Investor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2017 · 39 posts · 9 votes
Hey BP friends,
I'm renovating my new San Diego duplex rental and I want to know what would be best to do in the backyard.
This is my first property, closed in October and renovated the interior already. This place has a huge backyard that is currently some grade A tráshe - I'm talking weedy dirt with some unfortunate rocks. It needs to be fixed up. I want the backyard to be inviting, beautiful, and pet friendly, but still environmental and economical (read: I don't want grass out there).
The current plan my contractor has is ~4' of mulch on the perimeter, a clean brick outline maybe like this, and gravel for the main body of the yard. I am open to this plan if you all think it's good, but gravel sounds less than ideal to me if people are to actually use this backyard. So hit me with your suggestions.
Of course there is the option of astroturf, but before I bust out the somewhat pricey guns, I want to hear your ideas.
Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
Lawns in Socal are such a waste. I've used gravel at my class C fourplex but it looks terrible and when I go back to revisit making it look better one day I intend to use decomposed granite.
I'd definitely suggest looking into it. I can even refer you a landscaper whose given me some reasonable prices on it in the past. On my flips I usually get really low cost drought tolerant plants, maybe irrigation if they're fancier like palms and then DG everywhere grass would be, mulch for the planters or perimeters if some contrast is wanted.
Los Angeles · Member since 2020 · 24 posts · 4 votes
5y
Hey Mark! I’d look into doing a mix of native plants, granitic sand (or similar) and gravel. Lawns are outdated and AstroTurf is tacky (in my opinion) in California. Native plants can be relatively inexpensive depending on the type. If you send me some photos and other details I can help more with this! I love landscaping with native plants/gardens etc. 😊