c/backyard-living

I spent $400 on a fancy fire pit and honestly regret it

Everyone in this sub raves about those high end smokeless fire pits, so I bought one from a local shop in Portland last spring. It cost me $400 and honestly, my old $80 metal ring pit from the hardware store worked just as well for roasting marshmallows and keeping warm. The new one is nicer to look at, sure, but the smoke reduction is marginal at best and it takes forever to get a good bed of coals going. Has anyone else felt like these expensive pits are more hype than they're worth?

My neighbor told me I was watering my lawn wrong for 3 years

She said I was doing short sprinkles every day, which makes roots shallow. I switched to deep watering twice a week and my grass actually stays green now even in July. Has anyone else had a neighbor call them out on something basic like that?

Neighbor's kid spilled grape juice on my new patio and called it 'art'

I spent last Saturday laying down fresh pavers in my backyard in Austin, and the 10 year old next door ran through with a full cup of grape juice, splashing it everywhere. She then told me with complete seriousness that it looked like a 'purple galaxy' and asked if I could leave the stain. Has anyone else had a kid ruin your yard project but make you laugh so hard you couldn't be mad?

Switched from gas to electric mower last spring and I'm never going back

That fancy solar fountain I bought for the pond was a waste of $80

Picked up a solar powered fountain from Home Depot thinking it would look cool. Worked like a charm for 2 days. Then a cloudy week hit and it just sat there. Has anyone found a solar fountain that actually works in partly shaded yards?

Pro tip from a neighbor about drainage that saved my garden path

I had a neighbor stop by while I was digging a trench for a new paver walkway last weekend. He's this older guy who keeps his yard like a golf course, and I kinda expected him to critique my work. Instead he just said 'you're gonna want to slope that away from the house more or you'll be swimming by July.' He showed me how he uses a 2 foot level and a string line to check fall, and it hit different because I've been fighting puddles for two summers now. I went back and added an extra half inch of drop per 10 feet, and the difference in water runoff has been night and day after just one rainstorm. Made me realize I've been too focused on how things look instead of how they handle weather. Has anyone else had a random piece of advice from a neighbor totally change their approach to a backyard project?

Hot take: People are planting trees way too close to their houses

I was out quoting a job last week in a new development and saw a row of maple saplings maybe 3 feet from someone's foundation. In 10 years those roots are going to crack the driveway and the canopy will be scraping the roof. I see it all the time with homeowners who think small trees stay small. Has anyone else dealt with foundation damage from a tree that was planted too close?

Appreciation post: The neighbor's raspberry patch I saw in Portland

Was visiting a friend near Laurelhurst Park last weekend. Her next door neighbor has this massive raspberry patch along the fence line. Nothing fancy, just wires and some old posts. But the berries were huge. Like twice the size of store ones. She said they just throw coffee grounds and eggshells around the base every few weeks. No fertilizer, no special soil. Just garbage and water. Made me rethink my whole setup at home. Anyone else have a neighbor with a random awesome growing hack?

Tried building a DIY fire pit with retaining wall blocks, thing cracked after 3 fires

I spent about $150 on those interlocking concrete blocks from Lowe's in June, stacked them up in a simple circle in my backyard in Austin. After maybe 3 small fires for s'mores, I noticed a big crack running through one of the blocks. Turns out regular blocks aren't rated for high heat, they trap moisture and explode when heated up. Anyone else run into this with cheap blocks, or is there a specific brand that holds up better?

Put $400 into a raised garden bed setup last spring and it already paid for itself

Pulled over 60 pounds of tomatoes and peppers from that thing in just 3 months, plus my grocery bills dropped noticeably through summer. Anyone else find their veggie garden actually saves money or was I just lucky?

Tried a $30 fire pit from the big box store vs my grandpa's old one

Bought that cheap round pit last spring. Looks nice but the grate sagged after 3 fires. My grandpa's pit from the 70s? That thing is solid steel. Weighs a ton but zero rust in 50 years. I dragged it out of his barn last weekend and set it up in the backyard. Burns way better too. Bit of a pain to move around though. Anyone else got an old family pit that just won't quit?

Best week I had with my backyard pond last June

Last June my pond in Austin was crystal clear for like 7 straight days after I added some barley straw bundles. The frogs went crazy and I counted 14 tadpoles one afternoon. Has anyone else tried barley straw for algae control or was I just lucky?

Shoutout to the neighbor who showed me how to use a soaker hose right

My neighbor Sarah in Austin showed me that I was running the soaker hose for just 15 minutes when clay soil needs like 45. She said "your grass is thirsty, not drowning" and now my backyard isn't a mud pit. Anyone else have a neighbor who saved your garden game?

