If I’ve been absent on this here blog for the past week, it’s for two reasons:
1) Since my last post (regarding Little Man’s Fort Night bed!), I had a crazy-fast viral illness that led to a double ear infection and one ear drum that was soooo close to bursting that it almost happened in urgent care. It absolutely tanked me and was incredibly painful. But I’m getting better and my hearing is gradually restoring, so…onward and upward!
2) This particular post I’ve been trying to draft is a DOOZIE, with a gazillion pics, so it’s taken me awhile to pull it together!
Okay.
So.
Without further delay, I present to you the most amazing, indulgent, beautiful, superfluous, life-changing project we recently completed…
Artificial Turf in the upper tier of our backyard!
Because I know it’s what you really want, I’ll give you a few glamour pics before I rewind and tell you the whole shebang:
And now, for perspective, a few jarring before/after comparisons:
I kid you not, I am simultaneously VERY aware of two things:
First, this was a beyond/privileged project to take on, so I feel a bit of shame in sharing, but, also…
Second, it has also been utterly life-changing and joyful for our crew—especially with our Coda puppy and the way our family life and outdoor use has drastically changed since her arrival, so it was easy to justify, any which way I tried!
Okay.
So.
Let’s rewind a bit and discuss the year-over-year deterioration of our yard in the five (five!) years since we’ve lived here.
Between insane water restrictions, decimating freezes, and just the general brutality of living in South Texas, the upper tier of our back yard had basically devolved into a dumpster fire.
Of course, these pics were taken in the past few weeks (so February and fake-Texas winter), but I promise you, they’re pretty much how our poor excuse for a grass looked year round—with the exception of a few green patches we’d get in late spring before the heat.
We tried seeding. Twice. We have weed and fertilization services year round, always. We’ve done aeration. Every year. And last year, I even spent weeks in the springtime, removing weeds, individually, with a special tool to try and promote actual grass growth beneath.
All failed.
Repeatedly.
Add to that, the fact that our neck of the woods has “stone” in the title for a reason, and it’s just not a friendly environment for thriving grass.
Plus, erosion. Don’t even get me started on the erosion in our particular yard. Oh, and the fact that our water restrictions basically leave only xeriscaping as a viable option.
It’s been awful. And not just for our yard and property. Everybody in the area is in a similar boat, but some have re-sodded or just prefer to let rampant weeds overtake their yard because at least weeds are green and provide coverage.
Yet others are moving to full xeriscaping. Think rock beds and plants/shrubs that are desert-friendly. Basically, Arizona-light. The neighborhood HOA even drafted an extensive addendum to our bylaws to address these mounting xeriscaping trends.
Blah, blah, blah…all that context and back-story to say that….it finally got to the point, last summer, that the sad visual of our backyard was making me want to actively avoid spending time out there.
And considering the fact that we’re blessed with a giant and really unique backyard and have been forced to restore our pool since living here, it was hurting me deeply that I was starting to become anti-backyard when it had previously been a source of such joy for us.
Lastly but certainly not least in this contextual lead-up to our turf decision: OUR PUPPY. I mean, holy moly did I perhaps dive in a little blind to dog life, in terms of how much time I’d need to spend in a suitable backyard, and how awful it would be to hang out back there, a gazillion times a day, with it looking heinous.
Needless to say…for all the aforementioned reasons, and many more, we started to get pretty serious about the idea of turf about a year ago.
You don’t really care about the exploratory process of finding vendors or vetting products or procedures. So I’ll skip all that mumbo jumbo. Just know that it was a long and thoughtful process that we didn’t take lightly.
But man, oh man, am I thrilled with the vendor we selected, and our decision to proceed with this massive undertaking.
Silly me, prior to meeting with contractors, I kinda thought you just leveled the ground a bit or removed any dead grass and just slapped the turf on there. But oooooohooooo NO. The process itself is wild! Especially to see in action.
First, we had a couple of logistical walk-throughs (and even a digital rendering) of the square footage we wanted to cover, and the rogue shrubs and vines we wanted to remove or tame.
When the day of removal was upon us, the crew helpfully spray painted some areas for easier visual confirmation of our decisions, and it was really fun to see the demarcation zones…
Again, so much of the backyard had just become a hot mess express of no rhyme or reason and nothing thriving, so I was so thrilled to see so much of it finally get cleared out to make way for a streamlined, more usable space.
And, ironically, there was very little grass to actually remove in the process, so it was more about leveling out the terrain, and raising sprinkler heads in prep for the next steps. This whole removal and prep took an entire day…
Next up, these giant piles of crushed limestone appeared in the driveway…
The entire second day was spent putting down a grey weed barrier, and then shoveling all this crushed limestone in place—along with the barrier boards that would serve as borders for the turf, as well as some small rock bed areas.
Again. This back-breaking (for the very incredible and hardworking crew!) took an entire day, before yet another pile showed up in the driveway for the work of day three…
A heaping pile of decomposed granite to serve as the next layer.
It was insane to see the progress around this stage. So much material had been brought in to serve as the proper foundation and to level the yard where needed. It’s hard to keep the volume in perspective until you’re right upon it.
This work was so meticulous, in terms of leveling. Round after round of bringing the material in and then raking it smooth, over and over.
A special compactor machine was utilized to really make sure all of this was solid, set firmly in place, and level. Hour upon hour of this painstaking foundational work…
At this point, it was the weekend, so work ceased and it was really fun to walk out there and take stock and see things start to coalesce.
Come Monday morning (a holiday for the kiddos, so they were home from school), it was day four and official time to start greening things up with the TURF. I think the kiddos were just as excited to see this step as I was!
I mean, holy explosion of beautiful green. It made me smile like a FOOL. Already, that first roll being set out was breathtaking.
The kiddos watched allllll day long and reported on progress any time it had been awhile since I’d glanced out a window.
Wild and creative for sneaky seams…they actually cut the pieces of turf with this curvy edged contraption. I mean, the things I’d never know or think of!
Following the roll out and installation of each section, yet another painstaking process began: spreading this anti microbial green sand/rock looking stuff that’s meant to help keep the blades upright, as well as control any bacteria or scent from pet potty breaks. After it was put down, the crew used this electronic roller to spread it and really work it into the blades for hours.
They completed the turf-laying in about three major sections before handling the precision work of all the rock borders, sprinkler heads, drains and decorative beds. So much care and work went into it all for a fourth back-breaking day.
By the end of that day, Chicklet had fallen ill with strep, but the other two kiddos were more than happy to head outside in the early evening to get a sneak peek…
The JOY. Oh, the joy! Of rolling down a beautiful, grassy slope of GREEN!
Another part of this whole shebang was landscape lighting we installed in the backyard last month that’s just been an absolute game-changer. Insane.
Bringing Coda out the next day (the fifth and final day of some more precision work and cleaning up) was just a blast of happiness. A major moment of bringing this tiny puppy out to the territory that would soon become major in her life.
The joy. The usefulness. The relaxation. The play. I really have no words for the awesomesauce of it all.
I could wax forever and ever about this really amazing thing for our family, not really, I’ve rambled enough and you get it. So I’ll just close out with the warning that there will be soooooo many more beautiful posts involving the backyard, and many apologies for the oodles of pics I’ll post to close this out, ha.
Much more in the coming days, peeps.
Until then…over and out!
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