Stacy Risenmay

Do-it-yourself projects and Home Decor

Our Backyard Plans

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Spring is a magical time of year here in Utah. After what feels like an eternal winter, we finally can work outside again. It is a double edge sword though, because it takes time away from inside projects that we started when it was too cold and muddy to be outside. It is the one time I year I really wish I could clone myself!

I wanted to let you know what we have been up to out in the yard and what our plans are for the rest of the year. Some of the things I mention may not get accomplished in this calendar year, but will eventually. That is how it goes. I always have more ideas than time or money :P

We put up 20 something fence posts along the other side of our yard. The backyard is well over 200 feet deep. We have started adding the panels and will soon be able to stain it. I bought a couple colors of grey to see which one I like best.

 

fence-posts

 

I did a quick water color of an aerial view of the yard so I could better explain the next big project we are going to tackle as soon as the fence is done.  At the very back of our yard, where the grass ends, is an area full of weeds and uneven dirt. Eventually I would like to add gravel there which is why it is shown in grey. Because our yard has an alleyway that connects to the street, we wanted to put a short fence after the grass ends. I had the idea this winter to make long planter boxes instead that act as a fence. So that is what we are going to do! We already bought all the lumber and I am SO excited!!!

They will be 20 feet long each and 3 feet high and 3 feet wide. We will move our raspberries from the garden, to the planter boxes. There will be two 4 foot gates in the center that open up to allow people or vehicles to come through.

In front of the planter boxes will be some flowerbeds. I have been meaning to add more color to the backyard and this will be the perfect spot. I have some Zinnias I started from seeds and will probably have to buy some more to supplement since it is such a large area (40 feet by 2 feet deep).

Behind the planter boxes I will hide my compost bins and wood piles. Initially, I was going to have the planters extend the whole way until the garden but we decided to put a shed on the end. The shed is probably not in the budget this year but when we do get one, it will act as a clubhouse for the boys until they outgrow it and then it will be a garden shed.

 

back yard-plans

 

Here you can see the back of the yard as it is now. We have been working on mowing down the weeds. The boys will start digging it to even it out as it starts to slope up (see in the second picture) and there is a hill not visible in these pics.

 

back-of-yard-before-planters

 

There is a long story behind this old wood I got for free. It is too long to tell today. But it is an old untreated wood fence from a house in my neighborhood and we are going to use it to build a cute little fence around the garden. I have wanted a fence around the garden for YEARS but wanted to use reclaimed wood so it would match the chicken pen fence. I am so pumped we got this for free and don’t have to wait any more!

 

free-barnwood

 

Off the back of the house we would like to add a pea gravel patio with a pergola. We have never had a patio or patio furniture and I look forward to have a cozy post to relax. This one may not happen this year due to the fact that I would really like to get some major progress on the basement done and I honestly don’t know if I would have time for both. If it happens my guess would be that it would happen in the Fall.

 

Whew! That was a lot. I would love to hear what your outdoor plans are! Do any of you have pea gravel patios? Any advice? Am I crazy to think the boys and I can level the ground in the back? Or should I break down and hire a dude with a backhoe? Share your ideas in the comments :)

 

 

 

 

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    • We had a neighbor come till it up with a tractor attachment last fall so it isn’t super compact or hard. The boys have made pretty good progress in a couple of days! I would rather have a small house and big yard than the other way around :)