Neighbor told me to pour boiling water on weeds and it worked way too well

Honestly, I was skeptical when my older neighbor Linda said to just dump my leftover pasta water on the dandelions. I tried it last summer on a patch near my fence in Phoenix. Within two days the weeds were totally dead but also the grass around them was toast. Now I'm more careful about where I pour it. Anyone else have a cheap weed killer that doesnt kill your lawn?

My neighbor's rabbit got loose in my vegetable patch this morning

I was just sipping my coffee and watching the sunrise when I see this fluffy white blur hopping through my tomato plants... turns out it's Mrs. Gable's rabbit, Bunnicula, who escaped through a hole in their fence. By the time I caught him, he'd nibbled half my basil and dug a little nest in my carrot row. Has anyone else had unexpected visitors wreak havoc in their garden?

PSA: That 3 day heat wave last month cooked my garden beds

I live in Phoenix and we hit 112 for three days straight back in July. I thought my raised beds could handle it since I watered twice a day, but I woke up on day 4 and my tomato plants looked like they got hit with a blowtorch. The leaves were crispy and brown, and my zucchini shriveled up overnight. I lost maybe $60 worth of plants and produce because I didn't throw up a shade cloth in time. My neighbor runs a 40% shade net over his peppers and they came out fine, so I learned that lesson the hard way. Has anyone else dealt with a sudden heat spike ruining their plants, and what did you do to save yours?

Debate: should you leave your fire pit ashes in or clean them out every time?

I was at a campground near Flagstaff last month and left ashes in overnight, woke up to a smoldering ember that almost caught the grass. The other campers said I should always dump ashes cold, but my neighbor back home swears leaving a thin layer helps next fires catch faster. Which way do you handle it?

Got roasted on Nextdoor about my fire pit placement and now I'm rethinking everything

I built a fire pit 4 feet from my fence last summer and a guy commented saying I'd melt the vinyl in a season. He even linked a photo of his neighbor's warped fence and I honestly hadn't thought about heat reflection at all. Has anyone else moved their fire pit after getting feedback from a neighbor?

Picked a paver patio over a deck for my 400 sq ft backyard in Austin

I went back and forth for like 2 months before finally choosing pavers over a wood deck. The heat here in Texas makes decks warp so bad, and I saw my neighbor's cedar deck crack after just one summer. So far the pavers have held up great through 3 rainstorms and zero shifting. Anyone else deal with this choice and regret their pick?

Almost lost my deck to a forgotten gas can last Saturday

I was grilling burgers on my back deck around 2 PM (usual Saturday thing) and had my spare propane can sitting right next to the grill. A gust of wind knocked it over and the nozzle cracked open, gas started hissing out right near the flames. I grabbed the can with a towel and ran it to the far end of the yard, then shut off the grill and aired everything out for an hour. Anyone else keep their backup tanks way too close to the cooking area?

TIL I've been transplanting seedlings wrong for 8 years

I always dug a hole, plopped the plant in, and filled dirt back around it. Last weekend my neighbor watched me do it and asked why I wasn't loosening the root ball first. Anybody else completely miss this step or am I the only one who never knew?

Warning: I stopped trusting those cheap backyard soil test kits after my garden failed

I used to grab those $8 pH test strips from the hardware store every spring. Last year I tested my soil in three spots, got good readings, and planted 20 tomato plants. By July I had nothing but yellow leaves and tiny fruit. A real lab test from the county extension office showed my pH was way off and I was low on nitrogen. Has anyone else gotten bad results from those home test kits?

Talked to my neighbor about his 15 year old grill last weekend and it made me rethink buying new stuff

He said he just replaced the burner tubes and flavor bars every 4 years for like $40 total and that thing still cooks better than my 2 year old one, has anyone else had luck reviving old grills instead of upgrading?

Showerthought: Are we spending too much on fancy patio furniture when secondhand stuff holds up better?

Had a chat with my neighbor Phil last weekend while we were both out watering plants. He's got this rusty old metal table from the 80s that still stands rock solid after 40 years, no joke. Meanwhile I spent $600 on a resin wicker set from the big box store two years ago and it's already cracking and fading. He said something like "they don't build stuff to last anymore, they build it to sell you another one in three years." That hit different because honestly I've been eyeballing a new set for next spring anyway. So what do you all think - is it smarter to hunt down vintage metal or wood pieces that can take a beating, or am I just unlucky with modern stuff? Anyone else had this debate in their own backyard?

My neighbor told me to just hose off my patio furniture instead of scrubbing it. That was a bad call.

I have a set of eight mesh metal chairs that I usually scrub down with a brush every spring. Last month my neighbor Bob said just blast them with the pressure washer on low. I did that and it actually bent the mesh on three chairs because the angle was wrong. So I had to spend 80 bucks on replacement parts and a whole Saturday fixing them. Has anyone else had a neighbor's shortcut backfire like that?