Our Tiny Backyard (Year 1.5)

Hi there! I’ve been sharing sporadically these days. But rest assured, we are keeping as busy as ever with projects around the house. I wanted to pop in today to share an update on my tiny backyard (which you may remember me making over for the Spring 2018 One Room Challenge) and our garden.

We absolutely loved the space and have used it almost every single day. But as with most makeovers done on a tighter timeline, we made some decisions that we weren’t entirely happy with. Just for the fun of it, here’s what the space looked like before the One Room Challenge:

Y I K E S.

Here’s what it looked like when we finished the space in April. The plants look sooo tiny.

Deck space changes…

And here’s a recap of what we’ve done to get it where it is now. For example, we decided to move the modern outdoor dining table build and benches up to the second-story deck by the kitchen and put more lounge-like furniture in this patio space.

We got a discontinued loveseat and two matching chairs from Target, and we love them. I also made a DIY paver and wood coffee table and matching side table for the space—I *really* love them.

The DIY rock landscaping has held up really well so far, too. I love that it keeps the entire perimeter around the platform deck tidy. BB cat also likes to chill on the pavers, too. 🙂

I swapped out some of the herbs in the hanging pots for flowers once I figured out which ones seemed to be attracting Japanese beetles. The extra color is nice. And of course Ramona still LOVES her unicorn swing (affiliate link).

I also switched up the flowers in the two gray resin hanging planters . I had bacopa and vinca planted in them, and they just didn’t end up doing very well at all. So I swapped them for the purslane and trailing petunias.

The purslane has already EXPLODED, and the trailing petunias aren’t looking as hot as they once did. Working on bringing them back. This spot gets a lot of sun, but maybe it isn’t enough.

Building a shed

After the challenge was over, we decided to build a small shed for our lawnmower and gardening supplies. We have a utilities easement on this area of our backyard, which means no permanent structures (fences don’t count for some reason).

So the shed actually doesn’t have a floor. It’s kind of like a hut. The platform it’s on is just boards lined up and screwed into the fence. Two people could lift the shed and move it.

Mike tackled the shed and did a great job. I was not up for a project of this scale…but I did happily paint it to cover up the cedar fence pickets. I used a Behr opaque stain to match the decking as close as I could. The trash can is for yard waste, and the long skinny planter has some more lettuce in it.

Growing veggies

We also planted a hydrangea bush out in the corner of the yard and moved around several plants as we figured out where everything did the best. I moved several potted veggies down from the top deck.

It gets slightly better sun up there, but there’s no hose, so watering was annoying. It also sometimes leaked down onto the bottom deck, which was both annoying and yucky. The big pots have yellow tomatoes, baby eggplant, and red cherry tomatoes.

Everything in my garden was doing absolutely fantastic. Until the Japanese beetles discovered my goodies. They destroyed my green beans, which I had to pull out. Right now I am fighting a war against them on my snap peas, basil, and lima beans. Everything else they’ve seemed to leave alone.

I’ve picked a few rounds of lettuce, kale, and spinach already, and I’ve planted more. Cucumbers, tomatoes, jalapenos, and baby eggplant are on the cusp of being picked. The bell peppers are only doing okay. I’m not giving up on them yet, but they aren’t thriving.

Other patio changes

And finally, Mike got an awesome outdoor hanging bluetooth speaker that also lights up like a lantern. We hung it in the corner of the deck. It works great. I love having it out there to stream music when we’re just hanging on the deck or when I’m gardening or working on whatever project is up that day.

The ferns on the patio are also looking amazing. Don’t overlook the power of some hanging plants to maximize vertical space on a small patio!

And I think that’s it. Looking forward to hanging out here the rest of the summer!

SOURCE LIST

(Affiliate links below; read more about those here.)

PLANTS:

• Painted pots: Mostly plain terracotta pots painted using Rustoleum satin black spray paint and DecoArt Curb Appeal in Farmhouse White
• Non-painted pots: Ollie’s Bargain Outlet and a local garden center
• Pot Klips
• Pot sealer
• Hanging planters used for ferns
• Hanging planters for purslane and trailing petunias

ROCK LANDSCAPING:

• Delaware rock, bought in bulk from a local garden supply center
• Cheap pavers from any big-box garden supply store
• No-dig landscape edging
• Landscaping fabric
• Landscaping pins

HVAC SCREEN, LOUNGE FURNITURE, AND GARDEN BEDS:

• DIY—tutorials here: HVAC screen, garden beds. Everything stained to match in Varathane wood stain in Kona. All finished using Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane in Satin
• Furniture lounge set is discontinued from Target.

MISCELLANEOUS:

• Wooden unicorn swing finished with Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane in Satin for extra protection; hanging hardware
• Outdoor hanging bluetooth speaker
• Globe string lights—and here’s a tutorial about how to hang globe string lights under a deck!
• Navy pattern stripe rug
• Expandable, lightweight hose (getting my money’s worth out of this one)

Pin my tiny backyard ideas!