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  2. I love how excited you are at the prospect of seeing your plans come to fruition…and SO hope yours don’t take as long to actually materialise as mine always seem to do! The endless plans I have ( usually ‘hatched when sitting outside in my garden chair,eyes closed, and in ‘thinking mode’) are often scuppered by the more pressing needs which squillions of chickens and dozens of sheep can engender. I, too, have had some donated wood squirrelled away for over two years, and have seen it gradually depleted. I had a grand plan for a summer house….later, demoted to a mere ‘ she shed’….and even that was abandoned to make way for an extension on the chicken shed. Much more mundane, but very necessary.. A fallen oak tree next to our beach was a mere two years in the shifting, chopping and stacking….during which I mentally designed( from the garden chair,eyes closed) a set of log benches and table next to the water. That, I finally got just two weeks ago during a mad half hour whirl with the chain saw) and it looks delightfully as if it has just grown out of the ground, organically, as I had envisioned. Albeit with a little less finesse, but hey…..! I’m quietly harbouring plans for some posts with rope slung between in nautical fashion, as a handrail up the side of my steps alongside the long awaited sloping shrubbery held in place by logs( yet more fallen tree branches…we have a lot of wind!).That also took a couple of years to complete. All of which is hardly good for my patience, since I always want to do something right NOW, once I’ve had the idea. All of my smaller projects…the ones I can handle with no male input..are implemented in that ‘want it NOW’ fashion…so I wish you good luck with YOUR projects, Stacy.They’re always worth waiting for, aren’t they? The pleasure they give to other people, as well as ourselves, makes it worthwhile being so persistent. Not that we ‘makers” have any choice……we just can’t help ourselves but to continue with the ‘I’ve had a thought….’ kind of conversations. On which note, I need to persevere with the planter I’m currently struggling with. It involved cutting petal shapes into a tyre, and turning it inside out. Looked simple on Pinterest! Nope. It currently sits, half in, half out, until we muster up enough energy to get the last and most difficult part reversed. It will look fabby when it’s done. Meantime, it sits in a corner of the garage, laughing at us.I’m determined to have the last laugh though.

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    • Mine are usually hatched during the long winter months while I am not so patiently waiting for spring. Your nautical handrail project sounds fun! Here’s to hoping we BOTH get our projects done this year :)

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  3. Hi Stacy-your plans look awesome! I rented a backhoe and had a guy level our beach area at a vacation rental we own on a lake. It made the area perfectly level and we were able to install a firepit and retaining wall with plants. It was very fast and amazing to watch although it was a lot more uneven than yours. I highly recommend a firepit-the kids love it and its so easy to make-we just used the cement blocks from the retaining wall and dug a hole and put them in a circle-done! Then you just need the Adirondack chairs and you have a great hang out area. I also used reclaimed wood from a neighbor-everyone thought I wanted it for the fire but I used it as fencing too-saved a ton of money. You can see my cottage on vrbo-sunset beach cottage in Clear Lake CA. Just redid the kitchen, living room and fireplace and mantel-I am obsessed with remodeling too! Take care and have fun! susan

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    • We are lucky enough to already have a firepit that we love! The previous owner worked in concrete for a living and poured a really nice one in the middle of the yard. It is the circle with a darker circle pictured on the yard map. They are so nice to have! I just need to build some seating and we are set!

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  4. I love the watercolor layout. It has a certain charm in itself. Sounds like a bunch of wonderful ideas. Not sure about having boys level the yard, but then you have a terrific clan of guys. Bury some gold coins for them to find?

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  5. I love gardening and changing our yard. I just wish it was bigger. I don’t have a pea gravel patio but used small rocks throughout one of our gardens. They are hard to walk on and always move around. But good luck! What does your chicken coop look like? We just built one and I need ideas for the siding.

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  6. sweet thing…is that a picnic table close and in front of the chicken yard? if so BELIEVE ME when I say sometime it can smell like chicken pootie, outside private bathroom….and the wind , gentle blowing can happen when least expected…just saying….love

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    • Oh the cement pad! Originally we were going to build the shed on the cement pad that the previous owner poured. It seemed to make sense. But I hated that it would block the view of the rest of the yard especially since my kitchen window is directly across from it. I didn’t want to stare at a shed. I honestly don’t know what to do with it. The picnic table stays there because then we don’t have to move it each time we mow the lawn. That thing is HEAVY. Rest assured, when we have guests over and actually use the table, we move it into the shade under the trees. The chickens are not very smelly since we don’t have very many and due to the fact that we till the ground often. But yes, I don’t want to dine next to them, especially when we BBQ chicken!

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