Your backyard should be your sanctuary, your playground, your own intimate connection to natural beauty and the rhythms of life.
When we bought our current house a year ago, it wasn’t any of those things.
Years of neglect had left the backyard in a sorry state. The lawn was lumpy and compacted. The only tree, a 50-plus year old Norway maple, had been topped and had a big chunk of bark missing. A monstrous, misshapen hedge of English ivy had engulfed the chain link fence on one side. Johnson grass had taken over the back side. And on the other side, the neighbor’s blackberries were growing through the fence, looking to swallow up even more real estate.
But with a year’s worth of DIY labor and some professional help, the backyard is transformed. Here’s what I’ve done.
The maple tree had to go. I had a tree service take it down and cut it into manageable-sized logs. Then I composted the leaves, cut all the brush up by hand for kindling, and split the logs with a maul and wedge.
It was crazy to do it all by hand, but I was full of pent-up energy at the idea of starting a new garden from scratch. We got over a cord of wood from that sacrificial tree, and after only one summer it was seasoned enough to burn. We burned half of it in the fireplace over the winter.
I plan on having the stump ground out and planting a new tree in that spot, but for now, I’m content to work on the rest of the garden.
I cannot believe I actually thought at one point that I could shape up this hedge and live with it. It was horrible, and there was a big piece missing next to the neighbor kids’ trampoline. Which gets a lot of use, mind you.
After looking at the ivy all winter, I started gathering bids for a cedar fence. I went with Rick’s Fencing in Gresham and was thrilled with the job they did. To save money, they offered to do only as much as we wanted, and we could do the rest. Since neither of us is terribly handy at that kind of project and we wanted to stay married, we decided to have them do it all.
I did have to cut down the ivy (which I did by hand, of course). “Mount Ivy” looms in the background on the left, and along with Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens, it was visible from downtown Portland for a time.
A previous owner had put down a sandwich of plastic, gravel, and mulch all along the fenceline. There should be a special place in hell for people who do such things. How can I plant in that? I dug it all out except for the foot or so closest to the fence and filled in with gravel to make an access path, which I thought was a good idea to have anyway. This border faces west and will be my “hot border,” filled with drought-tolerant, Mediterranean-type plants.
I had plenty of gravel on hand. This is what I’ve dug out so far. The lighter colored ones are native rocks deposited by the Missoula floods thousands of years ago. They’re quite pretty when they’re cleaned up; some of them are blue or blue-green and a few are pink. What will I do with them? No idea. Dry creek bed maybe? Craigslist them for free? The darker ones were brought in by that previous owner.
A blank slate is rather intimidating, yet exciting. When the time came to make the beds, though, I had some sort of a plan. I knew I wanted a vegetable garden, and I soon wanted to get a perennial bed started, too.
I like the clean look of straight lines and 90-degree angles. I made the grass path between the vegetables and perennials wider than I thought it needed to be (6 feet) in the event that I would someday edge the beds in brick or stone. The hot border evolved later, and while the strip between it and the perennials is only 3 feet, I think the proportions look right.
When we moved in, the chain link fence in the back afforded no privacy and was being gobbled up by ivy on the corners.
A lot of elbow grease and a new “good neighbor” fence solved that.
Our backyard faces south, and as an unanticipated consequence, in the afternoon the sun comes around behind the fence and makes it glow!
For some reason our neighbor’s backyard sits about 30 inches higher than ours.
Who knew there was a beautiful rock wall underneath all that Johnson grass? I’m collecting epimediums and other little shady crevice plants to fill in the nooks and crannies. I’ll plant hellebores and other dry shade plants at the base of the wall. I’m thinking of one day having a sitting area where the compost pile is now, too.
Not all projects have been so intense. Small projects have made big impacts, too. This poor sword fern (Polystichum munitum) hangs on despite never being watered, but it was a hot mess. To make matters worse, when the fence went in, a post was set immediately behind it.
But there was new growth under there, and when I cleared away the gnarly old fronds, it got a new lease on life.
The east-facing side of our yard consisted of a chain link fence woven with a tapestry of green privacy slats, ivy, and blackberries.
