I have complained about our patio for years. The previous home owners had decided to expand the patio, but instead of redoing the concrete had left wooden posts, which sprouted weeds faster than I could remove them, between the patio sections. To add to the ugliness, they surrounded the patio with a huge concrete block wall. The crowning touch was the wasted space between the wall and the end of the house. A huge fig tree that never had ripe figs, but did have a large supply of ants, took up most of the space. I couldn’t find a before picture, since it was ugly, ugly, ugly, but take my word for it. It was ugly. The first thing I (and by I, I mean Bryan) did was chop down the fig tree. It took some work to get the stump out but we finally managed. Next, the concrete wall came down. And yes, I helped knock that sucker down! It was time for a serious patio remodel.
I began by working on the space once taken up by the fig tree. I knew I wanted lots of flowers and a water feature, plus minimal weeding. (Did I mention how much I hate weeding?) The solution? Raised beds. We cut railroad ties (purchased at Home Depot) to make two raised beds. We purchased potting soil from the local hardware store to fill the beds and it took a lot of soil to fill the beds! We decided to purchase bulk truckloads to cut down on cost. To prevent weeds, I added the black fabric cloth to the bottom of both beds before adding the dirt. I planted drought resistant flowers native to our area in the first bed and added my birdfeeder made from an old lamp stand.
Between the beds I made a path with landscaping blocks (purchased at Lowes.) The second bed was filled with herbs, a small pond and as a present to Bryan, a small Georgia Bulldog statue. I made plant markers for each of the herbs and plants for easy identification. We added several goldfish to the pond and discovered if you add goldfish, you must also add water plants to clean the water and provide oxygen for the fish.
I finished the look by hanging the pictures I made from old windows above one of the raised beds. I’m thrilled to have beds I can weed easily without having to spend a lot of time bending over. Stay tuned for part two, where the ugly concrete wall is removed and the wooden planks are covered.
Are you doing any remodeling projects this summer?
We’re starting to prioritize our remodel projects. While the yard needs it, I think we’re going to focus on the kitchen first.
I would love to remodel my backyard. I love the idea of adding artwork outside.
I really love your garden. I don’t have sufficient outdoor space for gardening at my home and we are at a rental house. I love the pictures on the wall and the small pond in the garden.
I do not have any renovation projects planned for the summer. First time in a long time I have been able to say it.
I’m remodeling our entire house. I make some great changes this summer.
I don’t think we will be doing any remodeling for a couple of years. I would love to remodel our patio area. I have so many ideas.
I would love to remodel my backyard. I have always wanted to add an inground pool. That would be a dream come true.
You did a really nice job and it is so much more fun to enjoy that space when you know you designed it yourself with things you created. We have been busy doing indoor remodeling but we do need to upgrade our pool deck in the next few years.
We just tore off our deck and are building a new one. It’s been a really long and tiresome process! We also need to stain the fence we built last year.
We have brick sitting in our backyard right now. Hope we can get to it soon.
It turned out great! My husband and I were just talking earlier today about doing some work on our back patio in a few weeks.
Wow, you did a great job. I love the pictures you made from the old windows.
This looks amazing, I think a patio remodeling sounds fun! I would love to do the same thing,.
Wow, this is impressive. The window pictures look great out there too. I’d really like do make some big changes like these to my patio.
This looks fantastic! I miss having my own house to decorate like this.
When it comes to that kind of work, we hire a professional. If we don’t we usually screw up.
I LOVE LOVE LVOE the pics on the wall. I never would of thought to add them to my outside décor. Your garden looks so inviting and relaxing. Thanks for sharing:)
My husband is doing a lot of remodeling projects. It stinks it takes so much time and money. He recently ripped down the entire bathroom wall because because it was bothering him and now it’s wood, so yea.. doing a lot of remodeling.
How lovely! No remodeling here for us. We rent, and we are planning to move September 1st so our summer will be spent packing and finding a new place to go!
I don’t have space like that I could remodel. I live in a shared outdoor space community.
Our outdoor space is always a work in progress. Our kitchen is being worked on this summer. We really need new appliances.
Looks great I like your garden the little pond is a lovely touch.I really need to sort out our front garden as it is looking like a flower jungle,it looks really nice and the birds and bees love it but I really want to add more fruit and veg in there.
I have a mulch bed I would like to weed & trim the bushes in, but that’s about it for “remodeling” plans for us 🙂