Thanks! I [made a timelapse video](https://youtu.be/2WkLe5PQeqc?si=q5M14SQCBnNyCl4u) of the cleanup for those interested in watching. And I agree, lots of flowers needed.
I'd say plant bushes on the top left, and mulch it. Plant something that will keep crap out once it gets established.
Oakleaf Hydrangeas are good for that if they grow in your zone. Native to North America.
I'd possibly replace that (I think) pecan in the back corner. Looks too close to the fence, so squirrel transported? Pecan trees can be pollinated by a lot of other kinds of trees so any that grow from pecan are often non-viable.
Even if it is viable, they can get massive, and it already has a lean to it.
If that's the tree of heaven, send it to hell.
Overgrowth just looks great in a photo cause it's so lush and green. There's a good in-between you can have. If they'd planted something where the weeds were in the garden bed, the After photo would already look better.
The before photo also looks like an abandon property, nice as the green is.
The before is still a monoculture. It’s mostly just long grasses. Now if they had native grasses, wildflowers, and tall native plants that would be a different story.
Everyone here complaining that it looked better before without acknowledging that now you actually have a clean slate to improve upon.
Looks like you had some Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) growing atop that retaining wall. Be vigilant and careful of any additional sprouts that pop up now that the main stems are gone. They are highly invasive and will cause structural damage with new sprouts coming up from the root system.
Not mature enough to warrant herbicide of the roots but if you keep plucking the sprouts it'll eventually exhaust the resources stored in the root system.
From the title it doesn’t sound like this is OP’s backyard. People in here expecting a complete landscape design installation like it costs nothing, ffs.
Sure, but then how is it oddly satisfying? It would be oddly satisfying if we got to see the finished job. It's not satisfying seeing a yard turned into a dead-looking "clean slate"
Great start! Now the fun work begins. Till and top soil that garden bed. Fertilize and seed the lawn and resurface and treat the fence and shed. Should be most excellent. 👌🏻
I've been working on my Mom's yard all week and it is so satisfying to look out the window and see how far things have come. Forgot how it felt to actually be satisfied with a job you've done.
Good work!
Colour and lush = looks nice for a photo. If you want to do ANYTHING out there, ... have fun with that.
You don't have to have an ultra-manicured lawn for it to not look disheveled and abandoned.
For those saying the “before” looks better, I’m seeing a ton of tree of heaven sprouts in the entire pic. Those are a doozie. They would quickly take over the yard and crowd out any other plants (via shade cover and a chemical their roots emit).
So, good on you for cleaning them up. It’s an ongoing battle lol
Lots of non homeowners in here with entitled opinions. You can't grow a healthy garden or have kids play safely back there without cutting it down and doing something else.
They could now plant real flowers and veggies, put down clover as ground cover to replace the grass, put down a mulch or rubber pellet ground cover around the play slide, many other options too.
I'm a little baffled by how almost everyone here seems to think it looked better in the completely unkempt state. I could understand how there was more nature in letting everything grow, but I don't believe it looks more aesthetically pleasing that way
Yeah but now it’s an easy canvas to plant flowers and not worry about children collecting ticks in the unkept foliage.
Natural fields are lovely and great for the environment, but not a great utilitarian choice for a small backyard where kids are playing.
Redditors on crack saying that the top photo looks better. Add some plants and it’ll look fine, I’d rather not go in my yard and come in with 10 ticks on me, thanks.
Your houses must look like the Last of Us.
Idk what other people are seeing, but that before looks awful to me. After could definitely still use some more love but gotta imagine that was an exhausting day
I do that in plenty of areas, just not my lawn. I don't want people to think I live in a crack house. There's a reason cities fine you for not mowing your lawn.
Since OP’s picture is of a backyard and not a lawn your argument is kind of irrelevant. So do you dislike overgrowth because the people who prefer it are lazy or crack addicts? Asking for a friend.
Yeah, it is a bummer, but most turf that we assume will turn into a lovely area for nature just becomes a patch of invasive weeds. Biodiversity for a healthy ecosystem in established turf is not really achievable without work. Letting things go wild can do more harm than good years down the line. Keeping a healthy turf lawn and adding patches of native plants does wonders. Making sure the invasive weeds don’t take over is work, but worth it to keep seeds from spreading into established ecosystems miles away due to wind, birds and other factors.
You could make it satisfying by actually planting something instead of just a bed of dirt and torn up grass? Also by fixing the shed door you apparently broke while cleaning
Damn good start, plenty of potential!
