...hardscaping AFTER...lawn?
When we moved into the house, the "yard" was nothing more than some sod slapped on a pimple of clay surrounding the house. Beyond that sod was wild forest. It took an immense amount of effort to "reclaim" that forest floor and make it something I could cultivate.
There were two specific things that put the lawn project on the front burner:
- First was that it was pointless to do anything without a sprinkler system. It is just too hot and dry here over the summer and I knew I was dealing with poorly draining soils.
- Second, there were large areas of yard that I needed to cut down and other areas I needed to raise as much as 18 inches. I didn't want to be in the business of replacing/fixing/raising/lowering sprinkler heads as I was doing the grading work.
Therefore, we chose to nuke the yard, do the soil work, THEN install the sprinkler, and finally grow a new yard.
It is always painful to tear up yard doing work like building a patio. I was very careful, though, to try and do things that limited the damage.
- When I unloaded the stone/sand off the trailer, I parked it in a little different place each time, so the grass was impaced for only one evening and was able to 'spring back'
- The stone and sand (for the most part) went straight off the trailer and into the hole. It didn't linger in 'sub piles'.
- In areas where I KNEW I was going to destroy the grass (turning laps to the soil pile, for example), I didn't take the 'quick' path straight across the back yard. If you notice in the attached picture, I (mostly) drove around the perimeter of my nice grass instead of making tracks straight through it. The damage has really been contained to the immediate fringes of the patio and those perimeter paths.
- Any soil, stone, or sand that I had to put on the ground, I put on a tarp first. When I was done, the tarp came up and there was NO junk left over.
Also, I didn't perform my planned major aeration and overseed this fall. I'd like to aerate still, but haven't gotten to it. I did fertilize good areas and weed'n'feed weedy areas, but I didn't spend the $800 in seed and fertilizer I planned on originally. I have some other projects yet to complete that will tear up the yard even worse (burying roof leaders, laying small water line, laying low voltage wire), so I'll invest that money in the spring (after I've put down pre-emergent) when I can perform more "repairs".
I hope that answers the thought process. If we had done the patio before, it would have been expensive bricks in a sea of crap. Now it fits into the overall scheme better and I'm a year ahead on improving the curb appeal with the now maturing lawn in the front.
The grass has endured worse projects than this, believe it or not. I wouldn't sweat it too much. Do the projects in whichever order it makes sense. You can always grow more. Hopefully. If I can grow it, anyone can.
