What is your dream backyard?

Mine is a Spanish/Mediterranean inspired one! And I REALLY want it to be a reality! I am working/starting from nothing (almost)…but I’m thinking that there is a chance I can TRY to get it looking somewhat like what I want…

Of course, there really needs to be a fountain, preferably large with ornate tile detailing…but I could probably do with something smaller as long as it was also colorful and elegant. Maybe I could do a DIY fountain!

Hmm….that back/side fence…it’s only 6 feet tall or so…and the community I live in is only about 9 years old, so not too many of my neighbors really have matured vegetation/trees to block the view of one another. (I take that back) my back neighbor had 3 LARGE pepper trees that hung half in my yard and half in theirs. Turns out I guess they were not “doing well”, and the owner got rid of them in September! Don’t let me fool you though, I was “upset” that I had to trim it so much and had all its “mess” all over my back yard…but it did look more like a jungle than a house in a “subdivision”. So BE CAREFUL what you wish for, because sometimes I wished it wasn’t there and that I didn’t have to “deal” with it, but now it’s GONE! So…I was thinking HOW am I going to block my neighbors ASAP? Trees don’t grow overnight…and I thought…

A pergola! The one I have pictured below is a great idea to put along the entire fence line…and the idea of growing anything up/around them sounds very appealing. I’d definitely like to have some grape vines for some free and delicious grapes, but I’m also fondly thinking of wisteria SMELLING wonderful! I wonder, can I get a jasmine plant to grow up a pergola? I LOVE the smell of jasmine!

Okay, so that leaves me with my “floor” space. Right now, half is a boring stamped concrete and the other is a “patch” of grass that is honestly super ridiculous. (Especially when we have multiple well maintained community parks with much more grass, play structures, kid-friendly water features and the like). I’m going to keep my “future kids” out of my backyard design at this point. That means…I REALLY don’t think I need a patch of grass. It serves no purpose other than to cost me $ and wasted water to keep it “looking nice” which I can never quite figure out how to do anyway, half is green and half is not! To save $ I was thinking I should leave the stamped concrete (it’d be AWESOME to stain it though!) As for the patch, it’d give me another 15×8 feet minimum for “floor space” if I got rid of it! So, with that idea, I was thinking I could do a simple brick or rock design and with the same “stain” as the concrete so that they tied together but were “different” spaces.

Also, I have a back corner where two CRAZY like 8 foot tall rose (trees!) are growing (which sadly to say I’d like to get rid of). Roses are not pretty enough for me to want to deal with their thorns and the nasty critters that like living in them, so that when you DO want to cut a few to put inside to “liven up the place” that they start coming out of the woodwork! Yuck! I’m going to post them on CL in case anyone wants to come dig them up and try to replant them as they are 9 year old quite matured rose bushes that I’m sure someone could appreciate…just not me. Instead, I’d LOVE to make a “built in” fire place in that corner. My two simple white Adirondack chairs could go right in front of the fireplace.

Something I also need, or THINGS I need I should say, are LOTS of pots in different sizes of various colors. These need just be “set” out along the edges everywhere and next to any piece of “furniture” I have outside…that leaves me to my final huge spending idea (yeah yeah not to mention to fireplace I already talked about! Hahaha) But…I’d like a SECOND pergola to hang from my backdoor out over 80 percent or so of the old hardscape. This could grow more food/vines/flowers whatever…but super simple. Also, important to note, I would have it be about 8 feet (nothing crazy tall) and a BEAUTIFUL fan would be hung in the center, this is where I could put that second sitting space. As for now, I’d be “frugal” and use what I have, a small four chair outdoor wicker/glass patio set…which needs either a touch up of paint in a color, or a dark brown…and some CUSHIONS in COLOR!

Just writing this is making me excited. It’s too bad it still January. However, maybe some of the “building” could be done during the “winter” we have here? It stops raining mostly after February, so only a little bit left to go until I could start working! Best idea for me is to get FAMILY AND FRIENDS to help…and “PRETEND” like we are on an HGTV show! Having everyone “put up” in the local hotel for a few days, rewarded with bbqs and homemade lemonade! Sounds good to me! PLUS-families ALWAYS bond when they have to “work” together…mine does anyway!