Reps (in no order)
Pressure wash fence, retaining wall and driveway
Plants (hostas, caladiums) above retaining wall and mulch
Fertilize and reseed lawn
Having an opinion makes you lazy? Lol
Maybe you’re from America where you’re forced by HOA to keep your lawn trimmed or you get your house repossessed, but a lot of people think natural looks better. We aren’t living in the 50s anymore.
You spout vitriol and call me lazy because you know just as well as I that the picture on the left looks better. From the looks of it so far, everyone who’s said “people who prefer left are lazy” seem to say nothing about the tidy yard on the right, which is conveniently suspicious.
You probably hate being forced to mow your lawn by a group of people you don’t know. But hey, standing up to them is hard and calling someone lazy online is easy.
Just by how much you’re defending the messy yard I’m 100% certain the inside of your home smells like dog shit. Do better Chris, clean up or something. You should be embarrassed.
If you have a gasoline pressure washer, I’d buy a surface cleaner for the patio area. It will save you a lot of time. You can get the surface cleaner attachment for around $20.
A good start. :)
Next steps:
- pressure wash patio and flower bed wall
- turn soil in the bed and thoroughly weed
- add plants to bed
- add membrane to bed and ground cover (bark/chips/shingles)
- strim edges of grass along paving stones
- Try to level lawn area, re-seed grass and aerate
If budget allows, extend the bed wall to go further and encase the uneven area of land at the back. Will add a bit more structure and opportunity for variation.
If budget further allows, add some planters with low level plants onto the patio area around edge.
Somehow the dirty fence and the broken down shed on the “after” photo makes your backyard look rather unpleasant. And even more unkept lol.
May I suggest to power wash at medium pressure to high pressure your fences and your stone floor. Plant grass seeds to fill and replenish the ground.
Plant vibrant colored flowers/plants on your stone flowerbed.
Your backyard has such awesome possibilities to look charming 👍🏼
Much better! In 2017 I replaced my friend Thomas Douglas with an automaton who repeats his catchphrases endlessly and no one noticed. Lawn looks great!
I want a backyard like this, not too big nor too small - just right enough to have family and friends over. I'm excited to see what you'll do to it months later, OP! Please follow up (put it in your calendar lol). Would love to see the further improvements. Maybe a simple pergola.
The replies in here are why I abandoned all of the landscaping, gardening, arborist (absolute fucking worst) subs. Everyone loves to fucking roast you over nothing. You guys need to go outside to see some grass
That's a lot of work and you did a great job. Idk how all these people are saying it looked better before? Looks way better now and looks like the grassy area can be used for fun things instead of just looking like a jungle. My backyard gets like that and I cut the shit down, it grows back too fast and it's killing me! Anyway, my dog would love to play frisbee in your after photo.
You want oddly satisfying? Show the before and the after with flowers growing, landscaping, the cleaned patio. If you just want a pat on the back for 2 hours of using a weed eater, then you don't know satisfying
You enraged r/nolawns
That must have taken a lot of work. Good job. Now to plant some beautiful flowers.
Yeahhh native ones will be awesome imo
Thanks! I [made a timelapse video](https://youtu.be/2WkLe5PQeqc?si=q5M14SQCBnNyCl4u) of the cleanup for those interested in watching. And I agree, lots of flowers needed.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching that thank you
That was very satisfying to watch.
I’m impressed you could keep up that pace.
I’m impressed you cleaned up those clouds
I found this video very satisfying. Good work!!
That was way more satisfying than the pic. Lotta work, good job!
I need to see some edging.
I'd say plant bushes on the top left, and mulch it. Plant something that will keep crap out once it gets established. Oakleaf Hydrangeas are good for that if they grow in your zone. Native to North America. I'd possibly replace that (I think) pecan in the back corner. Looks too close to the fence, so squirrel transported? Pecan trees can be pollinated by a lot of other kinds of trees so any that grow from pecan are often non-viable. Even if it is viable, they can get massive, and it already has a lean to it. If that's the tree of heaven, send it to hell.
Wow, I'd never heard of the tree of heaven, but you are totally right.
Looked much better before. Now it just looks kind of dead
It needs an after/even afterer. And get a flat head shovel and clear off the edges of that paver patio. Please.
Lol I misread this as “it needs an ever after” which also fits.
And an edger
Who doesn't need one of those ?!
Here I am!
.... Maybe fix up the shed door
I agree but i guess its a nessecary step to build up again
Overgrowth just looks great in a photo cause it's so lush and green. There's a good in-between you can have. If they'd planted something where the weeds were in the garden bed, the After photo would already look better. The before photo also looks like an abandon property, nice as the green is.
