When we first moved into Pearson House, the backyard was completely buried under a shin-high tangle of thick, woody weeds. I still don’t know what type of weed it was/is that loves this space, but it starts out looking innocent enough. Oh, you dainty scalloped leaf. What kind of monster could you possibly become? As it grows, this weed becomes thicker and thicker until you have to dig it out with a shovel or hack at it with an ax.

Shortly after moving in, I went at the backyard with both a shovel and an ax. After two days of work, I had cleared out the entire yard. Or so I thought. Within a few weeks, seeds from the same type of weed had begun to sprout all over the yard. Curses!

Clearing the area of these seedlings was not like dealing with their mature counterparts. It was worse. Each weed had a tiny little root attached to it, and I had to dig each one out individually. I greatly prefer removing weeds and grasses that clump because I can clear out whole areas with a few well-placed yanks at the base of the plants. Not so with this frilly little nuisance. It took me more than 16 hours to clear out the weeds shown in the photo below. (I know it doesn’t look like it would be that much work, but it was. My knees and back are a testament to the labor-intensive nature of this particular weeding marathon.)

You might wonder why I didn’t spray weedkiller and sit back while the toxin did its work. I suppose I could have gone that route, but I don’t like using potentially harmful synthetic chemicals if I don’t have to, or even potentially harmful organic substances. If I have the time, I would rather weed by hand whenever possible.

:: Little Seedlings, Big Time-Suck

After I got the yard all cleared out, I thought about putting down grass seed. But then I rethought that thought. After doing a light study of the entire property, I realized there wasn’t much light in this area, so grass might be especially fussy and demanding here. I am also not a fan of how much labor it takes to grow grass and keep it looking good, even under the best conditions.

Also, I’ve been reading about nitrogen application and how much doesn’t manage to make its way into the plants — instead ending up in the air and water, which has negative environmental effects. Sure, farmers are getting better and better at devising ways to keep added nitrogen where it belongs — in the soil — but I am just a homeowner with no expertise in that area, so I am not sure a lot of nitrogen should pass through my hands.

It soon became clear to me that the best choice would be to use shade-loving plants and low-maintenance groundcover throughout the backyard (save for a little sunny spot near the garage). But I also wanted something to define the area and break up the plantings. I’d seen pavers set with spaces between them to create a geometric pattern all over a yard. I liked that idea because it would give me a hardscape feel without the labor of laying and leveling a gravel bed or pouring concrete. I also liked the idea of a strong geometric element against the organic shape of the plants.

As luck would have it, a neighbor had a stack of cedar deck tiles he was planning on burning because he was moving away and had no use for them. They had some wear, including a little rot here and there on the undersides. The damage didn’t deter me because I knew the tiles could be repaired (and that the repairs would be so simple even I could make them).

I asked if he would allow me to use the tiles, and he agreed. (I actually offered to pay for them, but he wouldn’t hear of it. Generous man.) I was extremely excited. Not only was I going to use something from this kind man’s home to make our home more beautiful, but I was also reusing a resource and extending its life.

:: Laying the Tiles

Above is a photo of my first step: laying the tiles out in the pattern I wanted. Actually, that was not my first step at all. First, I took a flat shovel to the entire area, leveling the ground as much as possible by eye. Then, I took a two-by-four and ran it over the surface until my highs were knocked down and my lows were filled in. (It was easy to manipulate the soil in this way because I had already loosened it up when I was weeding. If I hadn’t loosened it, the process would have been much more difficult.) Before laying the tiles, I worked paving sand into the top inch of soil. This gave me a more consistent and malleable base to set the tiles on than soil alone would have provided.

Once I had the area prepared, I ran a string line from the side of the house across the yard so my grid would be square to the house. I began setting my tiles using the string as a guide. I marked and measured the position of each tile individually. That approach took too much time, so I came up with a better plan. I laid all the tiles together with their sides touching. As my configuration grew, I carefully removed every other tile, leaving the remaining tiles perfectly spaced and the spaces between them perfectly square.

Around the perimeter, which will serve as garden beds, my husband and I worked organic compost into the soil to improve its quality. (Actually, he pretty much took care of that task. Over the years, we’ve developed an arbitrary but fairly rigid system for dividing garden tasks. Digging mulch is, for whatever reason, his task, not mine.)

:: Hip Squares

One thing I love about this design is that it’s so flexible. If we decide to expand a planting area, we can simply move the tiles from one part of the yard into another. You wouldn’t be able to do that with hardscaping or with a more rigid configuration of tiles or pavers.

At this point, all the tiles have been laid, though some need to be leveled where the yard slopes a bit toward the fence. I planted groundcover between some of the tiles and plan to fill the others in as soon as I can buy more plants from my favorite nursery. My husband and I picked up some hostas from Home Depot that were deeply discounted and positioned them, along with a fern and a hydrangea transplanted from a too-sunny site, along the perimeter.

:: Checkers, Anyone?

We still have a lot of weeding to do, which I plan to tackle with a hand shovel, some vinegar, or a combination of the two. We also need to add more plants, apply a layer of mulch and address another section of the backyard, which was used by the former owners as a dog run. But things are looking better than they were, and we’re happy to see the yard coming to life.

:: Baby Tears Stonecrop

I probably should have waited until the yard was mulched and all the plants were in before posting about this project, since it’s going to look even lovelier when it’s actually finished. But we’ve been working on this for so long that I really wanted to share the progress thus far. And we’ve most definitely made progress. Most definitely.

:: Shady Ladies