CyberSalad: Garden Pursuits: Backyard Renovation

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     The backyard renovation began many years ago--we just didn't realize it at the time. When we moved into this house, the yard was in pretty bad shape. Our lot was filled in on a hillside, and the left side yard, in fact, had a deep gully due to water running down the street, through the front yard (which slopes a bit below street level), over to the left side yard, and down into the woods behind the house. We eventually got the gully filled, via a personal landfill project, and the washing stopped, for the most part, by putting a drain trench across the driveway, which diverts that water over to the right and down a buried drain pipe.
     Several years ago, we added steps down both sides of the house, a front porch that runs the entire length of the house and a back deck that also spans the length of the house. The back deck was a perfect solution for a 10 foot wide back yard that was pretty much in full shade and wouldn't grow grass. Then we covered the left side yard with raised beds and paths. It's on an incline and was a bear to mow, so this was a win-win situation: almost no grass to mow and more beds for growing. We had one path left that was in grass...or sort of. Grass grew in patches and the soil was compacted hard from foot traffic, so we decided to do something about that path and started tossing around some ideas. Stone walkway? Nope, since it's on a slope, the stones would get slippery when wet. Concrete pavers? Naw, too ordinary. A "boardwalk"? Yeah, that was the ticket!! And it would look great since it would tie in with the steps and deck/porch.
     So, we did that and it does indeed look great and serves the purpose well. That left the edge of the left back yard--the part just before you fall off into the woods. I had my compost bins there and tried to grow some blackberries, but mostly it had become a garden junk magnet. I had one 2' x 4' raised bed right up against the back deck, but that was it. My dear husband, handyman extraordinaire, made the mistake of saying he could build more beds behind that bed if I wanted. Well, like Topsy, the plan grew until we terraced the entire width of that area--from the deck to our property line and the neighbor's fence, along with a gated "pier" to enable us to toss things unsuitable for compost into the woods. While this was a great idea, it still wasn't quite "finished off". Nothing to do but add a fence across the entire left side of the back yard, from the neighbor's split rail fence to the back deck rail. Now the backyard reminds one of a "secret garden" of sorts and is reminiscent of a cottage garden. And the forest floor--which is littered with fallen trees, etc., and the poison ivy that we're working on getting rid of--is hidden from casual sight. An added bonus is that the fence cuts down on traffic noise from the highway that is on the other side of our woods. We're very pleased with the way this turned out. We've used this space to the best advantage possible, I think, and reclaimed what was essentially wasted space. We've turned it into a space that is productive and pleasing to the eye.
     THEN, we decided the right side of the back yard, although better than the left side by far, was too blah. We decided to have another pond--this one on a larger scale--and a gazebo built there. But it still wasn't quite finished. We then added a deck off the back of the gazebo and had an unusual, but elegant, fence built along the property line on that side, creating a sort of "park".
     We're done now, and we invite you to take a virtual tour of our backyard renovation by clicking on the links below. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures of it at it's worst. But WE remember what it was, and know that this proves that with a little hard work and vision you really can bloom where you're planted.

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Site launched January 1, 2000.
Site updated September 1, 2007.