Backyard

Our back yard has always been a mess, but fixing it up hasn't been a high priority for us. I wanted to focus on the inside of our house and I liked that the kids could do whatever they wanted back there.

The trampoline was a big highlight, but the rest of the space was storage and weeds.

The foxtails and pokies start to really get to me by the end of summer every year. But this year with the parks closed and a toddler who wanted to be outside at all times, I decided to get some estimates for getting the lawn done.

First, we cleared out some old logs that came with the house, pulled some weeds, donated and threw out any old stuff to clear the patio a bit, trimmed the orange tree and dug up our lemon tree dud. Then we hired a team to pull out the dead loquat tree and another shoot that was coming up behind the shed.

We debated real vs. fake grass and doing it ourselves vs. hiring out. Ultimately we went with our old t-ball coach's company to put in turf. It's a bigger scoped project than we felt like we could take on in any kind of timely manner.

We can keep the trampoline, our water rates are high here, we don't have to worry about taking care of it. 

The kids loved watching the workers and all their equipment.

They had it dug up in a day. Most of the cost was the materials, and for us it would've been higher for rental equipment and not getting the bulk rates. It was definitely worth the labor charge.

Plus they did a professional job. I didn't appreciate how precise everything needed to be, getting it level and even. 

They had it all prepped, then we waited for the turf supply company to open after an unexpected covid-related closure.

I felt terrible having people working outside in the smoke and there was a heat wave, up to 106* and one of the days was labor day holiday. 

I said we weren't in a rush and could wait, but when you're paid by the job I'm sure there's a need or desire to work in all conditions. 

Finally the grass came in 

and was installed 

and instantly transformed the yard.

We couldn't wait to go try it out.

It was still smokey, but we went outside for a few minutes to test it out.

We all love it. Totally worth the investment. We have some other little projects to do to finish the yard, but it's so much better now. Beautiful and functional.

We can't wait for clearer skies so we can get good use out of it.