Today I am excited to share one of the best purchases I have ever made…my backyard! It is hard to believe it has been a year since we had it redesigned, but we are loving it as much as we did on day one, maybe even more!
Let me give you a little background first. For nearly twenty years my husband and I have lived in a small house, slightly under 800 square feet. Yes, it really is that tiny. (My niece says I should blog about tiny-house living. Hmmm. Maybe those tips will come in the future.) Anyway, between us, our dogs, and various home-based businesses, it has always been a little crowded. The good news, and the bad news, is that there was never enough room to entertain our friends and family. On the plus side, we were off the hook during the holidays and never had to plan, prepare, execute, or clean up after a get together. On the other hand, we were always at the mercy of someone else deciding to invite us to a gathering.
Our backyard is larger than our house, but Ryan and I have never had a desire or determination to keep up with yard work. Other than mowing the lawn, we let everything else go. So all of the plants and bushes that came with the house either died or became grossly overgrown. Not to mention our two energetic German shepherds (much bigger than the adorable puppy shown) loved to run in the yard and tear up the grass. Yes, there were actually many times our yard looked like Churchill Downs after the Kentucky Derby. OK, I exaggerate…our yard never looked that good! What I am trying to say is that the dogs tended to tear up the grass with a good game of chase, and it looked like a mud field that had been plowed by a mass of fast-moving animals. Not to mention that whenever it rained, a good portion of that mud entered my house by way of 8 large dog paws. You can take my word for it, there was nothing enjoyable about it!
So when someone at work mentioned having turf installed in their backyard, I was extremely interested. I was skeptical that turf could actually look natural, and if it was designed to look good that it could actually withstand the pounding of my dogs. But Ryan scheduled an appointment with System Pavers for a consultation, we asked a lot of questions and had our fears allayed, and less than one month later, we had a completely new backyard!
Knowing our lack of love for yard work, we decided to get rid of our flowerbeds, and other than the decorative paver patio, fill the rest of the yard with turf. This provides the dogs with more room to run and leaves Ryan and I with less work to do.
Seriously, the most intense yard work we ever do now is turn our leaf blower to the vacuum setting and suck up the leaves that fall from our neighbor’s tree (and yes, I admit, some dog hair). But other than that, we are free to spend our time barbecuing and enjoying our friends, or simply relaxing and loving the yard! I am pleased to say we have been doing plenty of both. We have actually entertained more in the last month than we did in the previous 20 years combined.
If you are inspired by our backyard makeover, I strongly recommend System Pavers. They were very friendly and helpful, they completed the work quickly and cleaned up each day, and they provide a comforting guarantee on the pavers and the turf. If you want to check them out, click this link and tell them Amy sent you (referral ID #21869). If you have specific questions for me, feel free to contact me, and I will honestly share more about my experience.
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