Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl
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Backyard Landscaping Plans

Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

I know many of you come to my blog for exciting and inspiring ideas. I love showing you beautiful spaces and makeovers. Sadly, today I have to show you the ugly side of our house. Our backyard is quite a sight. It’s been on our “want to do” list for years. The landscape timbers that were previously a pathway have deteriorated more and more until the spikes that hold them in place are exposed and all the pea gravel has spilled out. We are in need of some major backyard landscape plans.

Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

You can’t tell from this picture, but by the end of summer this pathway (if you can even call it a pathway) is a mini forest of weeds. It’s been an eyesore for so long. It’s best to avert your eyes.

There are more rotted steps leading down to the backyard. It’s a disgrace back there.

Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

Beside the house there was a similar pathway, but the landscape timbers have long since rotted and disappeared. I usually add a few bags of pea gravel every year to give us a mud-free path to walk on when taking out the trash. This has been a band-aid solution, but not a permanent solution.

Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

I am wincing at these photos because it shows how bad our yard really is. (The uncoiled hose adds to the “I could care less.” look.) It’s a wonder our neighbors haven’t notified the homeowner’s association about the situation.

Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

This explains why we only invite close friends over for s’mores and hot dogs at our fire pit. We feel safe knowing they probably wouldn’t sue us if someone tripped on that uneven fire pit circle.

Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

Plus, our friends are usually more forgiving when we tell them to tread carefully over the rocks and roots leading up to the fire pit.

Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

The other side of the fence was previously a dumping ground for all the sticks and limbs that fall in our yard. A few years ago we had to take out two big trees. That gave us one thing our yard truly lacked: a big sunny spot!

Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

The thought of being able to finally have a place to grow fresh vegetables has me giddy and excited to get started soon! You can see some of the ideas I have for this garden space on my Landscaping Pinterest Board.

Pinterest Board of Landscaping and Garden Ideas | Pretty Handy Girl

Behind the raised vegetable planters will be a shed that I have big storage plans for. Space in our garage is at a premium, with the boys’ bikes and sport stuff. Pretty Handsome Guy has slowly begun storing a plethora of lawn and yard equipment in the garage. I want to reclaim my garage workshop and be able to use the woodworking equipment inside the garage (currently I pull my table saw and a rolling table into the driveway to work.) I look at these photos of when the garage was a useable space and long for it to be that clean again! These are my shed inspiration photos on Pinterest if you want to view some of the styles I like.

Pinterest Board of Sheds & Studios | Pretty Handy Girl

Help from a Professional:

We finally met with a local landscape designer this past Spring. Cat Valand came highly recommended from one of our neighbors. She spent a lot of time with us and walked our property and sat down in the kitchen with us to discuss our wants and needs. She also got a feel for my decorating style inside the house while we talked.

When she came back with the plans, I was blown away! She had addressed every want and every need. AND, it was a beautiful organic plan with curves and lots of visual interest. Exactly what I wanted!

Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

She even presented us with a binder full of color photos of the plants and plans for an arbor to hide the trash cans. Her binder also held several recommendations for landscapers and other yard service people. We were so excited to have a plan and couldn’t wait to start on our new yard.

Then life got in the way. I spent the better part of the Summer dealing with doctor appointments and ultimately heading to Houston, TX to have sinus surgery. When I came home, it was catch up time. The holidays hit and I got sucked into studying for my general contractor exam. Anyway, you get the point. Life…it’s great but sometimes it has other plans for your time.

In the meantime, I want to go ahead and share our plans with you. Hopefully, I’ll be able to show you the finished product in the Spring!

The Products:

We knew we wanted to incorporate a patio off the deck. We also knew we needed a more permanent solution for our walkways. We have a front walkway and circular patio using Belgard pavers that we love. It was installed in our front yard over 6 years ago. We’ve been very impressed with the quality of the pavers and they still look as good as the day they were installed.

Landscaping 101: Tools, Planting, and Adding Color to your Landscaping | Pretty Handy Girl

When Belgard reached out to me about working with them, it was uncanny how good the timing was. I was more than thrilled to work with them since I already loved their products. I immediately hopped onto their website to see all the amazing options.

The Inspiration page was the perfect spot to get ideas. I love the cottage feel of these mosaic pavers.

arbel-patio-pavers

mega-arbel-pavers

And this patio has me dreaming about sitting outside after dark with a glass of wine in hand by the fire.

dreamy-belgard-patio

Belgard also has a 3-D Visualizer that can help you visualize your own space with the new hardscapes. You can upload your own photo or work with a Belgard authorized contractor and have them give you a look at your new space before you even break ground!

