Our backyard is small but perfectly formed.
Although we live in a house, our backyard is more a paved courtyard with all our grassiness at the front.
A legacy of sub-dividing our city’s middle suburbs, our block was cut in two before us and now a house occupies the space where the sprawling block used to be. But moving from the inner suburbs to be here, it still feels so roomy – like all the possible space we have, works harder somehow.
There is still room for a covered entertainment area (an Aussie backyard must), a 3×3 garden shed and the obligatory hills-hoist.
The sides of the yard were pebbled by a previous owner rendering them mostly inhabitable and a trap for a curious toddler who grew to love popping said pebbles in his mouth. I never took a photo of the pebbled areas, possibly because I disliked them so much.
But a couple of months ago, after a protacted decision making process we decided to get rid of those pebbles and lay down some Sir Walter turf.
Now, thanks to almost compulsive attention from Mr P (I call him the grass whisperer), the grass is thriving and our backyard seems bigger and friendlier with room for kids to kick a ball and roll in the lush grassiness while cold drinks are sipped in late afternoon shade.
There is still more to be done, a few more plants here and there and I dream of a stripey, french awning to protect us from some of the harsh, summer sun. But from where I sit, it’s pretty close to perfect.
STIHL is celebrating the Aussie Backyard this Australia Day in recognition that each and every backyard – from tiny courtyard or balcony, to 100 acre property represents the Australian way of life. Visit their page to check out the STIHL Backyard Heroes enjoying their backyard, and click over to like the Facebook page.
So, tell me about your backyard and what you love about it. What shenanigans you have planned for Australia Day this week? (there could even be a STIHL cap in it for you or the grass whisperer in your life!)
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
what a clever use of space!! Well done – we live on a slope and I think a bit of retaining walls and levelling is in order but gosh it seems like a big job haha. However in saying that every Australia Day between 30 – 50 friends descend on our house to celebrate our version of Australia DAy – OZtoberfest!
Every one has to bring a 6 pack of weird, obscure beers which we place in huge eskies and everyone gets to enjoy OZtoberfest – we also have “old skool” handball championships, barbie with “famous rissoles” and of course Triple J hottest 100 competitions.
However this year being 36 weeks preggers I’m just not up for the huge 3 x days it takes for us to set up, host and clean up – so we’ve forfeited this year to return bigger and better next year yay!
We used to own a house that 1/4 acre block of land! Now we live in a Motorhome we now longer have a backyard….our yard is Australia!
We would love to keep driving and see everything – and find a block of land that suits our needs. Then we look at putting a shed on it – so that we have somewhere to park our Motorhome when we need to do repairs, have a break from travelling etc…
What a great idea you had – removing the pebbles and putting in grass. I can never understand why people put in a rock area…but then again it might be because we have five boys and they would use the rocks to play with!!!
Cheers
Lisa