Pinned

I have a love/hate thing going with Pinterest. I go through spurts of interest.

Pinterest interest.

I'll suddenly get enthusiastic and spend a couple (or six) hours clicking around and repinning. But then I'll forget about it and not go on for weeks.

The other day, I started worrying about our backyard again. Periodically, I'll do this. Worry about the yard. It's very ugly. Full of unrealized potential. But ugly.

Lots of dead grass. Lots of ugly concrete. Really, truly needs help.

But unfortunately, I have...

1. No money.
2. No skills.

Well, I have a little money. And a little skill. But these two things in combination make the whole thing seem overwhelmingly impossible.

So I decided that maybe if I started collecting pictures of what I'd like to have, maybe it would inspire me into action, and Pinterest seemed like a good place to collect these pictures. I've collected quite a few. Which are getting repinned like crazy. Apparently, redoing the backyard is a popular issue.

Right now, this is the side of our house...

Man, that's a whole lot of ugly. But maybe it could be...

Aaaah.

On the other side of the house is our unused hideous driveway. The previous owner, a Korean contractor named Chuck, was crazy for concrete. He poured it everywhere.

Lovely, right? Please ignore the junk and dog poop. The problem is that it's just so ugly and depressing, that I can't get myself motivated to clean it up. But I would if it looked like this...

That's a "Hollywood Driveway" by the way, and historically accurate for our old Craftsman bungalow.

Here's the backdoor and the part of the driveway where I stick the table...

Okay, what if we ripped down the falling down old stoop, cut down the ficus tree (I really hate cutting down our only big tree back there, but a foundation man told me a couple of years ago that it HAD to come down soon - ficus roots are the WORST for foundations), jackhammered up all of Chuck's concrete, put in flagstones and a pergola? Could end up like this...

Heaven, right?

And then there's our neighbor Natalie's garage. Sigh. A problem. Totally falling down and hideous. And yes, that is our "pool" that I never took down from the summer.

But maybe I could cover it with something. Or plant something to screen it.

I mean, that looks sort of doable.

And I'd like to turn this...

The traffic cone's a nice touch, right? Into this...

But seriously? I'd be happy if we just had real grass.

I keep thinking that I could start fixing things up a little at a time, take a side of the yard and work my way around. But the main big daunting thing that keeps getting in my way (other than the no money/no skill thing) is a lack of...irrigation.

I do not have a green thumb. I kill plants. Because I never remember to water them. It's tragic. We have tried. We really have. We own sprinklers. Several different kinds of them. We just never remember to...turn them on. We just don't have that "lawn person" gene that my Daddy had.

Therefore, I need a sprinkler system. You see, Los Angeles, is really just one big irrigated desert. I mean, it doesn't rain here, guys. Well, it rains. It rains for about a month solid. That's what we call rainy season. But for the rest of the year - nada. So everyone has sprinkler systems. Our front lawn has a sprinkler system, and it manages to stay nice and green and lushish, despite my sprinkling failings.

So I keep thinking that maybe I could install a sprinkler system by myself. How hard could it be? Dig some ditches. Lay some pipes. Attach some sprinkler heads. I could look it up on the internet.

And before you ask...Jimmy is useless. You might as well ask Woody Allen to come and install pipes in your yard. Jude would be more help. I'm on my own here.

My friend Carol once suggested that we could get a big group of women together and make a day of it, we'd rent a Ditch Witch from the Home Depot and put in my sprinkler system. I could make margaritas for everybody and we'd have a big sprinkler party. But I just can't find it in myself to actually ask people to come to my home and DIG DITCHES. It's just too pathetic.

What do y'all think? You think I could do it on my own?

I have two things I'm going to do this week to make at least a bit of progress in this backyard department.

First, the City of Los Angeles has this A Million Trees program, wherein I can sign up through the Department of Water and Power to get 10 FREE trees. I just have to promise to plant them in the ground someplace where they will eventually provide shade and thereby reduce energy consumption. I don't really need TEN trees, but I think my friend Eileen's going to take a couple. If anybody else wants one, let me know.

Second, I have discovered that HGTV is currently "casting" THREE backyard renovation shows! I've just got to submit the pictures and a charming and appealing plea for their help. I'm ON IT! Wish us luck!

In the meantime, I'm going to keep adding to my Dream Garden board on Pinterest. I could certainly go with some bougainvillea...

And everybody needs a firepit...

And of course I want...

And in a perfect world...

But alas, I'm probably just dreaming.