Belgard 3-D visualizer | Pretty Handy Girl

Here are my initial sketches of our backyard. Let me know what you think.

Patio:

In place of the rotted timbers, I want to have a nice entertaining size patio put in.

Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

I’m leaning toward the Mega Arbel mosaic pavers with a similar edging:

arbel-patio-bordered

Seating Wall:

I also like the idea of a stone retaining wall that double as a seating wall. This wall is so pretty, but a little too high. If the vertical stones are removed I think it would be a perfect height for a seating wall.

step-down-dublin-cobble-belgard

Something like this curved wall at seating height is more my style.

patio-retaining-wall-Belgard

The Keystone Stonegate wall blocks in this wall are tumbled and smooth. They are also a smaller scale since our space isn’t huge.

Belgard Stonegate Wall - Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

Steps:

We need several steps coming down from the patio. We have quite the rise and run, so our steps need to be deep.

Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

I have always loved the look of giant granite steps. This photo of the Belgard Granika steps made me fall in love with their natural look. It’s hard to believe they aren’t real granite!

Granika Steps - Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

Walkways:

On the garage side of the house, we would like to continue the Belgard Dublin Cobble pavers from our front walkway.

Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

The pavers are also tumbled and have a old world look, but not the high rounded cobble stones that would be difficult to walk on.

Belgard Dublin Cobble - Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

The pavers will extend to the front driveway and this is where that cool arbor is.

Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

On the other side of the house, we are looking for a more informal treatment for the walkway to the fire pit.

Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

I know we’ll use more Granika steps here to help navigate the slope. But, I’m thinking about something bigger and chunkier for the walkway. I’ll have to do some more searching on the Belgard site.

Granika Steps - Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

I have to admit these Turfstone permeable pavers really look dreamy, but I couldn’t find anywhere to incorporate them.

Belgard Permeable Pavers - Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

To get a feel for the exact colors of the Belgard products, I headed to our local distributor to look at some of the samples. I visited Site One in Apex, NC that has a big Belgard outdoor showroom. This is a nationwide chain, so check to see if there is one near you or search for other Belgard dealers.)

Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

The nice thing about viewing the products in the outdoors is that you can really see how they look after years of weathering and when they get wet.

Backyard Landscaping Plans | Pretty Handy Girl

Suffice it to say, this is a major project and I won’t be DIYing all of it. I will be calling in one of the landscapers that were recommended to help with the installation of the Belgard materials. Especially the Granika steps (they weigh 275 lbs. each.)

Stay tuned! I hope to have some beautiful photos for you soon.

Update: The patio is complete and looks amazing. You can view the patio reveal here.

PHGFancySign

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for Belgard. I receive complimentary products in exchange for writing a post about Belgard. I was not told what to write. All opinions are my own. As usual, I am very particular about the brands I work with and will always tell you if you are reading a sponsored post.

 

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12 replies
  1. Paul Grant
    Paul Grant says:

    Wow Brittany!

    Where can I find the updated pics of your yard? There are so many great inspiration pics here that I love. I particularly like the granite steps.

    I hope you found a local landscape designer to help you create the perfect space for you?

    Reply
  2. Shantanu Sinha
    Shantanu Sinha says:

    Hi Brittany Bailey
    There you are again. How you actually actually developed these to bring upon.
    It’s a matter of pleasure to visit your blogs every time I am on 🙂

    Beautiful landscaping ideas, I wish it would have costed you well enough
    but look how amazingly you have organized it.
    Carry on the good work.

    Have a great year ahead.

    Shantanu sinha

    Reply
  3. Holly
    Holly says:

    I was online yesterday looking for the same thing!! I have an area of grass that is horrible and want to add a small paver patio/walkway. I am definitely going to check out Belgard! Can’t wait to see the progress you make!

    Reply
  4. Kristy Jones
    Kristy Jones says:

    I’m so jealous for you guys to have this kind of space. Our house was located on the side of the road so there is no chance for us to do something like this. But I really like the idea so much. And I definitely can’t wait to see the result!

    Reply
  5. Colleen Taylor
    Colleen Taylor says:

    The possibilities are endless with Belgard, I’m very familiar with them. You do have a beautiful setting for all these components to make it just a Wow yard. We have similar pavers & rocks here in the front & back yards which were placed by the former owners. Yes, even an outdoor fireplace in the round. Can’t wait to see the final results.

    Reply

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. […] We contacted a local landscape designer who came highly recommended. She took my style and our desires into consideration when drawing up the plans. […]

  2. […] you remember, I had big plans to give our back yard a face lift using Belgard stone products. It’s been super exciting seeing things take shape. The landscaper we hired (Arbor […]

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