It’s still a work in progress, but much better, no?
Here’s what it looked like in September.
I pried the ivy and brambles out, replaced the missing slats, and cleaned it. I’m also in the process of painting the metal green to blend in with the slats.
I have plans to attach cedar lattice to this fence. It will look like the sample here, but with strips running vertically and horizontally to cover the seams. You don’t think it will look weird to have three different types of fence in one backyard, do you?
Future plans include staining the fence and doing something about that Smurf-blue choice of house paint. And I haven’t even touched the front yard. Stay tuned!
Wow – Looks amazing! You have really accomplished a lot. The orderliness of your veggie garden appeals to my organized sensibilities too. Great Work!
Thanks, Matt! It has been an incredible amount of work, but I love it–even hacking that horrible ivy monster was satisfying in the end.
Wow, Amy! Looks great! A blank slate is very intimidating. I’m working on my own. Sometimes I think it is much easier when there is something to start with. What kind of watering system are you using?
Thanks, Julie. The best advice I’ve received on starting with a clean slate is to just get started. Pick a plant that you can’t live without and design around it. Good advice for me, because I can become paralyzed with indecision.
I have no in-ground irrigation, just the hose. That’s something to think about for the future, for sure. Another project!
I’m sore head to toe, contemplating this! Fantastic job and the story is beautifully told. Super.
Thank you, Will. It was (and is) a labor of love.
Lots of work behind you, lots of tasty vegetables ahead! The back garden is quite sizable, is the front also big? Perhaps you need to host our next swap so we can all see it in person!…
The front isn’t so big but is also a flat, empty canvas. I haven’t even given that a thought yet.
I’d love to have you and all of the other pdx garden bloggers over! I need some feedback as I go forward.
Amazing – Amy. Wow. I was going to ask about rocks. But I saw the stack in the photo next to the corner of yard. And you don’t even get mad at all those rocks! Good for you. 🙂
You sure have an amazing talent with landscaping and nature. A work in progress. A changing landscape. I love it. ! Dan-can
Thanks, Dan-Can! (Dan Canfield of Pete Anderson Realty helped us find this diamond in the rough.) You understood what we were looking for, even if it might not have been obvious to someone else.
Now please sell some more houses in our neighborhood to gardeners!
It brings back memories of when we moved into our house . At least you didn’t inherit a doughboy swimming pool !
You’ve done so much ! It’s looking great . I think you should host the next swap , so we can all have a nose around !
You are welcome anytime, Linda! As are any of our cohorts and any jammy so-and-so who wants to join us. I’d have to do some more work to make it swap-worthy. We’ll see…
Seriously impressive Amy. Hats off to you. You are a roll up your sleeves and dig into it gal!
Thanks, Jenni. I had to wait a few years between selling the old house and buying the new one, so by the time we got the keys, I was chomping at the bit!
Wow – must have been a back-breaking year, Amy! At breakneck speed, at that. Can’t wait to see what you’ll accomplish in year 2. 🙂
Anna, It kept me in shape. I did get a permanent groove in my shin from an errant piece of chopped wood, but otherwise it was good exercise.
Year 2 will be much more PLANTING, yay!
I love a before and after! You’ve done a ton of work and it looks incredible! Hooray for you!
Thanks, Tammy! I love before and after photos, too. Sorting through all the photos I had was a pain, but it’s so fun to see them together and compare.
Wow, great job! It looks so clean and tidy. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Lauren! We’ll see if I can keep it that way!
Wow. . .Amazing Blog
Thanks!
Big job but worth it in the end and you have a nice size lot for growing plants etc. in full sun. Great job it will be fun to see what you do next.
Thank you, I can’t wait to see what I do next, too!
It’s great to see your progress! Thanks for posting.
Do you have any secrets to getting rid of ivy? It is taking over my yard.
I dug it all out by hand and my neighbor sprayed Roundup on the sprouts that came back (they were on her side).
well done! we have a shadowbox fence also, and the rocks you have at the fence line down to your yard is a cool approach. we have some fence line to ground gaps i need to fill in, and this just might be the ticket. thank you for sharing, and explaining along the way. where are you located?