Backyard Makeover

After finally coming to terms with the fact that DIY Network's "Yardcrashers" was never going to accost me in my local home improvement store and offer to do my yard for free (mostly because I don't live within 25 miles of Los Angeles or wherever they film), I plunked down some dough to have my backyard landscaped.


Before and After
I'll start with the money shot, but there are way more before and afters at the end, including the true before and afters from when I first bought my house. I'll do an update in 6 months after the plants have matured, spread out, and are hopefully all in bloom!

Also, I have to say, it was glorious to take off my shoes and step on my new lawn the day it was installed. It is SO SOFT. I know that will go away after it's been mowed a few times, but man I love my fresh grass right now!

Backyard the day before landscaping began.

Backyard after (January 6, 2012). And yes, this means I sold the
trampoline (to two very stoked 20-something boys from Pacific Beach).
Please note that the brick walkway on the right is now even!!

If you're a regular reader, you know I had my front yard done just a couple weeks ago; you can read about that here. Then the first Monday after Christmas, my landscaper Jeff Raymond moved on to the backyard because I decided to spoil my house for Christmas this year. The backyard was a little more work since lots of demo and ground leveling had to be done, plus irrigation needed to installed but it still only took about 5 days total.


The Plan
I had a maximum budget of $4000 for the backyard, so we kept it simple (and thanks to my friend discount from Jeff, I got more done than I could have with anyone else as there was a decent amount of labor and parts required for the irrigation sysem).

How my yard used to look in the summer.
Right side of yard where pavers and flagstone was
(the flagstone is left of the pavers, but covered
in dirt in this picture).

My friend Krista Percival (kplandscapedesign.com) had created an amazing, surf-inspired design for my backyard but unfortunatley I couldn't afford it (it probably would have cost twice the entire budget I had for the front AND backyards). I hope to one day, in a future home, have a surf-inspired backyard, but for this house, which I don't expect I'll be in for more than a few more years, it didn't seem wise to spend a lot of money on a very personal backyard design. Instead I've decided on something more generic that will appeal to a broad range of future buyers (and won't be a total waste of money if they tear it all out when they move in). 

The plan was to remove the weird, poorly laid flagstone patio and uneven brick walkway on the right side of the yard (see picture above) then to create a grass area in the middle with a garden area that curved along the back and down the right side.


The Plants
Jeff used all the same plants as he used in my front yard (view list in this post) to carry the design through to the back of the house. The only additional plants were:

• lemon tree
• purple hopseed bush
• euryops ("daisy bush" - these were chosen because they grow fast and will do a good job masking the fence once they fill in)

Jeff also reused all the granite rocks that a previous owner had used when they first did the yard. He used those to make my new garden area perimeter and also put some of the larger ones in random spots in the garden bed which I really like. Although I still have a ton (probably literally) of these rocks left:

All the leftover granite...call me if you have a project!
You may remember I used this spot to store another pile of rocks.

More Before and After

Here is more backyard before and after porn for you.

My backyard before, in the summer of 2009. This is when it was in decent condition b/c at least the weeds were dead and not knee high.

This was what I used to call "excellent" condition for my backyard. Twice a year I'd clear all the weeds, rake the ground, and have a lovely, neat dirt plot to admire. It never looked better than this.

My yard today, January 2012. Same pic from beginning of this post. I love my cute little yard!

Back corner before

Back corner after. Sadly, the tree in the corner died a year after I moved in, but I keep it b/c it provides a nice screen from the neighbors on the hill.

 My lemon tree and an example of some of the reused granite inside the garden beds.

Back wall before, again, summertime dry and dead look and in need of a raking.

Back wall after. check out the well groomed tree - I did that part myself about a month
before landscaping started! Ok, I admit it. I gave the tree a bowl haircut.

Looking from back corner into the yard before....

....and same view after! Don't you want to come over and have a lemonade with me now? This is my favorite after picture.

Side of garage the day I bought the house, June 2009. I hate roses.

Side of garage, January 2012. No more roses (kangaroo paws instead) and no more
single, stupid shutter on the window.

Back patio view the day I bought the house, June 2009.

 Wrong angle, but back patio after. In December 2010 I had the front rails removed
and the stairs expanded all the way across. I just need to put a some potted plants out.

Same pic from earlier in the post, but compare to the below. This was in 2010 - check out the growth on the palm! and we removed the weird stone table coming out of the fence.

 

View down the right side of the yard. 

Read about my front yard makeover which I did a month before this project.