Our backyard - update

As you may recall from our 7 foot tall weeds post, our backyard was literally (yes, I mean literally, not "literally" when people mean to say "figuratively") was consumed by 7 foot tall weeds.  After we cleared out the weeds and considered all our options, we went with getting artificial grass so we wouldn't have to worry about maintenance and watering costs.

On Sept 19, the folks from Hunny Do Grass came over and installed the grass.  They tore out the old stubby weeds, which were rooted deep in the ground, pulled out some old plumbing that was previously used for an illegal back-house, leveled out the land, then installed the artificial grass.  The folks weren't your typical "Home Depot" laborers.  Instead, these guys were polite, friendly, professional, and best of all, they spoke English!
Putting in artificial grass is basically like installing carpet.  They cut the exact amount that you need for your area, they nail it in, and you upkeep it by occasionally hosing the dust off and using a leaf blower to blow any leaves away.  I did not like how the edge of the "grass" area isn't in a complete straight line (instead, they cut the edge all jagged) because the tiles in the concrete area of our yard aren't aligned. If our yard wasn't previously consumed by weeds, I would have seen that the tiles weren't straight and I would have fixed it myself. So that's a bummer.
But other than that, I'm very happy with the results.  You gotta admit, our backyard looks 200% better than before and is actually usable.

Now all that was left in our yard that was still weedy was the palm tree area.  We decided that mulching the area would look so much nicer, rather than having dead weeds that we would have to cut every couple of weeks.  Mulching also naturally prevents weeds from growing, which means, less work for us!
I got the project started (I was way more enthusiastic than Jeff about mulching) by hosing down the weeds and dirt around the palm trees, to soften that hard, dead, weedy earth.  It was disgusting how many spiders, ants, and grasshoppers emerged from that area running for cover, as I flooded their home. It was pretty gross.  Then I attacked the land with a giant shovel, breaking up the weeds and dirt, then raking the weeds away into a trash can (the entire project was proven to be very difficult with a 1.5 toddler running around getting in my way)  Even after discarding a lot of weeds, there were still so many weeds that were embedded so deep within the hard earth.  Not sure what to do next, I put the project on hold for about 3 weeks.  Within those 3 weeks, we got a lot of rain, then we had a major heat wave.  What ended up happening was, the rain softened the dirt, then dried out all the weeds into light, thin, hay.  We hired our gardener to do an initial cleanup of our backyard, to clean up all leaves that built up in the yard over the last 3 years (yeah, we don't do a lot of yard work, if you can't tell) and cut the weeds that grow through the cracks of our concrete.  Our gardener was so kind to also weed-whack the hay/weeds in the palm tree area!  With most of the weeds gone, Jeff and I were able to easily start mulching the area!  First, we spent an entire day shoveling the land, leveling the land, and discarding any leftover weeds and rocks.  Then I made a trip to Home Depot with my sister and bought some red mulch (I bought a mix of both rubber and wood).  Pouring the mulch was EASY.  Just pour and you're done!

I bet you're waiting for the before and after photos!

Yard, BEFORE artificial grass install

Yard AFTER artificial grass install (caitlin makes a cameo)

Palm Tree area, BEFORE mulching

Palm Tree area, AFTER mulching

Grass Install Progress Photos:

What are we working on now?
We are furnishing the yard with a patio set for adults (estimated to arrive this weekend) and a kids bench for kids (we found a beat up, but usable one on the streets).  I am also working on a succulent container garden to add some actual live plants in the yard.  Will post photo soon!

Doesn't our backyard look so awesome?