When we bought our house, we were shocked by the fact that California doesn’t believe in giving you a backyard! We’re originally from North Carolina, so we’re used to seeing new homes with grass in the backyard already.

You know what our house came with?

Dirt.

That’s it. No grass, no landscaping. Just dirt.

We attempted to find someone to put in a concrete patio for us but the quotes came in at over $3,000 and we were not having that. So, with our resourceful natures, we decided that we would just do something with our backyard ourselves instead of paying someone absurd amounts to do it for us.

Why did we choose a gravel patio and walkway?

We knew that we wanted to install a gravel patio mainly because we were looking for a way to drought-proof our 1,200 sqft backyard. We never get any rain in California, so hoping for nice grass is useless. The only thing that seemed to grow in our yard was weeds so we had to get rid of that.

We also wanted a rock patio for other reasons as well:

• It would look nicer than a bare backyard
• We’d never have to cut grass again
• We could get rid of all the random bugs because they won’t have a home anymore
• We don’t have to worry as much about sloping/grading as we would with a concrete or paver patio because water can still drain through the rocks

What did we use?

After we came up with a plan of action we figured out what materials we’d need for our project. Here are the main things we used to cover our 1,200 sqft backyard:

Weed barrier (x2) = $59.98 (Costco)

Yard edging (x3) = $47.91 (Walmart)

Brown mulch (x65 bags) = $162.50 (Home Depot)

Blue Dalmatian 3/8″ gravel (3.25 cubic yds) = $351.67 (From a nearby gravel supplier)

Total Cost: $622

We saved close to $2,500 on this 1,200 sqft backyard project simply from taking the DIY approach!

How to make a gravel patio – Step by step instructions

For us, the purpose of this backyard project was to make sure we’d never have to deal with the weedy mess that we had in our backyard when we started. Neither of us enjoys cutting the grass, so this DIY gravel patio was a no-brainer.

Step 1: Lay Weed Barrier

We could have poured the mulch and gravel directly on top of the ground but that would increase the likelihood that weeds would eventually sneak through again. Landscaping fabric prevents the growth of weeds while still allowing water to permeate to the ground beneath.

When you’re installing the weed barrier, make sure you provide enough overlap for the edges of the fabric. This will help keep it from separating over time and creating gaps where weeds can start to come through again. You’ll probably use a lot of landscaping staples to secure the weed barrier to the ground so make sure you buy enough of them (if they aren’t included with your barrier)!

Step 2: Install Yard Edging

We wanted our gravel patio to have some type of actual shape other than just a rectangle. In order to do that, we bought yard edging. You can use it as a way to keep the rocks and mulch separate. Stones or concrete blocks can also be used for the same purpose.

We went with the flexible edging because we wanted to be able to create a curved shape for the gravel patio. This material was the easiest to work with in order to get that shape. Once you decide on a shape, the edging is held in place with 8-inch yard stakes. A few of them come with the packaging, but we wish we had bought more in advance.

Step 3: Pour Mulch

This part was pretty easy. Once our weed barrier was in place and the patio design was staked out, we just poured our mulch in place. We bought 65 bags of mulch from Home Depot, so we had to carry them all into the yard, cut each one open and dump them where we wanted mulch.

Don’t worry, we went back and smoothed the edging afterward.

In retrospect, if we ever decide to do this project again, we will definitely have the mulch delivered instead of purchasing individual bags. Lifting those bags, carrying them into the yard and then dumping them in place wasn’t so fun after about the 10th one.

Step 4: Spread Gravel

We learned our lesson from the mulch bags, so we went to a sand & gravel supplier to purchase the rocks we needed for our gravel patio. This was great because we could walk through and see what it would look like all together AND they would deliver it to our house.

Since we’ve never done a DIY project like this, we weren’t sure of how much gravel we’d actually need. The salesperson at the store helped us calculate what we’d need in order to cover the square footage of our backyard.

When the gravel was delivered, they just pulled up and dumped it into a big pile in our driveway. We had to use a wheelbarrow and a transfer shovel to move all of it into our backyard. We’d fill the wheelbarrow, dump it and spread the gravel until you have an even depth throughout.

Rinse & repeat until the job is done.

This part of the project is much easier if you have direct access to your backyard where a dump truck can deliver the rocks directly to the site. We didn’t have that option, but if you do, you’ll probably have a better experience.

Step 5: Relax & Enjoy Your New Gravel Patio!

That’s it! Now you get to enjoy your new gravel patio in style. We definitely plan to sit and relax in our backyard quite a bit now that we don’t have to deal with the weeds and bugs. We also get to rest easy knowing that our backyard makeover didn’t cost us an arm and a leg!

Eventually, we’ll put some small drought-proof plants and trees back there. We didn’t do it as a part of this project because we already had enough on our plate!

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Is this a project you’d consider taking on? Honestly, for us, it wasn’t as hard to accomplish as we initially thought it would be. The entire project only took two days of hard work but the end result was definitely worth the effort!

$tay Wealthy Friends!