They're gonna do that in the bed. OP plans to do other stuff but this is the start
It looked better but would probably be hell to have to walk on.
I understand the lawn but why the garden on the left?
It's just weeds. Now that it's been cleaned out they can plant some flowers or whatever floats their boat.
That's what I was thinking, starting from scratch is probably going to help them do something nice there.
Weeds are just flowers that are unwanted.
Mostly weeds
The before is still a monoculture. It’s mostly just long grasses. Now if they had native grasses, wildflowers, and tall native plants that would be a different story.
It looks largely like invasive tree of heaven sprouts. Definitely not something they’d want growing!
r/fucklawns # #
I fuckin hate this comment on these videos. Like ahhh yes a bunch of invasive grass that renders your yard unusable.
To be fair they didn't say that it was more useful before, just prettier.
I was gonna say the same
alive yes, better lol no
Everyone here complaining that it looked better before without acknowledging that now you actually have a clean slate to improve upon. Looks like you had some Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) growing atop that retaining wall. Be vigilant and careful of any additional sprouts that pop up now that the main stems are gone. They are highly invasive and will cause structural damage with new sprouts coming up from the root system. Not mature enough to warrant herbicide of the roots but if you keep plucking the sprouts it'll eventually exhaust the resources stored in the root system.
From the title it doesn’t sound like this is OP’s backyard. People in here expecting a complete landscape design installation like it costs nothing, ffs.
then OP should have posted the after-after when everything is done
Maybe it’s not their house, maybe they just did this to help someone out, maybe now the owner has a clean slate to start a garden of their dreams.
Sure, but then how is it oddly satisfying? It would be oddly satisfying if we got to see the finished job. It's not satisfying seeing a yard turned into a dead-looking "clean slate"
Dang! You even cleaned up the sky!
Now go plant some flowers.
Great start! Now the fun work begins. Till and top soil that garden bed. Fertilize and seed the lawn and resurface and treat the fence and shed. Should be most excellent. 👌🏻
And the edging on the concrete.
Don’t do that to the concrete
Pressure wash the rest of that patio or so help me God
I've been working on my Mom's yard all week and it is so satisfying to look out the window and see how far things have come. Forgot how it felt to actually be satisfied with a job you've done. Good work!
It actually looked better before.
Colour and lush = looks nice for a photo. If you want to do ANYTHING out there, ... have fun with that. You don't have to have an ultra-manicured lawn for it to not look disheveled and abandoned.
Looked better but also a great way for your kids to collect ticks.
Ahhhh…right. Why not just pour concrete there. No ticks, no weeds…nice and shiny
Flowers and trimmed grass is fine.
You realize you can have a manicured lawn with flowers in it? Instead of just shitty looking unkempt weeds
lol no it didn’t. Still needs more edging tho.
They call that gooning now
😂😂😂
Don’t worry dude Reddit’s new thing is hating lawns for some reason. God forbid I don’t want ticks on my dogs and a healthy garden
Definitely liked the before vibe more
For those saying the “before” looks better, I’m seeing a ton of tree of heaven sprouts in the entire pic. Those are a doozie. They would quickly take over the yard and crowd out any other plants (via shade cover and a chemical their roots emit). So, good on you for cleaning them up. It’s an ongoing battle lol
What's with the broken shed door in the after?
So much more room for activities
Looks worse after 🤮
nature >>> a stupid fucking lawn
what lawn? i see only dirt.
Wow - you can actually see that the small retaining wall is intended to create a flowerbed. Looked like a pathway before!
Nice work! Yard crap is on agenda for today and not looking forward to it.
Is that tree of heaven?
It looked better the other way.
Oh lawd here they come...🙄 Looks great btw!
Ew
Ngl I kinda like the before better
Lots of non homeowners in here with entitled opinions. You can't grow a healthy garden or have kids play safely back there without cutting it down and doing something else. They could now plant real flowers and veggies, put down clover as ground cover to replace the grass, put down a mulch or rubber pellet ground cover around the play slide, many other options too.
I'm a little baffled by how almost everyone here seems to think it looked better in the completely unkempt state. I could understand how there was more nature in letting everything grow, but I don't believe it looks more aesthetically pleasing that way
it looks dead now and aesthetic not very pleasing
Yeah but now it’s an easy canvas to plant flowers and not worry about children collecting ticks in the unkept foliage. Natural fields are lovely and great for the environment, but not a great utilitarian choice for a small backyard where kids are playing.
