Let me ask - do you take this path now? where does it meander to and from?

do you have any aerial views? its hard to figure out

It's just to walk around a very small yard that consists basically of two rectangular areas.

I love the whole process of customizing a home for our own tastes, wants and needs. However, after a lot of trial and error it dawned on me that gussying up (for lack of a better term) every inch of a house or every corner of a yard in a one-off approach can lead to a home that feels or looks busy. When every interior wall is covered, there is no place to rest the eyes. Likewise, when every outside space has a sitting area or a water feature or a fire pit or a putting green or gravel court (etc., etc.) there is no place for one’s spirit to rest.

That probably sounds crazy and I should have just said don’t overdo it with too many different surfaces in a small area....grass, brick, planting beds, pea gravel. If you really hate the grass I would consult with a landscape designer for some other ideas and possibilities you may not have considered.

Good advice, Kswl.

I would do it because it would be so much fun to plan and execute!

But I agree with kswl that open spaces are desirable but I imagine you have plenty of other places to rest your eyes and either way, this space isn't open or large so I would treat it as a miniature in work, gussied to the max with whatever you fancy and I think you could work at least a seating area in.

I have areas of my yard, one in particular not seen from the house, that is a camellia garden with a large swing, a dozen camellias, azaleas, dogwoods, pines, etc. and love to walk in it, care for it and in general meander towards it. I rarely sit in it!

Our current thinking is to create another planting bed, maybe two, and research different rock options for creating pathways. Still an ongoing thought process underway!

I had a tiny, tiny yard like yours at my last place. I researched and researched how to optimally landscape it. One of the concepts I saw mentioned over and over again, was the concept of creating "rooms" in a small yard, devoted to various views and uses. Creating visual "walls" with softscape (plants) or hardscape created a feeling of having more space because you couldn't see it all at once.

So for example, at my last place, right outside the back door was where I had my eating and grilling area. That was because the back door that opened onto the patio was from the kitchen. So the landscaping there focused on privacy and scented garden. So that when I was sitting out there my views would be of foliage instead of my neighbors, and also the possibility of some scents wafting over. i accomplished that by some small lilac bushes and tall roses on a trellis, plus some narrow evergreens for privacy. You can also espalier trees and shrubs, which means you prune them to grow narrow and tall or narrow and wide. Certain plants can take this naturally, so you have to chose wisely.

I created a border for this "room" with two small trees for shade. I could sit under the trees and enjoy the shade, plus then, from where I was sitting, I planted a viewing garden designed to give pleasure. Usually we sat out at night because it was cooler, so emphasis on white flowering plants or white and colors mixed, lots of plants are bred nowdays to have splashes of white mixed with other colors.

The back area was our compost bin, which I surrounded by a trellis which had raspberries growing on it. I liked picking them and the birds liked them too. Very low maintenance and disguised the compost bin and made it look like a nice trellised area, more privacy too. Then, a path wandered through both rooms, to the garage. Against the garage, I put a swing, and designed a garden to view from the swing looking out into that part of the yard. It had a small fountain. We loved our fountain, but the birds loved it I think a bit too much! It was tiny and yet a lot of work to maintain. Fountains also need to be in shade, otherwise you will battle algae non-stop.

I give this as an example of how I moved around through the tiny space and figured out how and where I would be most likely moving though and using the areas, and designed around that. Also the whole yard was the view from my kitchen window while doing dishes, so designed with some thought to how the yard would look from the inside looking out. Form follows function.

I am using the same concept on my much, much larger and more complicated yard now at my inherited property. Dividing the yard up into zones of use. The biggest issue I am dealing with is the previous owners planted all the plants right up against the house. Way too close, all have to be torn out. I highly recommend leaving at least 3 feet between your house and any plantings. Too close harbors pests and moisture and decay. Even in a dry climate, because any vegetation will attract moisture and pests. Much easier to manage when stationed away from the house. If you want to gussy up the area against your house, I suggest outdoor art hung on the walls. I have seen some awesome clay and metal pieces with a SW theme, and I seem to recall you kind of like that type of art.

Edited to add that I too contemplated getting rid of all of my grass, since it had to be mowed and that was constant maintenance. I ended up keeping a little patch, so I could walk barefoot on it and lay on it. Since it was so small it was easy to maintain although we did have to cut it with a string trimmer. I had a lot of hardscaping with the aforementioned path and patio. I could feel the contrast of the hot radiating from the hardscape and the cool radiating from the lawn patch.

