How to improve my backyard?

JoK86

Hello, We really want to make our (sloped, toward the house) smallish backyard in suburbia more user friendly. Our small patio is currently covered in gym equipment and our barbecue, meaning we have no outdoor area. A few times a year we get the fire pit out and crowd around it on chairs. Would love an actual outdoor eating and/or cooking area too, but unsure if we have the room. It's L shaped - need to maintain the back gates as they let the kids out to the park we back onto, and also want to keep the garden beds. But we've already cut out the chin up bars that weren't being used. Let me know what you'd do. The only idea we had so far was to level the back area (where you can see the AC units on the right), build a retaining wall along the fence that might also serve as seating, and build an outdoor entertaining area - we have about 6m of width and 10m of length to play with). Maybe we could also replace the double gates with a single one (as we never use it for vehicle access), and build in a fire pit area in front of the entertaining area in the back corner. Open to all suggestions for small, weirdly shaped yard - other than a pool, which is cost prohibitive for us.

EricL

Hello @JoK86

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about your backyard.

Revamping your backyard for maximum use is always an exciting project to undertake. I propose having a think about all the things you want to do in your backyard; those activities you mentioned in your post are great indicators of what you can start with. A dedicated seating area with a fire pit in the middle, an outdoor eating area with seats perhaps a dedicated BBQ area. Your double gate though not used for vehicle access seems to be in good condition. I would suggest keeping it to save on expenses.

The only other things I would suggest are adding paved pathways raised garden beds for ornamental or vegetable plants, perhaps a small area for games or an above ground dipping pool if the budget allows it. I propose sitting down and planning a basic layout on paper, make sure to have a tape measure with you so that you can determine how big each feature will be.

Here are some helpful handy links:

Let me call on our experienced members @sandy_d, @maknilsin and @homeinmelbourne for their recommendations.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

Jason

Let me also extend a very warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @JoK86. We're looking forward to seeing how you can transform your backyard.

I would recommend you start with our guide How to plan a garden makeover by @Adam_W. It emphasises how the best idea is to create a wish list of how you want to use the space and then start up with a plan that can be broken down into achievable projects.

For more inspiration, check out all the garden articles in our Top Ideas section - there's so many projects shared by our Bunnings Workshop community members that I'm sure will give you ideas.

Hope that helps,

Jason