Front 'yard'

[bigwilly43729]

My place

We bought this place about 9 months ago and finally got around to sprucing up the yard (with a bit of a nudge from the HOA).

I hate calling this thing a yard; it's more of an area to me, but whatever.

Initially, it was just a big pile of dirt...

And after some magic from yours truly...we now have a retaining wall!

96 stones, 48 bags of gravel, an adventure with a giant tiller and LOTS of shoveling later, we have a wall.

Now obviously, we aren't done. The plan is to have EasyTurf installed in the open area that you can see. There is another small area directly to the right of the entryway in the 4th pic; it too will have EasyTurf.

There is an outside chance that we will do grass, but there are a ton of rocks in this dirt and we don't really have any (legal) way of disposing of it. I'm still trying to sell the idea of the turf to the gf, but she isn't feeling the $2500 price tag.

We will also plant something in the space behind the wall. She gets to decide what that is; that was a battle I didn't want to fight and simply gave in to her demands.

I've got some other things up my sleeve, so stay tuned...

Let me know what you think!

 

[don_w]

That's a lot of work... looking good so far!

 

[bigwilly43729]

And voila! A "yard" that everyone can enjoy! I can't really say enough about the EasyTurf organization on this one. It was pricey, but they were completely professional throughout. The workers even showed up 1 1/2 hours early! I'm really glad we got this done.

 

[terry5357]

Right fuckin on man!!!!!! Fortunately the guy that owned our house was a yard freak, 100% St Augustine front and back and a sprinkler system to keep its thirst down...looks great in the summer time and looks like a hay field in the winter. A little Scotts weed and feed in march and it totally green in the summer.

Your yard looks great buddy, WELL DONE>

 

[alloy6ix]

Wow, that looks really bad ass dude!!

 

[bigwilly43729]

Thanks. I don't typically toot my own horn, but I had to give myself a small pat on the back for the wall. I'd never even thought of doing something like that and just went after it.

After talking to a few other people with detached homes about their monthly water bills, this idea sounded pretty good for the long term. Ours is already twice as much as I thought it was. The gf pays it and the water stays on, so I never ask any questions.

 

[don_w]

That looks awesome! Nice job!

 

[GIG4FUN]

damn nice

 

[C-Liz-Go]

That turned out VERY nice! And low-maintenance FTW!!

Maybe adding a few low-height ornamental grasses in that planter area would help screen the commercial buildings a bit?

 

[don_w]

Maybe adding a few Cannabis sativa plants in that planter area would help screen the commercial buildings a bit?

Good idea. LOL

 

[bigwilly43729]

That turned out VERY nice! And low-maintenance FTW!!

Maybe adding a few low-height ornamental grasses in that planter area would help screen the commercial buildings a bit?

I'd have to double check our HOA rules, but I think anything you plant can't be higher than where the glass meets the wall. Our retaining wall design is essentially a continuance of the existing wall that is outside our gate and none of the shrubs in that planter are higher than the bottom of the glass.

She wanted whatever plants those are, so I just went along with it. I don't get along well with plants. I've killed every plant she has had, so I just stay away from them.