Our Backyard Makeover

by ScrappyGeek.com

$2500

3 Weeks

Medium

When we bought our house the backyard was a disaster. There was a garden which had been neglected for years and overgrown with blackberry bushes. We knew we needed to do something to make it our own. We're not the gardening type people so we certainly didn't want to attempt to tame and tend this 50' by 20' behemoth of a garden. So, we decided to completely remove every blackberry root ball, and create our own oasis!

our backyard makeover, concrete masonry, landscape, outdoor living, patio

The photo above is a picture taken in the early spring, before the blackberry bushes had the chance to come out of winter hibernation. We knew we needed to tackle them before they woke up, or we would be in trouble. If the blackberry bushes had been leafy and in bloom, you wouldn't be able to see the back of the house in that photo. They were 6 to 7 feet tall, and there were thousands of them!

When the bushes were in full bloom, they completely blocked the view of the mountains and took over the usable backyard space. It was time to make a place for relaxation.

It took a few weeks of ripping up blackberry root balls after work, but we go them all out - or at least 99% of them out. We decided to install a nice 16'x16' patio and steps leading to it.

After planning and digging the hole for the patio and figuring out our pitch, the hardest part was moving the 18,000 pounds of material from the front of the house to the back. We used a trailer on our lawn mower to transport it 300 pounds of material at a time. Nevertheless. We moved all the materials and installed the patio in two days! (two of us!) See the project here: http://scrappygeek.com/diy-patio-installation-how-to-build-a-paver-patio/

After installing the patio, we needed a way to get there from the house. So I decided to install steps leading from the deck to the patio... The last thing to do was sow the grass and add some decoration!

Here is our finished project! We took an overgrown, nasty, prickly garden and turned it into a backyard that we love!

Use the link below to see the whole process - stop by and leave me a comment, too! :)

Enjoyed the project?

You can do it! Saved to your projects

Frequently asked questions

Have a question about this project?

Ask a Question

Comments

Join the conversation

3 of 173 comments

Bon362307 on Apr 16, 2016
You dug them out I am just putting them in! Grea t job

1 Reply
- ScrappyGeek.com on Apr 16, 2016
  @Bonniemcfarlane Enjoy your blackberry patch! It wasn't an easy decision to take them out, but it was necessary. They had taken over and engulfed an old garden patch, with all the fencing, chicken wire, garden ornaments - you name it it was tangled up in there! We still have a lot of blackberries, blueberries and rhubarb all along our property line though...so we still have a nice picking season :)
  
  1
Diana Deiley on May 29, 2016
Great job. Would be nice with some shade sails. LOVE your backyard space.

Like Reply