backyard garden landscaping remodel
linda boyd
2 years ago
Dear Houzz-mates,
I am in summer three of indecision about which design and materials to use for my backyard remodeling project. I have an existing Trex deck that is staying as is but I want to replace everything else (surround lawn, planting beds, concrete paver patio, etc. During the last two years, I have replaced an old privacy fence with a new cedar one based on several Houzz photos; and I replaced windows in the sunroom facing my yard with new French-style windows that open into the yard.
I want to move the patio from the other side of the (not very large city) backyard to adjacent to the deck (to allow social distancing for groups that are now separated by being either on one side if the yard on the deck or across the yard on the patio) and in front of the new window.
My house is a red brick Georgian colonial. I want a simple, tailored formal style with lots of functionality for me to plant pots and herbs without bending over as I am getting older --- raised beds. I am currently focused on settling on a design for the design layout and the hard materials. Historically, the materials used have been concrete flagstone and brick. The decking and fence provide the softness of wood, but I am open to adding more cedar that matches the new fence.
I have found it very difficult to find design help so I am reaching out to the Houzz community, yet again.
Linda Crane Boyd
Jackson Park Highlands
Chicago
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Comments (12)
signatuur
2 years agoRelated Discussions
Raised Bed Layout and Landscaping New Backyard
Comments (2)Do you have a Homeowner's Association, or is this county property with no restrictions. Ditto to the above. Do you have no front yard, or no back yard? Seems like one part of your house has no property next to it... that would be the West side? Where are the windows? What is your view? Where is the street?...See MoreNeed Design Advice for Backyard Landscaping
Comments (5)I took some pictures and uploaded them to Photobucket. I will also upload a sketch with what is currently in our yard and some ideas we have for possible changes. I have a sketch with exact measurements and locations of trees, etc., but it's too big to scan in so I'll have to do a basic sketch on some smaller paper as soon as I get a chance. The dimensions of the backyard are almost exactly 80' wide by 80' deep. It appears to be deeper than it is wide, but maybe that's because the veggie garden (which is 15' wide by 47' deep) takes up a good chunk of the east side of the yard. I really like the idea of going to some favorite nurseries and collecting business cards from designers. I was trying Google searches and met with one company whose work looked nice, but it turns out that they don't do design work without being locked into a contract with them to do the bulk of the landscaping work. We'd have to sign a contract (telling them our budget range) and they would draw up plans within that range and do most of the work, subbing out stuff they don't do themselves, with the design being part of the package deal. I think I'd rather work with someone who has more flexibility in allowing us to do parts of the work ourselves without being penalized for it. lazygardens and butterflygardening: Thanks for the helpful links- I am reading through them! alygal- We love the idea of raising chickens (or ducks!), but unfortunately our city doesn't allow them in residential areas. Some of the towns around us havejust recently started allowing them, so maybe it will be a possibility in the future! Here are some of our current ideas for making our yard more attractive and usable in the ways we'd like to use it. - Possibly ditch the sandbox, although I am torn because the kids do use it when it's nice outside. The problem is that it's so close to the house that they always come in still covered with sand, AND it's location really limits the width of the planting bed around the breakfast nook. If we keep the sandbox, I think I'd at least make the flagstone path along it more narrow to allow for a slightly wider bed there. - Widen pretty much all of the beds to allow more layered planting (to increase attractiveness and privacy in the yard). I would also like to have a nice bed along the patio and around where the sandbox is, so basically be left with an area of the grass in the middle of the yard. - Possibly add a slight berm along the garden fence and plant a variety of shrubs and small trees to make the garden less prominent since it's not much too look at most of the year. - Make the patio more usable by extending it a little deeper (it's now 20' wide by 10' deep). - Add something to get more shade on the patio. It gets shade starting in the mid-afternoon and through the evening from our neighbors house to the west, so I don't really want to add a hard cover (my husband's idea) because I think it would detract from the look of the house. I am thinking a well placed tree would eventually have the right effect (and I'm content to use a patio umbrella as needed until then). - Add a screened in gazebo (about 12' x 12') south of the patio area toward the south side of the yard for dinners and entertaining. My husband is a mosquito magnet so he really wants this for enjoying the yard in the evenings. - Add a structure toward the southeast corner of the yard (about 8' x 10') to be used as a playhouse/garden retreat. I picture it looking like a little cottage style potting shed more than a mini playhouse, so that even after the kids outgrow it, I can still enjoy it as a garden retreat. - Revise current pathways through the yard and add pathways as needed to new structures, to the veggie garden/shed, etc. Would like to maybe use some reddish flagstone in addition to the buff ones we currently have and mix them up a bit as the buff looks so bland to me against our house. - Possibly cover the patio with flagstone to make it more attractive and more cohesive with pathways. Thanks for any advice or suggestions you may have. Here is a link that might be useful: Backyard Pictures...See MoreSuggestions for Landscaping a Hill in Backyard