Turfgrass sequesters carbon dioxide and gives off oxygen; it cools the immediate environment; it catches dust and dirt; lawns will reduce noise; turfgrass participates actively in the hydrologic cycle.

We replaced all of our mulch with what I think is described as crushed gray stone. My DH did not want pea gravel. Our stone is small in size but w/ragged edges so we've had no problem with movement and I absolutely love it. One of the best things we've ever done.

Thank you all for the compliments on my garden.

Ida, the tree in front of the window creates a problem for paths. Is that your window? It'd work better in the corner but you'd lose it as a screen, but if that's not your window.... Is all the green space between homes yours? What is the width between homes? Which way is the front of the house?? I'm so disoriented! Could you draw an overhead and put the trees, existing beds, and a/c in approximately?

The plants that are still in pots will need a much wider bed so you should consider widening that bed to its full capacity. If they're shrubs, I'd move them to the wider area with the skull and plant low-growing plants in the narrow area. Plants that spill over edges would be nice there. Something like woolly thyme, if it gets enough sun. The silvery gray-green foliage will look nice against brick. Straighten out the edging at the wide area and bring the bed right to the fence. By planting your tallest shrub at the end, it will screen the fence from view. Give it enough growing room between the fence and house.

My sister uses #1 stone, not pea gravel in her backyard instead of a lawn. And thick landscape fabric or some other tough fabric underneath so the stone doesn't sink into the ground over time.

Arapaho, I would love to know the exact name of that stone if easily obtained. I still love the look of the pea gravel but DH is afraid it will shift and end up (somehow) in the French drain.

and all over your house inside

I'm not worried about transferring gravel inside. We wear certain shoes whilst outdoors and take them off before coming inside.

I'm going to check into "#1 stone" -- not even sure what these terms mean, so still have a lot to learn. I greatly appreciate ALL of the input, even if I'm not necessarily in agreement with everything. It's still great to hear opinion and gain perspective.

I'll try to work up a schematic so that "what's what" in the yard will be a bit less confusing. Sorry that it has been ... I tend to see it is as such a TINY space that it's easy for me to forget that y'all only get the "benefit" of the few photos I've shared, and that does leave a good deal unexplained.

We will continue to take our time, read up on things, learn more, and develop a plan going forward. There is absolutely no rush to accomplish anything, although it's a lot of fun to think about. Maybe this Fall we'll explore options with greater urgency. We shall see.

“Turfgrass sequesters carbon dioxide and gives off oxygen; it cools the immediate environment; it catches dust and dirt; lawns will reduce noise; turfgrass participates actively in the hydrologic cycle.”

Conserving the precious and limited resource of water in our state (Tx) far outweighs this list. Other aspects are the horrible pollution from lawn mowing and run-off, and the great benefit of planting native plants for pollinators. The environmental benefits from Bermuda or St Augustine lawn grasses (the most common in Tx), both of which need a lot of fertilizer and a lot of water in our extremely harsh conditions, are pretty much zero, and certainly cannot be compared to replacing with native, drought-tolerant, pollinator friendly plantings and grass-less areas.

I have a couple of areas with stone (always have at every house), and never found the upkeep any more difficult than other areas .... everyone’s experience varies, of course. Lots of factors to consider.

I think what you want to do would look nice and you’d enjoy it. I won’t repeat the great input already given, will just say I think the size, shape, and context of your yard is perfect for doing something besides just grass. I agree with you—pics make the area look bigger than in real life! I know you’ll research and come up with great ideas; can’t wait to see what you do! You have a very artistic aesthetic, it’s going to look great.

I’m picturing lovely and quaint European courtyards in between buildings. :)

Did a little mockup with pea gravel earlier, and I'm not hating it. I think you can really get a better sense for what a small space we're working with in this pic.

Jinx - I agree wholeheartedly with your take on turf grass, which is echoed by professionals throughout this region. (Do you ever watch Central Texas Gardener on channel 13? Love that show!) The bees, butterflies, lizards, and one fine little toad that we call Thurber are all now regular inhabitants of what we've created thus far, so I'm completely convinced that there is so much benefit to growing native plants! Plus, you know me ... I just love that dusty, arid, desert-like look.

We have pea gravel in our veggie garden. Our gardener spent like 3 hours weeding it this weekend. And we have weed barrier down and it's a relatively small space.

