Back Raised Bed

We painted it a brick red as a test; we were thinking about painting the house that color. It looks cool, but for the whole house it will probably be a bit much. Plus, it's dark and will suck up heat in the summer. The search for the perfect house color continues.

Camellia bush.

The fountain/pond in progress. That's a horse trough; credit for that idea goes to Julie. It's actually deeper than  ground level, which required some digging. Water will pour from the vessel into the trough. Flowers and plants will go in the bed. 

The Back Yard Comes Along, Slowly

Here's what the backyard looks like at the moment. We covered the ground with weed-block fabric and then fresh mulch. We had a bunch of concrete blocks left over from the front walkway, so I laid them out to make a walkway to the patio. That's a crepe myrtle tree in the foreground, and just past the gazebo you can see the cypress hedge.

A somewhat better shot of the crepe myrtle:

These are leyland cypresses, which are supposed to grow quickly into a tall, thick hedge. 

More Front Yard

Flowers around the fountain;

Some succulents in the 3-foot strip between raised beds and sidewalk.

I have no idea what these plants are.

Cactus Garden

We turned one part of the front yard into a zone for spiky things.

If You Call Us and We Don't Answer, We're Out on the Patio

So the backyard is still mostly a plant-free expanse of dirt,

but the patio is just about finished.

This is what we've been imagining for the past 2.5 years.

Front Yard Finishing Work

The operative word is "work." Boy, am I sore.

Oh yeah, we got a fountain.

What We Did With Our 4th of July Weekend

And it shall be named America, the Beautiful... Walkway Between the Driveway and Front Walkway. The flagstone is salvaged from the old patio in the back. 

Beds and Walkway Finished

Except that we're going to paint the beds. And fill them with dirt and plants.

The walkway is pretty sweet. Heck, the beds are pretty sweet, too.

Walkway Coming Together

Laying Out Patio Tile

The Saltillo for the patio is here, so that means more test patterns. 

Insert Accent Here

More Walkway

Test Pattern

For the new front walkway.

Raised Beds (Update)

A Wider Opening

The new concrete-block walkway is going to go between the two raised beds in the front yard. The walkway will be 4 feet wide -- the standard width for walkways, sidewalks, etc. 

Originally, the space between the raised beds was going to be 4 feet. But what you're looking at is 6 feet. We moved each wall out one foot because otherwise, one of the walls would have been on top of our water main. We didn't think it was a good idea to encase a water main in concrete here in earthquake-land.

So we'll have a one-foot strip between the walkway and raised bed on either side. We'll probably put plants there.

Raised Beds

The concrete pour was also for the footings of the raised beds.

Concrete Pour

Patio.

Trashcan slab.

Stair.

The contractor and I used scraps of rebar to make sure we were on the same page about how the patio is going to be tiled.

New Fence

Fence Posts

Old chain-link fence out,

Posts for the new fence in.

The current block fence in the back belongs to our neighbor. The new fence is going up right in front of it. 

Unexpected Home Improvement Complication #283

So the concrete guys were digging the footing for the raised beds in the front yard and found... our water main. 

It's maybe 4 inches below ground level. Is that code? I wouldn't bet on it. The incredibly cheap former owner strikes again!

The main is right where one of the walls was going to go, so we have to shift it a foot to the side. Not that big of a deal, but still.

Moving Along

The workmen have dug the footing for one of the raised beds in the front. 

You can see where the other one will go.