My backyard project is moving along. Slow, but forward.
My original, pie-in-the-sky, plan is shown below.
My original, pie-in-the-sky, plan is shown below.
Notice the built-in BBQ with island seating under a large umbrella. The wooden bridge traversing a babbling brook and Koi pond. The large jacuzzi against a rock wall backdrop. New and crack-free cement.
Beautiful? Of course.
Realistic? Hardly.
[side note - I did the above plan in Excel. Its probably pushing the boundaries of a spreadsheet but you work with what you know, yes?]
[side note #2 - the house portion of the design went off well - the great room (right side of the house) consists of the kitchen, dinning room, and living room, and was a considerable redesign. Three walls were removed in that portion of the project. The backyard was left for last and it is what currently consumes my time.]
As a result, the plan for the backyard has changed a few times over the months/years. The budget demon has a way of scaling back most plans and my was no exception.
The current plan consists of...
1) Garden
a few raised garden beds for vegetables
a handful of oak barrels for fruit trees
a few upside down tomato plant holders for, err, tomatoes
2) Free standing BBQ
3) Table and chairs under an umbrella
4) Shaded area with grass and a few chase lounges
5) Possibly a free standing fire pit with a few chairs
The first phase of the backyard project - the raised garden beds - is finished and awaiting soil and plants.
Beautiful? Of course.
Realistic? Hardly.
[side note - I did the above plan in Excel. Its probably pushing the boundaries of a spreadsheet but you work with what you know, yes?]
[side note #2 - the house portion of the design went off well - the great room (right side of the house) consists of the kitchen, dinning room, and living room, and was a considerable redesign. Three walls were removed in that portion of the project. The backyard was left for last and it is what currently consumes my time.]
As a result, the plan for the backyard has changed a few times over the months/years. The budget demon has a way of scaling back most plans and my was no exception.
The current plan consists of...
1) Garden
a few raised garden beds for vegetables
a handful of oak barrels for fruit trees
a few upside down tomato plant holders for, err, tomatoes
2) Free standing BBQ
3) Table and chairs under an umbrella
4) Shaded area with grass and a few chase lounges
5) Possibly a free standing fire pit with a few chairs
The first phase of the backyard project - the raised garden beds - is finished and awaiting soil and plants.
 The raised garden beds from the left side of the yard. |  The raised garden beds from the right side of the yard. |
I stopped at 10 rows per box/bed. I also stopped at two boxes. I originally planned four, but ran out of bricks.
I was scrounging CraigList for bricks as I thought I was a row short on the second box but a last ditch scavenger hunt in the less traveled areas on my backyard found a gold mine of buried bricks. Good thing too, as all the bricks for sale and free on CraigList (yes, there were a few "free if you dig them out" posts) were the standard 8 inch long variety and what I was using was 12 inches.
I used masonry glue to hold the bricks together. Initially, I was thinking of laying the bricks without mortar or glue but a talk with my dad convinced me to use some sort of adhesive. Looking and feeling the solidness the finished boxes, I am glad I took his advise.
I was scrounging CraigList for bricks as I thought I was a row short on the second box but a last ditch scavenger hunt in the less traveled areas on my backyard found a gold mine of buried bricks. Good thing too, as all the bricks for sale and free on CraigList (yes, there were a few "free if you dig them out" posts) were the standard 8 inch long variety and what I was using was 12 inches.
I used masonry glue to hold the bricks together. Initially, I was thinking of laying the bricks without mortar or glue but a talk with my dad convinced me to use some sort of adhesive. Looking and feeling the solidness the finished boxes, I am glad I took his advise.
Last row of bricks about to be added. It turned out that a single tube of construction adhesive was used for each row.
A simple Google search for "building garden beds" will pull back a long list of DYI sites. What I gleaned from reading a few was I only needed between 12 and 24 inches of soil for normal garden vegetables. Which worked out as my lack of bricks stopped me at 16.5 inches (10 rows). With a planned one inch of pebbles/coconut liner for good drainage, that will leave the beds with 15 inches or so of growing soil.
Up next - laying out the grass area, sprinklers, and the sod vs seed discussion. I also need to plumb the water line to the above boxes. I did get smart and plan ahead - I added some space for piping into the boxes.
Up next - laying out the grass area, sprinklers, and the sod vs seed discussion. I also need to plumb the water line to the above boxes. I did get smart and plan ahead - I added some space for piping into the boxes.
 Future plumbing: Image above is ground level access hole. Image right is two brick high access hole. Pending how the plumbing works out, one or both holes may be used. |  |
