Backyard progress

Last September we had a crumbling wall removed from our backyard and we removed all of our landscaping because it was dead and/or poorly planned. We decided to start with a blank canvas, you can read about the removal process here and here . Once the wall was removed we built a new fence that ran between us and our neighbors house which you can read about here. Once that was completed I became very busy with my holiday Etsy orders, the holiday Renegade Craft Fairs, visiting family and shopping for the holidays AND I found out I'm pregnant with our first child! Sooooo, between the busy schedule and the winter rains not a whole lot of work got done on the yard and it stayed a big, ugly, dirty, eyesore for awhile. Well, we have finally jumped full force into this makeover project and we have made some great progress!

The first thing that needed to be done was to rototill our backyard. I know a lot of people say rototilling is bad but our soil was so hard with clay soil it just needed to be turned and amended and there was no way either of us was getting out there and doing it with a shovel, especially when I was 6 months pregnant at this point. We added in some good mulch and some lawn starter soil with fertilizer. Although I didn't want any lawn at all we decided with a baby on the way and hopefully a dog in the near future a small patch of grass in the backyard would be a good thing.

Here my husband is just starting to rototill. Poor thing was so sore after this, it was really hard pushing that thing through our hard clay soil. As you can see in the background I stained our new fence.

Once we were done rototilling we planned out placement of our planter box and firepit area using flour. Next I decide to do something with the ugly grey fence.

Although we aren't crazy about this fence, overall it's sturdy and we didn't want to take on the time and expense of putting up another fence. I decided to give it a good cleaning and refreshed it with a dark brown stain. It's not great but it's better than how it looked. Once we get plants in the front of it I think the fence won't be very noticeable anymore.

During the winter months I spent a lot of time researching yards and coming up with plans. Our yard is very tiny and so the challenge was how to maximize the space so we could have all the things we wanted. The big things we both want is a patio area with a dining table and chairs, a firepit area, a vegetable garden, a small lawn area and I wanted another seating area. So I came up with the idea to combine a seating area with a planter, veggie garden and firepit. I did a lot of research, looked up photos and made scribbled drawings of a planterbox/bench combo. I then showed them to my very technically minded husband who figured out the finishing details on how this huge piece of furniture would be assembled and came up with this awesome 3-D image!

Didn't he do a great job?

Next we set off to collect all the materials and make this thing a reality. It was a pretty large undertaking but I think it was worth it!

At this point my husband had to pretty much take over. At 7 months pregnant all I could really do to help was cut wood, pre-drill holes and help problem solve. First, he started off by making the supportive frame for he first planterbox/bench. We constructed the entire thing out of redwood, both new and reclaimed redwood from a old deck we tore out.

Here is the first planterbox/bench almost completed!

The first two planterbox/benches are completed! This will eventually become the firepit area. The back of the boxes will hold large tall plants that will help create a screen between us and our neighbors yards.

Lastly we made the vegetable box. This area against the fence is one of the only areas in our backyard that gets enough sun all day to have vegetables so this tall narrow planter is a great way to have a large planting area that doesn't take up so much space in our yard. Each planter box is 8 ft. x 2 ft. so they are quite large!

At this point it's April and we are already well into spring and still no grass or vegetables! I'm feeling the clock ticking because it's a race against time before the very warm temperatures come. We've been getting rain like clockwork almost every weekend too which has made working difficult if not impossible. This last Friday a huge storm moved in but that wasn't going to stop my plans to get that sod planted. Of course the best thing to do would be to finish the entire yard before laying the sod but that would mean planting it when the temperatures are reaching the 80's, not good for starting sod. So in the pouring rain on Friday we went to a local nursery and loaded up on sod. By Saturday afternoon the sun was out and the yard was dry enough to begin laying down the sod!

I did some research and found this Marathon sod that is grown to survive in our local soil conditions and with minimal water (2x-3x/week during the hot summer months, less in the winter). This was important to me because my goal has been to use plants that don't need a lot of water and as we all know, grass needs a ton. We planted just 208 sq. ft of grass, so our water usage should be fairly minimal.

With both of us laying down the sod it only took us 1.5 hours and it was really easy! I love the instant transformation!

The last thing I really wanted to get done this past weekend was planting the vegetables. In past years I've started too late and the outcome wasn't so good. I guess everyone else had the same idea because the nursery was packed with people buying their veggies!

Yesterday I put a second coat of stain on the veggie box, filled the box with a good soil combined with some chicken fertilizer, then added some crushed egg shells and coffee grounds I had been saving up. Next I got to work filling the box up with the veggies I had purchased that morning. It was so easy planting without having to bend over, especially with a big preggo belly! I planted several tomato plants, some are heirloom varieties. I also planted red bell peppers, basil, baby spinach, cilantro, red leaf lettuce, and pot black eggplants. I then laid a layer of mulch and watered. I can't wait to for those delicious sweet tomatoes to be ready for picking!

We still have a lot to do in the backyard but I think we are off to a good start! I'll post more photos once we make more progress. I'm hoping to get most, if not all of it completed before our little bun arrives in July!