We’re buying a house and it has this square patch of sand in the lawn. Any suggestions? We were thinking maybe a fire pit.
by OtterlyFun
We’re buying a house and it has this square patch of sand in the lawn. Any suggestions? We were thinking maybe a fire pit.
by OtterlyFun
3 Comments
Horse shoe pit? Fire pit works too… also if you don’t want it, doesn’t take too much dirt mixed in with it to get grass to grow there
That square was almost certainly an old sandbox or a leveled base for a small shed. Dropping a fire pit right on that sand is a rookie move. Your lawn chairs will sit half on the grass and half on the dirt turning the area into a muddy rutted mess the second you have people over. A fire pit needs a proper hardscape zone around it so chairs sit level and the grass does not catch sparks. Leaving a tiny fire feature floating out in the middle of the lawn also creates a disconnected polka dot effect instead of a cohesive outdoor space.
If you actually want a fire pit out there you need to excavate a much larger area to give yourself at least three feet of clearance around the fire ring for seating. You have to lay down a proper compacted gravel sub base and use rigid edging to contain whatever surface material you choose like decomposed granite or pavers. Before you break your back digging or buying stone I highly recommend running this picture through the GardenDream web app. It lets you overlay different hardscape layouts and fire pit designs right onto your yard so you can see exactly how much space it eats up and make sure the layout flows properly with the house before you spend a dime.
If you are not ready to build a full patio zone right now just dig out the top few inches of that compacted sand. Mix in a few bags of quality compost and throw down some grass seed. Getting the yard back to a clean unbroken slate of green buys you time to figure out a real master plan later without staring at an ugly bald spot every time you look out the window.
Fire pit would be the best idea