Are the rocks your husband installed going to stay? BTW, your RV reference is hilarious.

For all practical purposes your backyard is a blank slate. Erase all the existing lines in your mind. They are gone. The question is not what to do with the now graveled former vegetable garden, it is what to do with the entire backyard space. For that you need to start at the beginning of the design process with the basic questions of what do you want and how do you use the backyard space. How much garden work are you willing to do or pay to have done?

Two things I would want to change are all the rigid straight lines between lawn, beds and gravel and the need for a small tree or large shrub to hide the neighbor's house.

IMO the whole backyard needs to be rethought not just that space. The grass obviously is not happy so rethink that. This is a bit of a guide for doing what you want and also a pic of something to use as inspiration . Irrigation is easily put in as you go about cahnging that whole space . I would like to see your house and also more info as to how you use this yard.

Xeriscaping in Colorado: A Step by Step Guide

• 1) Observe your yard and designate sun and water zones (a.k.a. hydrozones) ...
• 2) Learn about drought tolerant plants that thrive Colorado. ...
• 3) Remove the grass lawn. ...
• Physical removal. ...
• Sheet mulching (a.k.a. lasagna method). ...
• 4) Plant xeric plants, add mulch and hardscape.

Rocks like you have are very hard to weed unless you dump harsh chemicals which is bad for the environment. A patchy lawn is prone to get weedy too so investing in an over seeding program to get that lush will then naturally keeps weeds to a minimum. Just keep that in mind as you plan with the good advice you’ve been given so far.

I left my husband after 30 years of marriage. I read your post and it reminded me of my marriage and I why I left.

Your previous problem was a simple fix - knock down the sides of the beds, remove some dirt, lay some sod and plant a tree. Now, you have a major PITA that just swapped unattractive weeds that were easy to remove for unattractive stone that will be difficult and expensive to remove.

The fix is to remove the stone, decide what you want to do with the back yard and re-do things right.

would love to watch how this turns out. we have a space to redo but not near as large and thankfully no rock to remove if need be.

Thanks for all of this! the grass part is irrigated but towards the end of July it always turns brown. it is in direct harsh relentless colorado sun. we have a big tree in the yard for shade and under that is green grass. the back area behind the rocks and the left bark/mulch area is driplined. there is no irrigation in the rock area.

when my hisband expressed his desire to get rid of our ”weed garden”, i had no ideas for this area. i just told him to do what he wanted. i was very busy with clients/work and left him to it.

The rocks are a medium size, they are not gravel so the bocce idea wont work. i do like that idea though.

We did have a xeriscape idea originally so maybe i should focus on that. he is happy to plant, and move in bigger rocks for some sort of feature areas, but we are struggling with the design.

we honestly dont use this part of the yard since it is so sunny there. we are on the patio opposite, or under the tree in the shade, or on a hanmock or zipline to the side.

Could there be something done to let us enjoy it in winter maybe?

“I left my husband after 30 years of marriage. I read your post and it reminded me of my marriage and I why I left.”

Yeah, she should totally divorce her husband because he put stones in the yard. 🙄🙄

They didnt want to plant more grass. Not like Colorado is experiencing a severe drought, or anything. People are worried about having drinking water, not watering their new sod and tree.

How deep are the rocks and is there landscape fabric underneath?

tj

@suedonim75 - Yep, over 30 years we probably spent $100k fixing things that he quick fixed without a plan or cheap fixed without thought.

Anytime you implement without a plan you spend twice the money and triple the headaches.

Let's see. It's in the baking sun, full of medium rock, surrounded by irrigation, but doesn't have any and you don't use the space. You just need something pretty to look at from the hammock.

Maybe you need to approach this as an art piece instead of a landscape. This could be a simple Zen garden, a sculpture, a strong focal point meant primarily for viewing. Maybe you can make those straight lines work and use the house next door as the gallery wall of your art piece.

Even so, the medium rock, mulched beds, hedge and other plants are all going to have to work as a complete whole to make this a scene worth gazing upon from the hammock.

Yes @Christopher CNC! This sounds like a direction we could take. we actually met teaching english in japan so i love the rock garden idea. there is a weed barrier under the rocks.

How about some smallish trees to block the view of the neighbor? I know you don't want to water, so look into native varieties that can live on your rainfall after they get established.

Find images here that come close to your conditions and represent a vision you could work towards. Big boulders and stepping stones get placed first. Planting last.

https://www.houzz.com/hznb/photos/japanese-courtyard-garden-asian-landscape-philadelphia-phvw-vp~22935787

If you don't have any specific need or use for the space, I would remove the rock and plant as many trees along that space and the adjacent mulch bed as can fit at their mature size. While trees do need an initial investment of water for the first year to help grow deep roots, once established they shouldn't need anywhere near as much water as lawn. They would give you privacy and shade. The shade should help your lawn in the hot summer sun as well. I think mulched garden beds are a lot easier to weed than rock garden beds. I have several mulched garden beds and the weeds are infrequent and easy to manage. I have a small rock strip along my driveway that is a nightmare to weed (but regularly gets run over by truck tires so mulch and planting aren't ideal).

Personally, I would be irritated to have a yard I could not use because of the sun. We have a maple tree that will eventually need to be replaced as it slowly disintegrates during each successive storm. It is a major shade tree for us and I hate thinking of how hot it will be in the yard as a new tree grows to replace it...

I like the Japanese garden idea and love that it holds a connection for you and your husband. Incorporate a roofed cabana or some sort of structure to allow you to enjoy the garden in some shade. Maybe a cantilevered umbrella over 2 lounge chairs? Here's an arbor.

@pricklypearcactus thanks! this was my original plan but it is honestly very tough to keep a lawn green and healthy in this part of the US. the intense sun kills it. and we dont have a hoa that includes irrigation water so the water bills for 6 months of the year can be $150-200 per month. I am not going to be able to remove the rocks so will leave that to the next homeowner. thanks for looking at it and your recommendation

@thinkdesignlive very helpful advice! thanks!

@Anna (6B/7A in MD) love this idea!