Back Yard Progres

Really when its this hot, its better to work in the rain!

The goal is to make our backyard into a urban oasis.  Safe for little ones to play.  Like most properties in our neighborhood, the backyard was a concrete pad.  For some reason, people here thought that grass/ soil/ trees bred mosquitoes- and mosquitoes are a huge problem.  Concrete enables mosquitoes, rain water is unable to drain into the soil, creating puddles for mosquitoes to breed.  People also thought that broken glass in the soil will discourage rats from burrowing- another brilliant idea. 
We are removing the concrete and adding a patio with previous pavers.  We had a tree installed and are adding fill dirt to the grassy part.  We are adding raised beds to grow vegetables in clean soil.  We are taking down our concrete back steps and adding a small wooden deck with more rails so our little one can fit through the gaps.  We are adding a pergola, because us northerners can't take the sun and heat in the summer here.