Weed barrier is not always effective, due to a number of variables. There is a good deal of slightly contentious disagreement about what works and what doesn't, or so I'm finding as I continue to research options online. I think one can still expect to have to pull some weeds from time to time ... they WILL sneak in there at any given opportunity, and even the best laid plans (and barrier) won't stop that from happening.

Weed barriers in our area are a terrible thing and should not be used. Bermuda grass would make a rock area a nightmare in no time. It’s nearly impossible to dig Bermuda out of weed barriers (fabric or plastic). Grows up through those and there’s no way to dig it all out without pulling up all the barrier. I learned that the hard way! Had it grow up through a pond liner once (and Nutsedge), as well as the fabric type.

Best would be cardboard and or layers of newspaper after digging up the grass. You can use them on top of the grass, but Bermuda is so stubborn, it’s best to get rid of as much as possible first.

ETA: Sorry, Ida, was posting at same time as you.

Just saw your question, no I haven’t seen that show! Will check it out, thanks!

Pre-internet days, I’d buy (or borrow at library) every book by Neil Sperry and Howard Garrett (The Dirt Doctor). Now I read their websites. :)

Thurber the Toad. 😍

I've also read that smothering grass with several layers of that thick brown Kraft paper works well (the kind you buy on the roll at places like Office Depot).

Seeds can grow in crushed gravel. I don't know how as there can't be many nutrients. The seedlings I get in my path are from my perennials, not from the neighbors' weeds. I don't have weeds growing up from the soil under the landscape fabric.

Weeds should be less of a problem with washed gravel. There's no fine particles to form a soil-like base. You do want an angular gravel even with the washed. No pea gravel that won't lock together to form a firm base. Some washed gravel has the color of pea gravel. It all depends on the native rock available in your area. Make some phone calls to the rock yards.

Ida, I believe it is #1 Gray Stone. Will verify. I chose it because it looks very much like the Bluestone steps we have.

still expect to have to pull some weeds from time to time

Like every day. Maybe you can skip a few hours. Of course, I'm not in Texas, and we've had rain every day, but the weeds in the pea gravel grow, well, like weeds.

I find that my weeds, on average, are much happier to pop up in my mulched beds, than my rock areas. I mainly get a bit of spurge ... very easy to pull up.

I hate spurge. I get it too and something about it revolts me. I get weeds in my dry creek bed and mulched areas, but I think it’s much harder to get at the roots under the rocks.

I think I've mentioned that I just let the prettier weeds have their way in our planting bed right off the patio. Maybe there's something wrong with me, but I actually like the look of several of them, such as the chickweed. I keep them in check so that they don't take over, but all in all, I think they just add to the rather wild and slightly unkempt look I sought for that space.

I don't even know what some of this stuff is, but I didn't plant it all!

While I would like to be less chemical, I have a lot of property and Preen is a lifesaver. Amazon has a 6 month control one.

#1 Gray Stone

Thank you, Arapaho! I like the size of that, and bet it does look very nice with your bluestone!

I think for now, we are going to continue building out a couple of beds -- nothing dramatic, but will allow us to mulch around the tree in front of our bedroom window, and will create a bed at the corner of the fence. As can be seen in my mockup, this provides more of a pathway -- and will be better once the Vitex is trimmed up. It currently needs to have the understory removed to about halfway up the tree, which will open up the area below for planting some native grasses or something simple and low-growing within the border. (Also need to prune it back from the houses, which it's grown to nearly touch due to recent rains.)

Clearly, we have a tiny, and I do mean TINY space to work with. Just carving out a couple more small plantable areas will make me happy for now, and we'll keep thinking about grass removal / replacement with a rock surface.

I'm confused Jenn. In the photo above, is the brick side or the side with fence, your home? With a zero lot line, how does the side property work. I'm assuming this pic is the yard between the two houses? So, you don't halve it? I like your planting beds. I like some grass too. I think the idea of some flagstone (or whatever) paths would be nice.

This is very rough, but just to give you an overall feel. The green space is our backyard, which runs all the way up to the beginning of the neighbor's brick house and to the fence boundaries.

Have you ever considered/would you be allowed to train espaliers to grow adjacent to the fencing or neighbor's brick?

I love the look of espaliers and climbing vines as well. We don't dare so much as touch the neighbor's house, although we could grow something on the fence. Well, we could if DH would agree (not that I need his "approval", but we do need to have a consensus!), and I doubt he would, since he'd fear damaging the wood. It is a lovely look though, isn't it!