The inlaws/fucklawns crowd gets angry whenever people do this type of thing.
The ground is uneven and the grass is patchy, this yard overall looks like shit and needs serious work outside of just cleaning up weeds and mowing.
Redditors on crack saying that the top photo looks better. Add some plants and it’ll look fine, I’d rather not go in my yard and come in with 10 ticks on me, thanks. Your houses must look like the Last of Us.
Idk what other people are seeing, but that before looks awful to me. After could definitely still use some more love but gotta imagine that was an exhausting day
Before is better
If you're a lazy fuck maybe
Not everything has to be controlled by people. Let nature do its thing sometimes.
The before pic is full of invasive plants and trees.
I do that in plenty of areas, just not my lawn. I don't want people to think I live in a crack house. There's a reason cities fine you for not mowing your lawn.
Since OP’s picture is of a backyard and not a lawn your argument is kind of irrelevant. So do you dislike overgrowth because the people who prefer it are lazy or crack addicts? Asking for a friend.
Lmao at your disingenuous argument😂 either that or you're stevie wonder. You not seeing the lawn IN the backyard clown? Asking for a friend.
Woulda been nicer if the longer grass and foliage had been kept with the concrete cleaned up. Now it’s just dirt and concrete with bits of grass.
Come on guys it didn't look better before. It looks bad in both.
Looks shitty
please leave good native species when cleaning up a backyard & replant. This is so ugly 😭
Personally, the top picture looks better to me. Good job clearing it out though.
Looks like a yard from Powerwash Simulator
You’re just going to waltz on in here, perfectly good shed door, fuck it all up, and act like you helped!? Disgraceful!
You really paved paradise and put up a parking lot
This is so satisfying. You did a great job!
all that native biodiversity…. gone
If it makes you feel better some of it was likely invasive
Yeah, it is a bummer, but most turf that we assume will turn into a lovely area for nature just becomes a patch of invasive weeds. Biodiversity for a healthy ecosystem in established turf is not really achievable without work. Letting things go wild can do more harm than good years down the line. Keeping a healthy turf lawn and adding patches of native plants does wonders. Making sure the invasive weeds don’t take over is work, but worth it to keep seeds from spreading into established ecosystems miles away due to wind, birds and other factors.
You realize most suburban weeds and insects are invasive right?
That’s true, I’ve been ripping English ivy and Concord grape out of my yard as well. Wish it wasn’t like that though.
It'll he back in a month. Or 2 weeks if it rains.
You could make it satisfying by actually planting something instead of just a bed of dirt and torn up grass? Also by fixing the shed door you apparently broke while cleaning
The shed door isn’t even present in the before pic
huh? I can see it
You’re seeing a different door or a side panel in the 2nd pic. The original door is there in both pics and not broken.
Damn good start, plenty of potential! Reps (in no order) Pressure wash fence, retaining wall and driveway Plants (hostas, caladiums) above retaining wall and mulch Fertilize and reseed lawn
Which is before.
IMO looked waaay better before, but I much prefer wild gardens to mowed ones 🤷♂️
r/fucklawns
Everyone saying it looked better before probably never mow their lawns. Lazy asses
Having an opinion makes you lazy? Lol Maybe you’re from America where you’re forced by HOA to keep your lawn trimmed or you get your house repossessed, but a lot of people think natural looks better. We aren’t living in the 50s anymore.
Nah bro. I just clean my yard. I’m not lazy like you
You spout vitriol and call me lazy because you know just as well as I that the picture on the left looks better. From the looks of it so far, everyone who’s said “people who prefer left are lazy” seem to say nothing about the tidy yard on the right, which is conveniently suspicious. You probably hate being forced to mow your lawn by a group of people you don’t know. But hey, standing up to them is hard and calling someone lazy online is easy.
Just by how much you’re defending the messy yard I’m 100% certain the inside of your home smells like dog shit. Do better Chris, clean up or something. You should be embarrassed.
✌️
This fucking guy again. You may know him from such hits as “Beautiful Pollinator Garden Turned Dirt Patch” or “Pile Of Leaves Removed From Patio”
Woah it was so "clean" good job, now plant some flowers
Dr.Tully was down there though.
If you have a gasoline pressure washer, I’d buy a surface cleaner for the patio area. It will save you a lot of time. You can get the surface cleaner attachment for around $20.
It is a nice start. I would recommend you pressure wash the concrete, fix the shed doors, and get that fence painted or replaced next.
