Just last summer, we made a bocce court in the front yard.
In part because we like to play. Also to use up some space without the maintenance of grass. Then, last fall, we got a giant rainfall that washed a bunch of dirt down the hill and flooded the court.
Water took out a wide swath of rock, spreading out creating a mess for us to fix.
Finally, we’re getting around to fixing the front. And making a few changes while we’re at it. Before, there was a slightly steep edge down to the court. Using left over stone pavers from the back, Ben built a handsome set of stacked stone stairs.
Additional stones make up a walking path from the deck edge down.
The court still needs a new layer of rock. It’s looking very sad, still.
If (or when?) we get another huge rain, we’ve taken preventive measures. There’s a natural drainage trench along the house side. We continued it along, diverting it around the landscaping. A steeper side should contain water and channel it down to a set of wooden steps.
Hauling rock filled five gallon buckets up sixteen steps wasn’t the most fun chore, but it’s almost done. I’m even more excited to add plants.
ourhumbleabodeblog.com 
I am just curious…why do you have so much stone for your yard? A lot of the photos I have seen on your posts that show the surrounding area show grass elsewhere.
Hey Amanda!
Good question! Our lot is steep, significantly steeper than the neighboring houses with grass. Actually, most homes around us have a flat front and very steep rock covered back. We have steep areas on both the front and back. For that reason, we chose to stack boulders on the steep hillsides to function as a retaining wall.
We could have put grass on the flat areas (in the back and around the bocce court) but it’s almost too little to justify watering and mowing. Especially when we factored in a $200-300 monthly watering bill to keep the full sun grass from burning. Man do we wish we could have a well here, too. 😀
Sorry for the long response, just wanted to thoroughly explain the reasoning.
Thanks!
Amanda
Oh no! I would cry if all my hard work literally washed away!
I know you explained why no grass but do you think some other types of living ground cover would help with the wash-out you’ve experienced a few times?
Hi Liz!
This was the from the first time it washed down. Back when we had 2 inches of rain in 20 minutes, so it’s not a normal rain or a regular problem. We’re going to add ground cover over the rock so it should help if this happened again. We just got around to adding the new rock layer, so plants should happen soon. Just looking around and finding what we like best. Can’t wait to get some green in there.
Thanks!
Amanda
We live in New England and in a totally different landscape but were struggling to find a good ground cover too! I’m interested to see what you come up with. I get so overhwhelmed so love when bloggers do the research for me. Haha!
Hi Liz!
I’m still researching my options, but I’ll share what I find and figure out. 🙂
Thanks!
Amanda
Oh my goodness! I don’t know what I would do if that happened to us. I’m awful about maintaining our outdoor space. I agree about taking care of grass. It can get costly and in my area we’re always having droughts and asked to conserve water.
Hey Jennifer!
It’s really annoying, but we’re hoping we can prevent it from happening again. I’m not convinced grass is that worth if for the few months a year we can enjoy it here. 🙂
Thanks!
Amanda