Overgrown backyard no longer

I had enough. This will be our third summer in our home and I did not want to spend another one looking at a big patch of dead weeds in the middle of our backyard. It was time to do something about it.
But what to do...a lounge-ish area a built-in fire pit? A gazebo? A fountain? I knew I wanted to do something more than just grass, just grass is boring. I loved the look of the space towards the bottom with the fountain and the covered lounge area with draping:


Then I realized that we need grass. Our house is to small to entertain and we need space in the backyard for extra tables and people to overflow into. Boring grass it is, but it is still a million times better than what it was.

OK, the before picture (mind you, it is spring at this point so the weeds are green)

Another reason I decided on grass was because we are hosting my husband's graduation party here in 4 short weeks and we needed a quick fix.
The first thing that had to be done was to take out the poorly planted pear tree. I feel bad cutting down trees, especially fruit trees, but the tree was competing with the bamboo privacy screen, and loosing, anyway. Which brings me to the next task: cutting down and thinning out the bamboo so that more light could reach the grass. Here is the overgrown bamboo before (notice the missing pear tree):


And after:

Look at all that cut bamboo! I had to clean it up:

Ahhh, much better. But where did all the bamboo go you ask? Santa Rosa Waste Management does not allow you to put bamboo in their yard waste bins, and that bin is too small! Why I piled in on our compost heap:

Oh dear, going to have to make a run to the dump and beg them to take all this bamboo off our hands. Note to reader: If you ever find yourself considering planting bamboo in your own yard, think long and hard on it, and remember this post!

After tilling the ground and ordering the sod, we were able to lay it down. My dad and soon-to-be step-mom came on their day off and did it while we were at work. They are so AWESOME!


Looking at it online, it doesn't look like much and I still think it's boring, AND it is going to make our water bill shoot up like crazy, but it is no longer a patch of weeds and it is new and for the moment, I am happy with it.