I did a little comparison mockup showing grass vs. rock, and I think I still lean towards rocking it all in.

I wonder if you could fit a little trellis in there by the fence. That way you could have vines grow on the trellis instead of the fence. You could even use large pots on both sides of the trellis instead of planting in ground. This is the kind of trellis I have in mind. Of course this is assuming the fence is not actually a gate/entry.

Thanks for the drawing, that helps!

We are continuing to discuss, and I think we have probably nixed the idea of pea gravel and will look instead for a larger diameter rock to use. I love the look of river rock, but am not sure that the rounded nature is best for our application, even with larger slaps of stepping stones. DH wants white rock. White rock?! We're going round and round about that, because I cannot envision it, and he can. Generally, he's quite good with envisioning projects and his suggestions are almost always spot on, but not so sure I can get onboard with white rock. There's nothing white in the area except for our wicker patio furniture, and I don't think the landscaping should match that. That said, I have found a white-ish rock that blends in other shades that is rather appealing. Shown here, it's how it appears from afar, and a couple of close-ups of the two size choices available:

That is pretty!

Do you have a stone yard you prefer? If not, I love and highly recommend this place (and they deliver to your area). The website is fun to look through, anyway. :)

https://www.bellstone.rocks/landscape-stone.php

Thanks for the link, Jinx! I actually just found that site last night and was admiring their selections. Their 1" river rock is very nice.

You have a good eye for this sort of thing. If we were to go with a 1" rock, what color(s) do you think would look best? (I know, I'm putting you on the spot!) DH thinks that anything tan is going to just create an "oatmeal" look (well? I like oatmeal!), and feels like a white will make things "pop." I'm not so sure popping is what we're after here though.

My favs are:

Colorado River Rock, love the variety of colors:

.

Arizona River Rock:

Aztec River Rock:

.

ETA: Meant to say ... if you google these stone names, lots of good pics come up (people’s projects, etc). Helps to see more than a small image! I do wish the Bell website had a gallery of the landscape rocks.

Thanks, Jinx! I really like all of those, but am especially intrigued by that Aztec. (I know he'll say "but it's not whiiiiiiiiiite!") I think we really need to visit a local stoneyard (is that what they're called), and there's a couple near us. Of course, we're meant to be taking our time with this, and I have a feeling that once we see the rocks in person, I'm going to want to move quickly. I can't believe I find it fun to LOOK AT ROCKS! I should've been a geologist.

We are total rock hounds in this house! Oh my goodness, I love stones, fossils, etc.

I have displays of collected rocks and fossils in my flower beds. And in the house. :)

(Have you hunted for fossils at Benbrook Lake? We go once or twice a year. It’s dirty, but fun, and you won’t leave empty handed!)

A few on a piece of driftwood we found on our last hunt:

Jinx, those fossils are wonderful! I have never hunted them at Benbrook, but used to work with a man who went there regularly and displayed his haul in his office. It was such fun to see all that he'd collected! I brought home some fossilized-looking shells from a beach on Isla Mujeres, Mexico. I suppose they were actually just completely sun-bleached and hardened, but they look like bone. I love all that sort of thing ... very Georgia O'Keeffe-like. :-)

Tannatonk, that rock is beautiful! I really, really like its natural look - the coloration is more along the lines of what I have envisioned for our project. I'm not giving in on the white issue; I can be persuasive sometimes. ;-)

I said no white rocks, and then I did this mockup which I actually do not dislike. The rock color reminds me of the top of a mesa hike we've done in New Mexico and enjoyed immensely.

Also, who's up for a field trip to the stone yard? Because, c'mon ... this place has two pet PIGS.

https://www.classicrockinc.com/about-us

:-D

Your mockup looks great. When you said white I was picturing white white like marble chips or those white vinyl privacy fences. You will have to get some samples to see what looks best is your space and the brick.

Stone yards are always fun!

Those pigs! I’m going with you! 😄

Tannatonk, I was also picturing white -- like the glittery white, lightweight rocks that we used to pick up out of our suburban yards and throw at each other as kids. Very 1970s. The white rocks in that mockup are actually marble! Not what I was expecting to find, but just did on the website for the place with the pigs.

Jinx - let's go! The Classic Rock Inc. website is actually hilarious. (I saw another photo of a possum sleeping in a drawer on their site. Awwww!) Loved this line from their online blog: "We all have them ... those places in the yard where nothing will grow and every time you see it, you throw up a little." LOL! That's my kinda place!