Backyard Renovation Report Card: Four Years of Tree Growth (Wins) and Decomposed Granite (Losers)

Welcome to a new series: Report Card. In which I review (nearly) everything in a space and report on how it’s held up, if I still recommend it, and some reflections on the decision making process.

A quick recap on the backyard transformation before the verdicts: This yard used to be consumed by a giant unused jacuzzi, a crumbling shed, and damaged two-tiered decking. We patched it for years with outdoor furniture and weed abatement, but it was always a band-aid. Then, in early 2022, we overhauled the whole space (here's the full budget breakdown, if you're curious what it cost). We added a small lawn, a seating area with a firepit, fruit trees, veggie beds, a spot for a future playhouse, and a big outdoor dining table. For how the space is actually living now, day to day, see the How We Live Here Now backyard post and the full backyard archives are here. Here's how it's actually held up.

The Trees: B+

I really can't get enough of a mature tree and a shady canopy, and I'm happy to see ours filling in. The vines have done their job too, completely covering the fences at this point. The goal was dappled light, green in every direction, and no sightlines into the neighbors. Check check check. (Note that the photos here are older, so the fence isn’t as covered as it is now. stay tuned for a backyard 2.0 reveal so soon) The Strawberry Tree is the second one we've planted and I'm so glad we doubled down on it. It's delightfully pretty with sculptural branches, a red trunk, cute flowers, and evergreen. The only reason I gave the trees a B+ and not higher is that several of the "dwarf" fruit trees are very much not dwarf. While I'm happy to have a thirty-foot plum and twenty-foot apricot and peach trees, I never planned a layout around that size. The peach is the main culprit, casting a shadow that's affecting the veggie beds. If anything grows in the beds, the crop yield is minimal and often full of powdery mildew. And since I love big trees, I can't bring myself to cut any of the branches back, so they're eating valuable real estate in a small(ish) yard. I can't bear to lose the peaches, or the tree, so the veggie beds are what have to change. I'm eyeing new spots with more sun. Stay tuned.

The Veggie Beds: C

The beds themselves are lovely, custom-made to fit the space, holding up well to wear and tear. The peach tree above, which is stunting their production, is the only reason I gave them an unsatisfactory grade. Honestly, I'm hoping it's a blessing in disguise: moving them to another location opens up a lot of space in one of the most trafficked parts of the yard.

The Dining Table & Chairs: A+

The teak 8-seater dining table is heavy and sturdy and it's withstood several years of daily use and weather. We use it as a dining table, but it's also my potting station, our bubble refill station, our work surface for all things backyard. I went through a couple of disappointing sealers before finding my favorite teak sealer, nontoxic and effective, and easy to maintain with just a simple scrub, no power washer needed. The seal holds for several years; ideally you redo it once a season, but I've skipped a couple of years and it's held up fine in our climate. I do plan to reseal it this year. The chairs are a favorite. They're made of a soft rope so they're comfy and clean up so well. Water drips right through and they dry out fast, and surprisingly the black hasn't faded at all.

The Umbrella & Stand: A-

We hemmed and hawed about shade over the dining table. We initially planned a (very expensive) pergola, then tried a (cheap) shade sail, but didn't like it. So, we went with a giant umbrella instead and it's great. My experience with a traditional umbrella is that it's almost useless unless you're sitting directly beneath it at high noon. Any other time, the sun is at an angle leaving people to sit in the direct sun. The fix was going oversized. I found an extra-large umbrella (the size of three umbrellas all stuck together) with just one pole in the way and put it in a sturdy base that technically rolls but rarely needs to. It shades the entire dining table and all the seating at once, no matter the time of day. The one bummer: the base has to sit right up against the table (due to our table placement and our region's latitudinal placement), which claims the spot of one seat.

The Trellis: A+ for the trellis, D for me

When the trellis is covered in sweet pea blooms, it gets an A++. But when I forget to plant them I give myself a D. The trellis still provides a dedicated play space and allows me to drape a blanket for shade over the water table, so I still give it an A even when foliage isn't scaling the sides.

The Water Table: A-

The water table provides lots of entertainment for both Margot and Hattie, sometimes even at the same time! The only reason I gave it a minus is that it requires nearly daily emptying and rinsing and refilling to keep it fresh (no invitations for mosquitos here!). The water pump that recirculates the water table is also an A, and the manual pump for refilling water play is also an A.

The Birds and Butterflies: A++

10/10, no notes.

The Swing: B

We got this swing on this swing set when Margot was a baby, and while she’s grown out of it, Hattie fits right in. But, it’s pretty small and only provides so much thrill. I’d like to get a bigger swing set and a dedicated play structure to get some more wiggles out. I initially planned a play structure in the backyard design, but tabled it until we knew how the kids would play in the yard. I’m so glad we did because now that I’ve seen five years of Margot play, plus big kid neighbor play, I have a much sharper sense of what we need. More soon!