Comments (9)Interesting that you call that a "hill" there in Indiana, when it just looks like a gentle slope to me, where a hill really is a hill, (I have some garden clients where the street is over 30 feet above the level of the house, and the bottom of the back yard at the fence line is another 30 feet below the main house level). It seems rather obvious that fencing across the rear property line is the first thing to do, (any reason why you didn't consider doing this?). The back yard looks pretty devoid of any plantings besides lawn and the patio, and could use some additional plantings to give it less of an industrial look. I am assuming that the real reason you are asking for help is that you would like an idea that doesn't cost much money. You could instead plant a hedge across the back property line, but anything that would give immediate impact would not be cheap either. As to what level of landscaping is necessary to help sell a flip remodel in your area, no one outside your area will be able to give you a realistic answer to this. Its a tough resell market when so many homes are going unsold, even when they are good values. Good luck with your home, maybe talk to some real estate agents who are actually managing to sell homes in your area, and get their ideas on what else you should do to get your house sold. I would guess that you need to lower the price if you are serious about getting it sold, even if it means taking a loss....See MoreLandscaping a small backyard in Houston
Comments (10)Explore the drainage problem by looking OUTSIDE of your own lot lines and get an understanding for how water is supposed to move through the surrounding neighborhood. It travels from one person's yard into and adjacent yard on it's ways downhill. Where does your yard fit in the downhill path relative to your neighbors' yards? When water doesn't drain out of a yard, it's sometimes because its path is blocked by something a neighbor has created. Look outside of your fence and see if that is the case. Where is the drainage problem showing up? Is there a desire for privacy? It looks like one neighbor's house has a looming view of your deck. If I lived there, I would want screening from their back deck and upstairs window. Also in the view are some less than pleasant features ... I would want screening from seeing roofs and bits of neighboring houses that show up in the background. Being as you are in Houston, you could incorporate some tropical flavor into the scene. Hate to say it, but one of the most disconcerting aspects of your back yard is the fence itself. Cheapest way to spruce it up would be paint. Or it could be screened with any length of suspended trellis, but this means working vines into the scheme. I wouldn't bother with lawn grass. By the time you allocate space to some of the nicer things you could grow, there'd be so little room left over for grass, it wouldn't be worth the bother of maintaining it. Check out perennial peanut 'Ecoturf. It blooms for 10 months out of the year where the weather is warm. I have it as a lawn and mow once a year in early spring with a motorless reel mower to tidy up in the Spring. It's low growing and can be walked on so would be perfect for your small space. I'm not intending that you take the picture literally. What It's showing are suggestions for: 1. How to extend the screening height of fencing without smothering the ground floor space with bushiness. 2. Placing the herb garden at the right end, adjoining it to the garden at the side of house. 3. An approximate limit on the number/size of plants that will fit comfortably in the space. 4. A foreground of low growing groundcover ... a lawn substitute. 5. A way to link all the disparate objects with a second, slightly taller groundcover. 6. Instead of hiding the electrical utility box, paint it to your liking and use Plumbago at each side, adjacent to fence. 7. Plant larger sections along the fence with a group of shrubs/perennials or a single specimen of grass, shrub or perennial ... whatever fits without crowding something adjacent. I didn't show it, but single tree location could be a group of Pindo Palms for some tropical flavor. It's one of the shorter feather palms. Pretty cold hardy. Also did not show, but if you want shade for patio consider a small tree placed at the open (right) end. Does Golden trumpet (Tabebuia chrysotricha) grow there? Or for really fast shade, a tight cluster of Papaya (grow from seed.)...See More
Donna Collins
2 years agolast modified: 2 years ago
grizzlybearsbite
2 years agovalster53
2 years agolinda boyd
2 years ago
emmarene9
3 months agoWayne Prest
2 months agoElena Zzzz
2 months agolast modified: 2 months ago
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