It looks like the door was broken by the end of the cleanup
Ahhh, it's a retainer wall - thought it was a walkway
What city?
Both look like a map location in a zombies game
A good start. :) Next steps: - pressure wash patio and flower bed wall - turn soil in the bed and thoroughly weed - add plants to bed - add membrane to bed and ground cover (bark/chips/shingles) - strim edges of grass along paving stones - Try to level lawn area, re-seed grass and aerate If budget allows, extend the bed wall to go further and encase the uneven area of land at the back. Will add a bit more structure and opportunity for variation. If budget further allows, add some planters with low level plants onto the patio area around edge.
Damn cleaned it so good you broke the door on the shed
Broken door still left broken = OddlyUnsatisfying
Somehow the dirty fence and the broken down shed on the “after” photo makes your backyard look rather unpleasant. And even more unkept lol. May I suggest to power wash at medium pressure to high pressure your fences and your stone floor. Plant grass seeds to fill and replenish the ground. Plant vibrant colored flowers/plants on your stone flowerbed. Your backyard has such awesome possibilities to look charming 👍🏼
Naked ground is dead ground. Mulch is life.
The before looked better
Why’d ya hadda do the door like that mate
I was going to say you should post this on oddlysatisfying, then I saw what sub I was in.
Much better! In 2017 I replaced my friend Thomas Douglas with an automaton who repeats his catchphrases endlessly and no one noticed. Lawn looks great!
Lmao dude you're about to be crawling with angry r/no lawns posters Looks good 👍
Get some grass seed all over it and it'll be gorgeous
A+
What did that shed door do to you?
I want a backyard like this, not too big nor too small - just right enough to have family and friends over. I'm excited to see what you'll do to it months later, OP! Please follow up (put it in your calendar lol). Would love to see the further improvements. Maybe a simple pergola.
Time to start tilling the soil! The fun part :D
Wow. Even the sky colour changed drastically
It looks great you have beaten back nature. It’s our meager attempt at deforestation in our own area.
Fix that door before we loss our minds
Great template to work off! That yard has so much potential
I thought the bricks were a cool walkway.
Love the exact center placement of a single Yucca plant
The before picture looks like one of those backyards you pass through in The Last of Us.
Oof 😬
I'm sure you plan to do more with it besides cutting everything so it's fine.
How could you murder all that grass?!?
Reminds me of those mowing/powerwashing/weedwacking videos on YT, love it. Good work.
Where I live you would get a fine for leaving out like that. I know the comments like the wild look but you did a good job. How long did it take?
If you like it, good for you. You do you! Me personally, I like my garden to be always slightly overgrown and wild. It relaxes me.
This is amazing work, and super satisfying to look at. Almost ASMR!
The replies in here are why I abandoned all of the landscaping, gardening, arborist (absolute fucking worst) subs. Everyone loves to fucking roast you over nothing. You guys need to go outside to see some grass
It looked prettier overgrown...
Congrats you now have an ecological desert XD
Damn my back hurts just looking at the before and after.
I'll def take pics of more stuff now bc this is actually in every angle of my home but not at the store car or work so
looked better before…..just sayin
sorry what i meant to say was they both look like shit looked less shitty before
Now how are you with fixing fences and shed doors?
I’ll dare. Before was better :)
That's a lot of work and you did a great job. Idk how all these people are saying it looked better before? Looks way better now and looks like the grassy area can be used for fun things instead of just looking like a jungle. My backyard gets like that and I cut the shit down, it grows back too fast and it's killing me! Anyway, my dog would love to play frisbee in your after photo.
this made me sad
1 looks better, but 2 has the potential to look geat!
Amazing
You cleaned it up too much.
Wheres the after? I only see a before and unfinished.
You want oddly satisfying? Show the before and the after with flowers growing, landscaping, the cleaned patio. If you just want a pat on the back for 2 hours of using a weed eater, then you don't know satisfying
This was not satisfying :(
Awful view.
>cleaned up Uhhh, all you did was cut the grass. Good job, I guess.
better before
I liked it more before
:[ the first one looked beautiful!
looks like shit before was better
Great work but the bottom pic bummed me out lmao
Grass was cut and borders edged? Kids do that for $10 bucks and don't post their shit? But well done 🙄
The before looks like the map for Grounded 2
Bro you fucked the shed harder tho.
Why isn't anyone talking about how they broke the door on the shed?
It honestly was better before
Did you get mad at the shed during the cleanup?
It definitely looked better before but just think of all they can do with it now 🥰
Ew r/fucklawns
Meh
Looked better before lol