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Design Dilemma Landscape Design Before & After

New Construction Back Yard

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

Hello! So, there is a stone retaining wall and a semicircle matching stone wall on the other side. The in between area is enormous, and there is no way I want to sink another mortgage into this one area. What do we do? I am at a total loss with this. I have absolutely no vision for any type of landscaping. I'm thinking a fire pit in the center. After that, I am lost. Any suggestions? p.s. the small fire pit is not staying there.

Backyard landscape before · More Info

Backyard landscape before · More Info

Backyard landscape before · More Info

Backyard landscape before · More Info

Backyard landscape before · More Info

Backyard landscape before · More Info

Backyard landscape before · More Info

Featured Answer

PRO

R.D. London Studios

4 years ago

Great place to work with! This is a GREAT setup for a very large firepit. It appears your surrounding location is ideal for it too! I would make a very large firepit surrounded by a stone floor base set in sand. Your rock walls are benches! To many it may appear that the benches might be too far away from the fire. Trust me as someone who has a large firepit, it gets VERY hot and embers fly so you should not be on top of it as you would the small pit in your photo. You can add some adirondack chairs for smaller fires or more comfortable seating. Great project and location! Please post photos of your finished project. Best wishes!

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Comments (10)

PRO
Yardvaark
4 years ago
The first thing that comes to mind is an ice skating rink. Haha. I can't imagine what someone had in mind when they built this. Seems too large for fire pit unless bonfires or something like that. Need a swimming pool? Seems large enough to handle one. But it does not seem to invite some big view or wall obstructing planting scheme.
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Sorry this is happening. I assume you've already complained to the builder and they have not fixed it? Next thing is to find out who is in charge of building permits and stormwater control for construction sites. Are you in a city or out in the county? If in an incorporated city I would look first for the city building permits office. If out in the county, depending on the county, there will be more or less of a building permit office. I happen to live in MO so I know. :-P It is generally frowned upon and/or illegal for sediment to be leaving a construction site either into streets, waterways or neighboring yards. That's a 'land disturbance permit' issue that applies while the construction is going on. If you're in a city, there should be requirements for silt fences or other structures to prevent it, and a stormwater pollution prevention plan. After it's done, the design itself should not be dumping water on you either, so you might want to make sure the design was approved as part of the building permit. Otherwise your problems may not end when the construction is done.
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PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
4 years ago
I think a larage firepit with curved seating along the curved wall and the some moveable seating around the rest. Is that space actually level it is hard to tell from the pictures.I am wondering why such small decks off the house the one on the left could have been a huge multi level useable deck and all those bits of deck joined together to make an amazing outdoor area .
sarah9141 thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
Janie Gibbs-BRING SOPHIE BACK
4 years ago
We do not have enough info.

How many people live in this house and will utilize the outdoor space?

Kids?

Senior citizens?

Is it your desire to keep some/all of the retaining wall?

Does this yard face east? It looks like it's mostly in a shadow per the pics you took.

What zone are you in?

Is access to this yard easily accessible?

What IS your budget?
PRO
Dig Doug's Designs
4 years ago
some ideas:
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
4 years ago
I would be likely to plant deep shrub and flower beds along the curved walls and have a seating area, either a masonry patio or a flat grassed space in the center. But I am more interested in gardens than a fire pit, and with the woodlands in the background I certainly wouldn’t want a fire pit so large that the walls would be good seating distance away and with flying embers.

So how you envision using your yard is important as Janie Gibbs mentioned.

so think about:

kids’ play space?

veggie or ornamental gardens?

adult place space such as badminton or boules?

bugs necessitating screened seating areas?

do you like working outdoors vs. low maintenance?

Is this a year round or seasonal residence?

do you need to solve this now or can you seed it with conservation mix and wait to see how you live in the space?
littlebug zone 5 Missouri
4 years ago
You say you don’t want ‘another mortgage’ spent on this area, so my idea might be out of line.

I’d remove the far wall and rebuild it much closer to the first. Arranged so that a fire pit in the center of the two makes sense. As it is now, it doesn’t.
sarah9141 thanked littlebug zone 5 Missouri
groveraxle
4 years ago
Play area for the kids with a sitting area for you to watch them?
sarah9141 thanked groveraxle
areyano_cs
4 years ago
You will never regret spending money on a landscape designer. Hire someone who will work with you and provide a plan that can be executed by professionals or by yourself. A plan that stipulates materials for paths, lighting and plants. A plan that can be done in stages if that is better for your budget.

In our first home when budget was a big issue we used a designer who provided a plan that we executed. We’ve followed this format in subsequent homes although now we can afford to pay a landscape contractor to execute the plan.

Good luck.
Brown Dog
4 years ago
How about another Stone Henge?

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