But a girl can always dream, can't she? I guess that's what Pinterest's best for.

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This post was inspired by...

Prompt #2 - Are you on Pinterest? Share the last five items you pinned, choose one and let it inspire a blog post.

Comments

[smarty]

Hey, I live in Nebraska where it's been a drought for years and we have a beautiful (big) yard full of grass. No sprinkler system, we just drag the hose around and water the grass all summer with a sprinkler. Jude would love run through it. It's alot of work, but the great grass is worth it, especially since my husband is the watering boss. I love your blog, been reading for a loooooong time, never commented. Would love to go to the beach with you in the summer on Fridays, no ocean here in Nebraska !

[Elizabeth]

Oh, Lord. Now I think I'm going to have to add a category on my Pinterest for backyard inspiration. I constantly bemoan the state of my front and backyards. They look all right but definitely not like any of the photos you have pinned.

I'm going to nix your idea of putting in a sprinkler system yourself. I think that's insane. I would sooner put one of those rotating sprinklers set on a timer than dig ditches.

[Elle]

Now I need to go on Pinterest and add a backyard category. If mine looked like that, I'd never go back into my house. ;)

[Life As Wife]

Darn Pinterest for giving us unrealistic dreams and expectations huh?

I think your backyard has tons of potential! Just getting rid of the concrete and adding some grass and trees would make a huge difference! GooD luck!

[Pseudo]

You have great taste. I absolutely love your dream pictures. I think my favorite is the picnic table under the little white lights....

[Jan]

"I do not have a green thumb. I kill plants. Because I never remember to water them."

THANK YOU. I was beginning to feel so...alone.

Have I mentioned that I love you?

[VandyJ]

What Nick wouldn't give for a yard that sized. Our yard is more postage stamp sized. We've made the most of it. It's a really good thing the park is only a block away.
Oh, and check on the size of those free trees. They may more resemble sticks with roots than trees when you get them. Nick did a free tree thing through the county here and the trees were all about 2-3 feet high and looked more like sticks than trees. Just saying, it may be a while before they actually resemble trees.

[VandyJ]

Forgot, my spin is up!
http://tttandme.blogspot.com/2012/02/spin-cycle-give-me-story-with-dinner.html

[Ginger]

Ohhh...what beauty! The "pins" of course...LOL! I also pin things that I can spend hours daydreaming about "doing" but never do...

Happy Thursday!

[Arnebya]

The pergola, fire pit, and writing den. Aaaah, I'm in heaven. I'm not sure about the ditch digging though. I mean, I want to invite friends over for a paint party or a help Arnebya organize her house before she's on an episode of Hoarders party but...irrigation party? Not sure. I'd at least come, though, to carry stuff. You don't want me digging. Or handling power tools. I wonder how much it'd cost to FedEx a tree from CA to DC?

[Diane Tarantini]

I share your on again, off again Pinterest Interest. Totally get that. I haven't been on all week in fact. Just last week, after a pinning jag, I went room to room and wrote down "upgrades" I wanna do. Sigh . . . I don't know that money or skill is keeping me from DOING. I think it's just life. Or as one gal I know puts it, "The captivity of activity." KWIM?

[Sprite's Keeper]

Yay! I can comment! I haven't joined the Pinterest Pickers Brigade as of yet. I'm afraid to get sucked in. My backyard could definitely use some TLC too...

[Andrea]

I wish you lived closer because I have so many plants that need to be split...and they are no maintenance plants too! Pick one spot and take baby steps! I can never even figure out what I want, let alone how to begin!

[Kendra]

I do the same thing where I'll pin things and then I'll just stop for a month or two. And those backyards look amazing. If HGTV needs another backyard they can come fix mine up too! So if yours gets chosen put in a good word for me!

[Michele]

Would this post be considered a charming and appealing plea? I think it would. JR is fussy about the yard. I do Southern Belle gardening; "Oh, JR honey? Could you dig me a big ol'hole right here?"

[Erica@Pines Lake Redhead]

I've avoided Pintrest for fear of being sucked in. However, I love your choices! I've wanted a flagstone patio and pergola for YEARS! My husband cringes every time he hears the word "pergola." When you find someone to make over your yard, please send them to Florida when they're finished. Thanks!

[Aimee]

Oh, I hope you get an HGTV yard!

The sprinklers? Not an easy DIY. Not that I've ever tried, but it seems every time a homeowner tries to install them on HGTV or DIY, they screw it up. I don't like to be Debbie Downer, but...yeah.