Something That Resembles Progress
It has been a little over a year since I first marched out to our backyard, ripped out a chunk of grass, and declared war. It was the beginning of a major project that I swore I would blog about just as soon as it was done. Weeks and months went by and, honestly, I have no idea what I wrote about all last summer because GAH! All I did was work in that yard.
And it's still not finished.
But, as I stood at the back edge of the yard this past weekend, trying to figure out exactly where the playhouse is going to be built (that project is on deck and happening soon...OR ELSE), I looked around at the changes that would need to happen to accommodate that playhouse and realized A Truth.
The yard is NEVER going to be done.
Seriously, never.
But it has come a very long way.
Now that I have fully accepted that Done is as elusive as a rainbow-maned unicorn, I think I'm just going to go ahead and post some progress photos. I'm going to do that super annoying thing and point out all the flaws while I'm at it.
First of all, this is what we started with:
And that would be NOTHING. (The photo was taken April 2010, FYI.)
There was a hideous retaining wall that did nothing except direct rain water towards the house. There was a depression that held that rainwater right in front of the back door. There were dead spots and weeds and pretty much the only place we had decent grass was up against the house. The "patio" was made up of the concrete slabs that used to be our front sidewalk. It was a mess.
But then I started digging.
The idea was to start with the pond, but Mother Nature had something to say about that. It rained a ton last year (not as much as this year, but still, a lot). The drainage in our backyard is . . . um . . . lacking. As in, there is no drainage. It's solid clay and gravel, so when it would rain, water would sit in that hole until I pumped it out. Seriously, it was 4-feet deep and filled with water for weeks on end. I finally gave up on my pond dreams and we switched to putting in the patio.
Which, by the way, will never happen again. EVER. I have no idea how it is that our marriage survived all of the Epic Suckness that is putting in a patio, but NEVER AGAIN. In fact, there are no during photos of the patio part of the project because there was no way I was putting down my rubber mallet to grab the camera. I needed to be prepared to defend myself, yo. As did the husband.
Fast forward to today, and here's a photo from the same basic spot as that first before photo:
HOLLA!
First of all, we still don't have a deck. Let's just pretend that I don't care about that part. I do, but let's pretend I don't. (Side note: Anybody want to give us a few thousand dollars so we can build it? No? Damn.)
Closer looky-looks at what we've done. First, the pond:
That's the back side of the pond. The big black box on the right holds the filtration and pumps. It'll be hidden just as soon as I manage to get myself a truck load of top soil. First, though, I have to fix the fact that it leaks. Like a mofo. It has rained so much that it hasn't mattered, but I really need to tear apart the seam in the front and fix that bad boy. It'll only take a few minutes, but I need there to be no rain in the forecast for a few days before I touch it.
Here's the pond from another angle:
See? The big black box is super annoying. It won't be for long, but still. ANNOYING.
The bottom section of the pond is four-feet deep and 8 feet in diameter. It houses about six fish and a kajillion frogs right now, with many more about to get added. The upper section has two waterfalls and is only two-feet deep, but the water moves FAST up there. Don't fall in. You will not make it out intact.
As for the garden, most of the plants came from our old house. We had a ghetto garden in the driveway at this house for a looooong time.
I bet you wish your garden looked that good.
The amazing part is that a TON of plants survived in that little pool for over a year. In fact, I bought very few new plants last year, instead opting to see what would happen with the perennials that we moved.
Good things happened with the perennials that we moved.
All of the plants in that photo except for three once lived in that kiddy pool. For example, the very giant thing in the middle started as one lonely stem when it first went into the ground. Now I'm ready to rip it all out because it's out of control (It's an Obedient Plant. Go figure.)
We also rebuilt that retaining wall so that it made a little more sense and added a set of stairs.
I still need to stain the wall and stairs to blend with the house, but that would require that it stop raining for more than ten minutes. (Do you like how one row of the retaining wall is stained? I sure do. It's so special!)
The stain is in the garage and ready to go because it's left from this:
Not the bench. The patio. It's made up of the leftover concrete slabs that used to be our front sidewalk and super-cheap concrete slabs from Home Depot. I stained everything a color that was supposed to be dark brown but actually looks red. I'll probably try to fix that later in the summer because it does drive me nuts. I want BROWN. Not red. Except the bench...it's allowed to be red.
All told, the patio is 24'x24'. It looks smaller in photos, though.
If I ever clear off Alexis' teeter-totter and find new patio furniture, that'll probably help make it seem a little roomier. In the meantime, meh. It's perfectly usable. Actually, it's more than usable--it's actually really nice to sit out there.
It'll be even better once I finish the back edge of the garden area, adding some trees and shrubs so that we end up with a bit of privacy. I also can't wait for a few more plants to fill in some parts, but that will just take time. Oh, and then there's the fire pit that needs to be permanently installed in the garden.
I'll be working in the yard until Alexis graduates high school. Or longer.
And I'll be loving every second of it.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Reader Comments (17)
Gorgeous! Amazing work, mama!
This looks amazing! You should be proud.
I really, really, really can't believe you did all that yourself! As someone who 1.Does NOT have a green thumb, and 2. Does NOT have the ability to plan spaces well, I am amazed. Also, where did you get that bench and for how much please?
@Jen--The bench is from Garden Ridge in Robinson. I don't remember exactly how much it was, but everything there is on the inexpensive side.
You are amazing (and so multi-talented!)! We are s-l-o-w-l-y working on our backyard. I'm the outdoorsy one in our couplehood and my husband is the one who does the upkeep (He won't let me touch his John Deere.) (That's what she said.) Anyhow, I have two questions: First, do you have steps leading up to your door from your patio? This is a hangup of ours because when we built the house we were thinking deck and now we're more on the patio side. And second, where will you put the firepit? This is currently in the works around our place, if it EVER FREAKIN' STOPS RAINING!!
I don't know what you're complaining about... that all looks incredible! So sayeth the perennial apartment dweller...
WOW! That looks phenomenal... like the site of a million fun backyard games and parties! You do good work.
Please. Please come do mine. It's zero-lot-line wide by 100 ft' long and filled with weeds a rusty playset. Oh, and one random rose bush that has survived the loss of the Ex. I lost my yard-boy and boy does it show.
Great Job!!! Can I fly you down to Houston to do the landscaping around the front of my house? It is basically the same as your previous backyard, there is NOTHING there, so it should be easy for you, right? In all seriousness, you did an amazing job and it looks great.
WOW. I am SUPER impressed. Y'all have done a great job!
FANTASTIC!!!! you did an amazing job! LOVE it! Wanna come over?
Ummm.... LOVE it! Seriously, that is awesome and gives me hope for our disaster of a deck that needs to be re-done. Great job!
WOW. What a huge difference that is! It is gorgeous! You did an amazing job!!!! :)
Ma'am, you rock the backyard projects. But the thing I love most about gardening is that you're never done. It's all in the way you look at it.
Damn, Momma. Just damn! You have some mad gardening skillz! I am learning to be very patient when it comes to gardening . . . as much as I want to have it all put in and it be done, it is just too expensive! We replaced our juniper bushes with a planter this past fall, and as soon as we get a little more warmth and a lot less rain, it has to be filled. I have started a bunch of plants inside and am hopeful that at least half of them will do well enough to transplant and save me a couple hundred dollars. You have every right to sit on that patio and be super proud of yourself!
You've definitely come a long way! Wow, love the patio and the pond and the red bench.
And my mom's been workin' on her yard since I was 16 months old, give or take... ;P
The before compared to where it is today - so amazing!