Our house is on a typical city lot, not tiny, but not too big.  There’s an alley to the side, and without a fence we have a view of the back of a convenience store.

Five years ago or so, we had a landscape designer (Johnstone and Associates) draw us up some plans for the backyard.  I wanted it to have an intimate city garden feel, like you might see behind a Victorian townhouse.   We asked for a brick patio big enough for a dinner table, and no grass to mow.  He drew us beautiful plans with a upper dining patio made of brick, and a lower round patio of Pennsylvania bluestone.   That’s where it ended for a couple of years, until we had the funds to move forward

Then three years ago, we took down the old fence, and tore out an old wooden deck.  Then we tore out the  older wooden desk which was underneath it the top deck.   Later that summer, the builders came in and graded everything, and put in the patios.  Last year, we put in a 6-foot privacy fence.

Here’s what it looks like today:

Another view

Let’s get rid of the snow shovel.

That’s better.

We have some of the structural plantings in, but there is a lot of space left to plant.  I’m looking forward to making it lush and green over the next few years.  And it looks pretty good from some angles, but we still have some work to do.

Oh my.

Someone should pick up those toys.