do with the backyard. with its pretty palm trees and lots of weeds, rocks, and bumpy hard clay. The neighbors behind us moved out recently, probably because they got tired of looking at our sad yard. Somebody tell us what we should do with this space; we are tired of looking at it. Thanks! Rob

http://www.roomzaar.com/rate-my-spac...si?oid=8112941

farmerde

Well, first off, stop wasting precious water resources by watering weeds. Secondly, what do you use the space for and more importantly, how much are you willing to spend $$$?

Plumb And Light

I've seen backyards that are much worse...at least you have some living grass back there. Think about building a small garden.

DIYtestdummy

$$$. Figure out what you like by going to nurseries and look at yards around you area. Budget - yes, you will probably blow your budget once everything starts flowing, but that doesn't mean you have to buy the most expensive plants or materials. Get some help - even if they don't help dig, friends and family can offer suggestions and they will be the ones who will be in your backyard enjoying the landscape.

What would I do? Replace the fence, dig up the grass, or at least dig out the weeds and reseed, plant a border garden around the perimeter in front of the fence, maybe add a water feature and an arbor or pergola. BBQ GRILL - definite necessity! But that's just me.

__________________
"Aw! Why does everything that only happens to stupid people happens to me?" - Homer J. Simpson

Tess

The trellis stubs... BUT the backyard's a blank slate.

What kind of work are you thinking about doing yourself, and what are you thinking about hiring others to do?

Hurriken

The bright side is it is a blank canvas. The first thing I would do is build a pergola to fit the current brackets. They did you a favor there. Find some local varieties of climbing vines and pick one that you like. I would add an outdoor fire place (check local laws) a grill and some nice patio furnishings with a table. Large pots with plants to finish the patio. You have an advantage being in CA you don't have the bug problems we have in the midwest!

The fence looks bad. Is the wood still strong? If it is buy wood brightener conditioner and scrub the fence doen with some brushes. It is hard work but it works good. Let it dry at least a few days and paint the fence. Of course fix anything that is broken.

After that you have an awesome canvas. I'm assuming you have no kids because...I see no toys. A garden is nice but a lot of work and I'm sensing that isn't what you want. I would do some kind of rock gardens with perrenial plants and shrubs that don't require a lot of maintenance. Since I'm a fish guy I'd do a pond but that is a lot of work also.

biggles

airating it and seeding it right after T-Day with something for your area might give you a suprise in the spring..and my opinion is never bag the lawn mulch it back in.doesn't look like a snowy area with that palm tree? some nice border planting will define the driveway

sdsester

First thing I would do is tape it off and get it scaled to paper or the computer so you can see and explore what you have. Then I would play with it to see where design elements would fit. Plow through landscaping books and adapt things you like to your plan. Spend a little money and have a professional landscape designer and/or your local nursery polish it for you. Phase what you can and should do first, second, etc.

Scuba_Dave

I think maybe they just posted this trying to get people to vote on that site

robwallis

Thank you all for the great advice; I apologize for not replying before now. We got so caught up with other stuff that I forgot I posted it!

We have removed the grass and put in a drip system. Soon we plan to put trees, shrubs, and a water feature, but no grass. I will keep you posted.

And, we still haven't figured out what to do with the brackets, but the pergola is a possibility.

Rob