A North Texas Back Yard Retreat

A North Texas Back Yard Retreat Native plantings for drought tolerance and low maintenance.

Starting our back yard makeover

The plan included maintaining the general shape of the beds and keeping several foundation plantings then removing others to open up the space.

Step one was removing steel edging, digging out sod and deciding which plants to keep or relocate and which to remove. (Note the stone bench in front of the spray of blue sage. Our plan was to relocate it later in the project).

Foundations were prepared for the new borders and space was cleared for the flagstone sitting area addition.

Chopped block was laid into wet concrete poured over rebar framed footers. Mortar between the blocks came later to finish the borders.

This dry, shady corner wasn’t great for lawn but perfect for a new flagstone sitting area.

Construction sand was spread across the top soil to form a level base for the flagstone. Decomposed granite would come later to fill in gaps between the stones.

Some older plants came out and others were moved to better locations in the bed giving them more room to grow.

We added a cedar lattice divider to separate the tools and potting bench corner from the smoker and grill area.

Getting started on the shade bed on the south side of the back yard. Steel edging came out and trenches started for the new border.

The plan included converting the area where the retired swing set had sat into a sitting area with a bench and fire pit. Sod was dug out, the new borders were created and the ground was leveled for flagstones.

The shady corner was redesigned into an expanded bed with flagstone pathways leading to the new sitting area and side gate.

These guys are strong! The larger flagstones in the sitting area were several hundred pounds each!

The first to sit and enjoy the new bench! Thank you Peter and team!

New sitting area features our stone bench we relocated from inside the bed.

Native plantings and drought tolerant yuccas create a rugged, low maintenance space perfect for butterflies, bees and hummingbirds

Our new sitting area with bench swing and fire pit.

Yuccas and three holly trees form the foundation plantings in this shaded bed. River rock along the fence line provides drainage and contrasting texture.

Appreciate