My backyard, through the years…

This little house of mine has always been a never-ending project.  However, the backyard certainly takes the prize.  Like the prize that no one really wants, but you can’t just not give the kid who sucks but tries their hardest nothing.  Or can you??

Anyway, here was the backyard and pool when we purchased the house roughly 10 years ago.

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And here she is now…

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Never mind that wonky umbrella… I actually quickly took these for a pool tile company.  Oh yes, my friends, the tile is getting cleaned up!!  We’ve had the new pool/tile for almost 5 years and that seems to be how long this tile looks good for… well, maybe 4 but shits expensive so we pushed it a bit.  You may be thinking that you’ve never cleaned your tile and it looks fab, but this is black glass and it’s more demanding than a model on a diet.

Another fun thing on the list, is cleaning the quartz stone.  If I thought the tile was pricey, getting these quotes was like a punch to the gut.  Just the cost of the sealer is $2,500!  Just. the. sealer.  Anyway, it requires a week of not touching the stone, which is way too much to ask of 4 crazy pool kids who wake up at 5am on the weekends begging to go in the pool.

I don’t ever remember liking the pool that much.  Do you?

Anyhoo, we’ll do this at some point in the near future.

You can see that the hill/slope/whatever you want to call it, in the back, has always been a thorn in my side.  It’s fairly steep so it’s not fun to climb and plant into.  Also, the soil isn’t all that great… it’s real sandy and I’m pretty sure the pine needles from the neighbors have made it uninhabitable for most plants.  But I keep trying.  Each year I plant a bunch of stuff and see how it goes.  Right now, I have 2 olive trees, 3 desert cassias, a magnolia and a pink magnolia that seem to be doing quite well.  Recently I added the red poker succulents… just because the name KILLS ME.

In a few years I’m hoping the hill looks more like this

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AND!!! next week I’ll be putting in a row of japanese boxwoods because I’m so damn obsessed with topiaries.  I think it’s going to look awesome!!

As for the rest of the hill, well, I’m going to let it be this summer.  It gets well into the 100’s and I think planting in the heat is just a recipe for dead plants.  I’ll get back to it around September-ish… My thought is to slowly cut the water and see which areas get bald spots.  There is one big one to the left of the hill… it’s the receding hairline no one wants to stare at directly.

That’s it for now!!  I’m still finishing the right side or area formerly known as Gopher Paradise, too.  I’ll share more soon.

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Jessica

2 comments

  1. Your back yard looks great. The pool improvements are seriously impressive -it’s actually hard to tell it’s the same place. One has to ask, when was that super tan everything in style????? it’s horrible!!! So I’d say the black is worth it, despite the cost and maintenance hassles and the stone surround is awesome. I have such pool envy, you have no idea. -Caitlin

    1. Thank you so much! Sometimes when you look at your own house all you see are the negatives,(dusty stone, dirty pool tile, etc) you kinda forget that it’s not too shabby and probably worth all the extra work.

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