Back Yard Update

When we moved into our house back in December, the backyard was nothing more than an unremarkable rectangle of weeds. We hadn't done anything to it by the time my parents came to visit and my Dad gave us some great ideas on what we could do to fix it up. We really wanted something that was easy to maintain, pretty, and drought friendly but still kid friendly. We settled on a combination of Zoysia sod with a crushed limestone border. If you don't know this already - Texas has the WORST grass ever. We decided that if we were going to have any grass in the backyard we wanted something we could walk on barefoot and it would be soft and fluffy and wonderful. Enter: Zoysia. I bought some string and stakes and during a nap time I went out and marked off the dimensions of the sod. Then, my Dad and I measured and calculated the amount of material we would need and I ordered the rock. Here is the plan that we came up with so you have a better idea on where we are going with this project:

This is something that is going to take a year or two to complete - if you can believe it rock and dirt are in fact not "dirt cheap". This year we plan to put in the crushed limestone, edging, sod, and maybe a tree or two. Next year we will make the garden boxes and grow some delicious produce when we have time to commit to it. Eventually we will add the bushes and concrete slabs for the grill and trash/recycling cans. It might be this year it might be next year. We'll just wait and see. We already bought our patio table and chairs from Ikea 2 weeks ago along with a nice big umbrella for shade. 

So let's talk about what we did this weekend...

Saturday, in the freezing cold rain, (47 degrees) Terry and 5 wonderful men from our ward helped to transport 12 cubic yards of crushed limestone from our driveway to the backyard. Before they arrived, Terry mowed down the lawn to stubble and applied a weed killer. Then he put down blackout fabric that keeps weeds from growing up but still lets nutrients and rain in. Here is a shot of the preparation: 

We decided to do crushed limestone around the border so we wouldn't have to hassle with mowing next to the fence (and by we I mean Terry). It also means that we won't  have to water half of the yard. Huzzah!

This is our first load of stone and when they dropped it on the driveway it sounded like a deafening waterfall. It was actually kind of a pretty noise! And then I realized how much material they were actually dropping and I started to panic.

Here is half of the stone. Shrimp really did not like being up there. See the concerned look and the pointing finger? He is saying "no!" and pointing at Terry to come and pick him up. And that is our nice and messy garage - anyone want some free brick? We have an entire pile that we are trying to get rid of and don't have the heart to throw it away.

After only 3 hours of work (these men were demi-gods of Olympus, I swear!) step one is complete! Step two is to install edging and then smooth out the stones which we will hopefully complete sometime this week thanks to excellent forecasted weather and spring break from MBA classes. 

Here is a shot of where we will place our table and umbrella. Our porch is very small so I wanted to keep it clear for Shrimp to play on in the late afternoon. My Dad installed some wonderful sun shades so with the sand and water table and few comfy lounge chairs it will be perfect for hot, sunny, summer afternoons. I'm trying to convince Terry that a small ceiling fan would be really nice too...

There you have it. Doesn't it already make a HUGE difference?? We are so excited to finally get the ball rolling back there. This is the nice part of the year down here so we want to finish it and start enjoying it before the weather starts heating up too much. Once we install the edging I'll post some updated photos.