When we moved into this house in April of 2006 we tsk-tsked about the back yard. At that time the house was 11 years old and had exactly zero plants back there. The contents of the back yard consisted of an incredibly ugly and broken gas light stuck smack in the middle of the yard and a big wooden play set (swings, climbing stuff).
In the first month we got the play set taken away. Gave it to someone. "This can be yours but you've got to disassemble it and remove it." That left the gas light. I eventually dug that out of the ground and capped off the gas line at the meter.
Time and money have finally freed up to do something in the back. First step is in the picture above.
We now have about 1,000 square feet of gauged slate laid down over what was two separate sections of concrete. The concrete sections were joined by a narrow walkway. We had that dug up and filled in with new concrete to make it all one big patio. Then the slate was laid down over the whole thing. The picture is of the larger space. What looks blue in the picture is shades of grey picking up reflections of the sky. It is sooooooo much nicer than the plain concrete.
Next up, build a pergola and put in some beds. And do a dry creek in the lower part of the yard. And rip out the ugly retaining wall. And regrade the area where the wall is. And... oh, my aching back.
