My Backyard (according to my phone)

We’ve been working on our backyard these last few weeks, nearly every chance we get. I hear a few of you shout “show us the after already!” which I totally get. Trust me, I’ve been waiting way too long to share!

Let’s begin with our turf. I’ve received a lot of questions about it, and wont be sourcing ours just yet (I’ll do that in the final before & after post, sorry) but I will say It’s not from any big box hardware store. We did a lot (a LOT a lot) of research on turf (different blade structures, thatching densities, etc) as well as weighing the options of sod vs turf. We chose turf for a few reasons:

1. we are low maintenance people and turf is the lowest maintenance option for grass out there
2. we live in California where it’s almost illegal to water your lawn and we weren’t about to pay thousands to lay a sprinkler system and sod just to watch our lawn die
3. because we had a dirt wasteland back here before, the cost of sod/sprinkler system + perpetual landscaper fees vs laying turf was pretty much the same cost.
4. and lastly, NO MUD

Before showing you the full before & after, we have one last (big) task to do which involves sanding, staining, and sealing our floating benches because, stupid us, we didn’t do it last year and now they look like this – dry, sad, and sun bleached.

Not a fun project, but once it’s complete it will make a world of difference.

Now, since I feel bad about not sharing much of the afters yet, let me share photos of my backyard as of now, according to my phone!

See that guy on the bottom right in the above photo? I snapped this pic the day after these guys were planted. Two weeks later he’s grown!

All those new little buttons, pads, fronds, whatever they’re called, make me SO happy! Grow kiddo grow!

The perimeter of our backyard consists of a LOT of space, and I knew if I wanted to fill it up I would have to find some “filler” plants that still fit with the modern desert-scape theme I was shooting for.  This guy above was $40, not too bad for such a wide sculptural plant. I bought a bunch of mini versions at $10/pot and peppered them around the perimeter of our yard, with the hopes they’ll grow like this dude.

Other filler plants I found were these wispy tall plants (I’m terrible remembering plant names and tossed the pots too soon, so if you know what they are, please leave a comment!) These were $30/pot at Lowes, and the aqua colored grasses were $5 pot, also at Lowes.

And guess what you see in the back?! MY AGAVE! He was my biggest individual purchase. Someone asked me how much one of these guys cost. In this size, I’ve seen them sold for as high as $900 and as low as $175, so it’s hard to say how much a mature guy like this should be. I bought mine for $175 (after negotiating a little) at Dry Garden in Berkeley (I love that place!). They currently have others with not so long of a neck for $200.

Besides my pet agave, I will say this euphorbia cactus garden my favorite little nook in the entire backyard. Oh, and for those of you concerned about my kid falling into these plants, do not fear! Almost all of these plants I’ve had for over half a year sitting in my sunroom where Zano frequently hangs out, and has learned that these plants are off limits. Right now we’re now working on him not throwing the rock all over the yard. Ha! That kid.

Article Source: My Backyard (according to my phone)