The Decomposed Granite: D-

I really don't like it. Everyone warned me it sheds loose, gritty sand that tracks inside, and yes, that part is exactly as annoying as advertised. I tried rock glue once and it didn't hold (I might try again someday). What's actually worked is cheap outdoor rugs laid over the top. It solves the gritty texture, and walking on an outdoor rug beats any kind of ground cover (we're often barefoot out here)! The rugs mean the ground stays permeable, which was the whole point of DG in the first place. San Diego doesn't get much rain, so when it does come, I want it soaking into the soil instead of running off into the flawed storm water infrastructure. But that rare rain is also the DG's biggest weakness. Ground that hasn't seen moisture in months erodes fast. Our driveway strip sits on a slant, so the water runoff carves divots down toward the street, a nuisance to walk on and worse, a tripping hazard. We've talked about ripping it out for concrete, since that stretch does real daily work: loading kids into the car, rolling out trash cans, hauling things to and fro the garage, etc. The cost has been our main hang up, with quotes pushing $10k. Whereas my gardener said he could patch the DG for $500. Do we go with the cheap band-aid or the long-term investment?

The Rugs: A+

I didn't expect to ever cover my yard in rugs, but they're the best solution for the annoying DG and they make walking barefoot so pleasant. Even if we replaced the DG with concrete, like we've often considered, we'd never cover it 100% in an outdoor rug, so right now we're winning with soft texture underfoot. We have two patterned rugs under the dining table. An IKEA outdoor rug is under the water table. We used to have jute, which would naturally degrade (a pro for natural, a con for having to replace it annually), but I've since switched to one that doesn't dissolve underfoot. I have that one under the seating area, and its sister in runner format in the walkway. The more I describe the number of rugs in my backyard, the more I wonder if filling a yard with rugs is weird. But it works, and I stand by it.

The Lawn: B

Fiting everything on our wishlist into a small footprint worked! But the lawn got the lowest priority. After establishing the veggie beds, trees, play space, sitting area, dining table, and garden beds around the perimeter, the lawn was relegated to whatever space was left over. It works just fine when Ross and Margot kick a little soccer ball around. But when a gaggle of neighborhood kids try using the lawn as a slip n slide or a real soccer match, it suddenly feels dinky. The swing set took up some of the lawn space too, so right now the lawn is more of a pass through than a destination. But maybe that isn't a fault of its size, just of how the kids play now?

The Seating Corner: D

Boy was I optimistic that I'd just sit in a loveseat for hours and watch my kids play while I sipped lemonade. They've been used approximately never. I've spent waaaaaay more time cleaning them than sitting in them. I don't sit down outside. Someone always needs a splinter removed, or a water table refilled, or a toy retrieved from a bush, or an outfit change. I'm also to blame, too. I always find some weeds or overgrowth to putter with when I'm out there. This underutilized corner of the yard is at the top of the list to revise. A Backyard 2.0 reveal is coming!

The Concrete Steps: A

During our redesign we were really worried about the gradual slope toward the house and how we'd mitigate water runoff and make getting in and out of the house seamless. The concrete steps were the solution. Shallow enough that they don't take up the whole yard, but deep enough that the girls have ample room for coloring with chalk, or for us to chuck a box of recycling outside to take to the bin later. The part I didn't anticipate was how the steps would naturally become a spot to sit. Instead of wandering over to the loveseats, parents sit on the steps during playdates. I never thought concrete steps would be this versatile.

Flowers: C

The plants that went in the spring of 2022 were all full sun, and with all the added shade (see the trees rating), the flowering perennials are no longer. The evergreen shrubs are all doing great, but the small flowering plants need replacing. I need to stop planting for full sun and start planting for partial (and in some spots, full) shade. The zinnias have made that abundantly clear, every single year. Why haven't I learned my lesson yet?

The French Doors: A-

Still one of the best decisions of the whole overhaul, well, technically from the kitchen renovation, but the backyard was on my mind when we planned them. We get to look out the kitchen French doors and see only green (the dream!). The only downside is I wish I'd installed a screen. Every time we actually use them the way they're meant to be used, thrown open so the yard and the house combine, I pay for it later chasing a fly back outside for fifteen or twenty minutes.

The Accessories: A

I've only just started dabbling in yard decor, and I can already see my future with a yard full of sculptures and ornaments. Consider this the beginning. The wind chime is advertised as the Stradivarius of wind chimes, which my audiophile husband approves of, and is delightfully pretty sounding. The wind spinner is fun and decorative. In my yard decor era, I envision more kitschy and artist-made sculptures down the road. Again, this is just the beginning. I have a habit of leaving up the birthday party decor all year long. There's now rainbow bunting, pom-poms, or pinwheels, permanently. The retractable hose is an A+ and I never want to wrangle a hose ever again. The bubble machine is also an A. It stays plugged in 24/7 so I have the magical power of waving a little wand (the remote) to produce a full cloud of bubbles on command, extremely delightful during playdates. The market lights, on the other hand, cost us a full afternoon of aircraft cable and mounting, and we admittedly never use them. Bedtime comes early in this house so we don't do much outdoors after dark these days. Lastly, Margot's fairy gardens and hand-painted birdhouses: 10/10, no notes, obviously.

This is the year (nay, the month!) I tackle some of those underperforming elements. A backyard reveal 2.0 is coming!