After nearly four weeks of trying to grow grass seed and rejuvenate our backyard it has become quite clear that the weeds and the mud have teamed up against us. We set out to join forces with the weeds and dominate over the mud and rehabilitate our backyard, but instead, the weeds really just took matters into their own hands and abandoned us by taking over the entire yard.

It certainly isn’t for lack of trying that we are fighting with the backyard again. The damp mud has just created a perfect breeding ground for the weeds to grow and they seem heartier than the new grass seed, which just isn’t taking off.

Both Alex and I are extremely frustrated to be basically back to the drawing board again. If someone comes over and happens to have a cement truck full of extra cement I would happily allow them to dump it and spread it across our backyard right now.
In reality we are backtracking to instal a partial patio/walkway by way of pavers and small rocks so that we can minimize the area of our backyard that contains grass.We now fully understand why our neighbors loath grass, why one family literally blacktopped over their backyard, and why most people in our neighborhood have turned their entire yards into beautifully landscaped masterpieces to avoid grass. It is just that hard to maintain it in this dog loving, wet climate with clay soil.

We’re patiently impatiently awaiting the call back from the landscaping company we liked the best to hear just how much this will set us back. Initially back in February we didn’t want to spend any more money on our backyard but we’ve reached the point where the weather has been so nice that we’ve been quite disappointed to not be able to go back there, plus we’re just so tired of dealing with it that we’re willing to compromise.
Here are some ideas we like:
