Backyard project

finally finished the backyard. this took quite a bit of planning, and ended up being a bigger project than expected (insert lack of complete surprise here).

while having the deck completed was the first step, we then finally got the file cabinet drilled and spray painted, and started the planning process on the rest of the yard.

We hooked up with Jonathan from AUSTIN OUTDOOR STUDIO after reading about his work from another austin blog (who knows which one, too much blog surfing). The studio is close by, and focuses on design/build with an emphasis on steel for materials.

We had a basic idea of the materials and aesthetic, but needed someone with the experience to keep us thinking about the things we did not know about. Jonathan came up with the first renditions below after our initial meeting:

the gray area was to be filled in with white gravel. we settled on limestone, cut into .5-.75 " sizes. I'm all for xeriscape, but having a larger amount of green was important to us, especially for visitors (the doorway leads into the guest bedroom). The square path was an idea I stole from a house in Hyde Park (the Dollahite house, for those familiar), and the green adds a nice contrast to the white limestone used for ground cover.

the steal framework only took a little over a day to be welded together and into the ground. metal stakes were drove into the ground and welded to the frames.

a day into the project, I decided to incorporate a small wall to cover up the AC units. this had been something I had planned on doing later, but realized it would make sense to get the posts cemented in before we laid down the gravel.

we used polygal sheets as the walls, which is a reusable and recyclable product that picks up light well (next step is to get some lighting behind and make it a big light box).

with the grass in and gravel down, things really started to come together.

our recycled file cabinet planter is working well, but some of the plants are getting too much water. we've unfortunately lost some of the herbs as a result. we'll need to install a gutter system on the roof to defer water to a better location.

I had Jonathan install a simple metal frame to the outside of our fence for lighting. we ran commercial grade lights from it to the awning over the garage doorway. (lights from the lightbulb shop)




the succulent garden in the landing has struggled a little bit. too much summer sun is my diagnosis. hopefully they will take off once fully established.

the grass is doing well, but does require a lot of water. having put this in at the tail end of spring, we did get some solid rain showers to help it establish it's roots into the soil.


all in all, we're extremely happy with the end result. it's a small oasis for us to enjoy the sun, and something nice to look at from a few different angles. thanks to Jonathan and everyone at Austin Outdoor Studio. They do great work.