Backyard pics!

When we bought our house, the backyard was almost a deal breaker.  To say that it needed a lot of work was an understatement.  The fence needed to be replaced, the pool needed to be re-tiled and resurfaced.  There were huge gaps of earth missing from around the pool causing cracking and shifting of the pool and patio.  And the people who owned the house before it was flipped must have loved texture, because there were three different types of gravel, bark, shrubs, trees, brick, concrete edging - well, you get the idea.  We weren't sure we wanted to invest that kind of money into a backyard, and we even considered filling the pool up.  But seeing how much Eric and Liam enjoyed spending time in it after we moved in caused us to rethink things.

The backyard when we first moved in.  The first thing we did was install a pool safety fence.  Then we had to replace deteriorating fence. 

Prior to the pool renovation in January. Lots of half dead shrubs and weeds.

Notice the missing tiles which looked like they were from the 80s.  Water was seeping up in the cracks causing even more damage to the infrastructure.

The sellers thought that they could fix the shifting by shoring up the edges with bricks.

Common issue of cracks and missing decoseal around the coping

Huge portions of dirt were missing from under the pool.  One time Chloe actually made it underneath the deck and we thought that she had run away.  We had to bring in 8 yards of topsoil and do extensive drainage work to fix the issue.

Perfect example of how it always looks worse before it looks better.  The replastering process was actually really fun to watch.

The dogs missed having grass.

Another view of the many textures.

The renovation started in January when we were able to get off season deals on a lot of the work. Eric spent many weekends working in the yard moving gravel, pulling out shrubs and prepping for a lot of the work that needed to happen in order to make the yard structurally "sound." After the pool work was done, and the drainage was complete, we were given the number for a good affordable landscaper who was able to complete the landscaping with his crew over the course of an afternoon for a fraction of what others had quoted us.  We just put the finishing touches this past weekend.  While there are still other things that we hope to do when our budget allows, we are thrilled with the final product and look forward to hosting friends and family this summer! 

The final product!

This is the view from my bathroom.  One of my favorite parts of the backyard is these large pots filled which we filled with crotons for color.

Our oleander is in full bloom and soon our crepe myrtles will be too.

Creeping vinca was planted on the down slope.  After it fully takes, it will provide a carpet with small, purple blooms in the spring.

Another view of the pool.

For years we have wanted a Japanese Maple but they require a good deal of shade.  We put dark brown rubber bark around the tree and Mexican River Rock around the perimeter of the house for drainage.  Previously we had mulch which draws termites.  Since our house had already previously been treated for termites, we didn't want to take any chances.

Looking forward to our summer entertaining.  All we need is a ceiling fan to keep the monster Texas mosquitoes away!