Backyard Project

Developing the backyard to my new home

Ever since my house burned down, I've been in the market for a new house--something closer to the city and work. I put many bids on existing houses, but was always out bid. I got frustrated with that and started looking at new construction. I found the perfect home and struck a deal in March 2024. One of the things you agree to when purchasing a new house is to do something with the backyard within the first year. Here's what I did and at the end, I'll let you know how much it all cost.
 

Here's what I had to work with:
 

*All images are clickable for full size.
 

The houses directly behind me are located about 1-2 feet higher than my property. Therefore, I'll need a retaining wall if I want to flatten out my land.
 

Here's my plan:
 

And, Now the Build
 

Somewhat bad timing, I started this project in the middle of Summer. It was really hot, and I only managed to work on this about an hour per day during the evenings.
 

The backyard is 60 feet, fence to fence. I started by digging a trench about 4-6 inches deep and the width of the yard. I piled up the dirt between the trench and the fence.
 

That took me a lot longer than I'd like to admit as I only had these tools to work with:
 

Next, I had 7 cubic yards of crushed rock delivered:
 

The goal is to cover the entire backyard in 1-3 inches of rock (except for the flower bed, behind the retaining wall). My neighbor came over when he saw the rock being delivered and brought his wheelbarrow along.
 

It pays to have good neighbors! Anyway, I finished the rock the next day:
 

I started tamping down the crushed rock under the retaining wall while waiting for the bricks to be delivered:
 

Bricks arrived!
 

My neighbor came back today and helped me carry the bricks into the backyard. Still waiting on the sand delivery...
 

Sand arrived! The 2 cubic yards of sand should be enough to put 1 inch in the trench and the rest under where the fake grass will go:
 

The first row of bricks took me an entire day to place. Each brick has to be level front-to-back, side-to-side, and level with the neighboring bricks:
 

After placing the first row, I put crushed rocks between each brick:
 

Both second and third row went very quickly. I finished them in the same day:
 

All the dirt that I had piled up between the trench and the fence got pulled down and packed behind the bricks:
 

That wasn't quite enough dirt to completely fill behind the retaining wall. I'll need to supplement that with some 50/50 potting mix... later:
 

Now it is time to lay down the edge bricks. The fake grass will go between these bricks and the house:
 

Making a nice curve couldn't be easier with these edge bricks:
 

Next, I tamped down the crushed rock that will sit below the fake grass. Then, I put down about 1-2 inches of sand on top of that:
 

I still need to level out the sand better and then tamp it down:
 

A friend came over to help and he tamped down all the sand for me.
 

The big roll of fake grass arrived (along with a huge box of 5 inch nails):
 

The roll was slightly wider than they told me it would be. Time to trim it down to fit the grass area.
 

OK, grass is laid out. Next up, nailing it down and then covering with a light layer of sand to help hold the blades of grass upright. That will actually take some time.
 

The dirt showed up. This is 2.5 cubic yards of 50/50 mix (potting soil/dirt). The plants are gonna love this:
 

Here, I started digging holes for the plants. The plan is to put a plant every 5 feet:
 

I picked up about half the plants (every other one) as that was all that would fit in the car:
 

The Pergola arrived. A friend dropped by to help me get started in assembling it:
 

A rare picture of me actually working on my own yard!
 

I was glad to have more help as the Pergola was much too heavy for me to assemble by myself:
 

I still need to put the topmost layer on the Pergola and hang the string lights. I did manage to plant the rest of the plants and put 10 bags of bark on the dirt behind the retaining wall just in time for the storm:
 

I ended up moving the Pergola away from the back door. It feels much less cramped now. I also hung up the string lights.
 

Here's a look from the other direction:
 

I took apart the back porch light to see if I could wire in the string lights to the inside light switch.
 

I replaced the LED light with a plugin.
 

Finally, I ran an extension cord to the Pergola and filled in all the holes with silicone to keep water out.
 

Nice and quiet in the evenings...
 

And, that's how it sits today.
 

I love my little backyard. A nice way to end the day is to spend a few minutes out back.
 

Cost
 

Plus... sweat equity, of course!
 

 
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