Oh that small unused front yard

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dirtsailor2003

Epic Pitmaster
Original poster
OTBS Member
Oct 4, 2012
21,947
4,224
Bend Oregon
We have a really nice front yard that never gets used because we haven't had a way to contain the dogs. It's not that they are mean, there's just to many other mean dogs and traffic to contend with. So this year I decided to over haul the front yard a bit. During the summer the front is the ideal place to be as it's East facing so we are protected from the sun and the ever present W, NW winds. The current deck is too small so I will also be adding a 6' x 12' area to that so we can bring our table and chairs out front too. Even though the dogs like the grassy yard we are tearing it all out and will be xeriscaping. The current concrete sidewalk is being removed and will be replaced with compacted crushed brick. as well as some Turfstone pavers and step-able thyme.

The fence is done, still waiting to find the perfect gate. There will be a small trellis over the gate. The picket material is all from salvaged pallets. There's a retired cabinet maker here that spends his time taking them apart and them selling the slats and rails on craigslist. The trellis beams are from rough sawn juniper that I purchased from and old school hardware store here. The cross slats for the trellis will be rough sawn 2x3 juniper that they are having milled for me. We will espalier hops up the posts and onto the trellis.


The beginnings. Total time to put the fence up from posts to finish was about 4 hours. Would have been less but had to cut all the boards for the differing heights ()actually only 5 diff measurements)


The reason for the fence, the supervisors...


Done! Blue tote is the temporary gate!


Hey what's up! Let me out!!


Boycotting of the sod removal!


Faux rough sawn gate posts.


6x6 rough sawn juniper beams
 
Nice!!!!

I am xerescaping one section of our front yard  ..

Dogs wouldnt like it here..hahahaha cactus and century plants...

Craig
 
Nice!!!!

I am xerescaping one section of our front yard  ..

Dogs wouldnt like it here..hahahaha cactus and century plants...

Craig
The little one might! He runs through all kinds of prickly shrubs when we go hiking. Kiska the Snow Dog wouldn't like it much unless he had a pond to sit in!

Xeriscaping is the way to go! We will still have grass and the garden in the back. We want less maintenance and more time to play!
 
Looking good now....   How's the sod removal coming....     Dave

It's done!!! Friday night our neighbors came home with a sod cutter from the rental yard. Seems they too are tired of the grass. So by 9 pm both yards were cut up. Saturday morning I had all of our sod loaded in my trailer, 4 cubic yards worth. Hauled it to the dump and we were done by 9am. I also finished the entry trellis. Need to build a gate since we haven't been able to find what we want. Kiska was boycotting the grass removal!
 
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Well the gate is hung. Still need to do some internal stuff to it in. We are going to plant it with succulents and herbs, etc. Went old school on the latch, simple slide bolt made out of  scrap wood and a chunk of all thread that was left over from some other project. Will finish out the handle with something threaded onto the all thread. We've had thunder storms the last two nights, a bit ominous!


Simple slide latch


Hang in there, more to come!

Used a simple pintle and gudgeon strap hinge. Normally I would set the top one pintle down.  I was afraid that the weight of the planted gate would need the support. This style of hinge allows for the gate to swing 180* leaving a totally clear opening.


 
It was a dark and stormy night...
 
Took a break from working on the front yard and planted the garden. The weather finally gave a break from freezing! We seeded most everything. Our starts aren't ready yet, so we will get the tomatoes and peppers in the ground in a week or two. There's always the possibility that we'll get a another round of frosty nights.


Artichoke. My plants that were three years old didn't come back this year so we are starting with a fresh one.


Thought we'd try a blueberry this year. Our area is hit and miss for berries.


Some of our eclectic yard art.
 
We finished removing the concrete walk in our front yard and I decided to extend the front porch. We get the best shade in the front yard during the summer so we wanted a bigger area for relaxing and entertaining.



Tired pup, hard job supervising!


Framed up


Inspector approved!!


Finished!!! Overall added 72sqft. Its going to make a great place to relax on our hot summer days!
 
Lookin' real Nice, Sailor!!

Poor Kiska!!! Laying in the dirt, with a concrete pillow, just to be near Daddy.

Railing going up?

Bear
 
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