Obtaining the right to use the old road may be more of an issue than actually doing it. Of course, the question of how you get into the garage from the back remains....Sort of a high cost for a temporary measure...driveway costs, structural and remodeling costs on the garage, demolition of the existing drive and curb cut at the front of the house, tree removal and landscaping. By the time it is paid off the kids are out of college...

I have a couple of ideas for you. Here is one. A giant chess board!
http://houzz.com/photos/481128

The other is a labyrinth.
http://houzz.com/photos/1839123

Thanks for the thoughts. I think we will pull up the asphalt and put grass in...Small issue, I do put the car in the garage every now and then during bad weather. Will driving on the grass occasionally damage it? Would love a pool house and pool..maybe in a year or two!!

Loving the outdoor chess set!

Can you just put a covered car port beside the house?

To make a lawn that you can drive a truck on, sink concrete pavers just below grade and plant grass all around them. The grass will virtually obscure the pavers. You can have your cake and eat it too. It is what many highway departments once did to create attractive emergency pull-offs along scenic parkways.

I would defiantly reconsider pulling up the asphalt if it is in decent condition. If your children are small they will quickly outgrow use for a "backyard" and you will be left with a large lawn to mow and ruts and difficulty accessing the garage in on climate weather. The asphalt could be costly to dispose of and will be very costly to replace should you regret removing it. Add some features to soften up the area and add some basket ball hoops and hockey nets, you will have the coolest backyard on the block in your children's teen years

Kitasei, great tip! Are u saying to sink the pavers underground or lay them on top so the grass grows around? Is this costly? Any pics of this concept?

Use the back entrance it will look so much better.

Large 24X24 pavers with an inch or two of grass in-between can look really sharp (pic 1). Or concrete formed with space for grass (pic 2). There is also a concrete product designed for driving cars on grass (pic 3) with a more industrial look sometimes called turf pavers. I don't think it would be nice for kids to play on though. If you mixed spaced pavers with areas of grass and some plant beds it could look great.

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Jabelones last picture is what I had in mind. Depending on how you space them and how tall you let the grass grow, you will not even see the pavers. I know NYC used Belgian blocks installed vertically in the 1930s.

Thanks for all the tips! I think we are going with the pavers concept. I will post pics when complete!

Pavers can make a driveway look like a patio. Add a rounded bump out to the shape for even more interest. (Driveway shaped like the letter P.)

You could put in gravel instead and add some raised flower beds around the outside to tie it in, curving into it from the grass around the edges. Gravel is easier maintenance than grass and you can still drive on it.

Have you considered only ripping out one "lane " of the driveway and then as someone else suggested, make a "p" shape at the end to use as a patio area? Done in pavers, this would look nice.

I have encountered a similar problem with a client in the past which leads me to have to ask one question. Based on the photograph it appears your garage is from an old time period when cars were not as long and wide as many of those built today. It is hard to see in the photo but based on the hip roof the garage appears to be almost if not square. Possibly 18'x18'. My question is have you checked to make sure your vehicles will fit comfortably into the garage and allow you to close the garage door? As Ironwood Builders mentions, modifying the structure can be costly.

Without seeing all the details, i suggest you install a fence where the back of the house meets the driveway. You could have a gate if you really want to use the garages. meanwhile keep the yard safe for the children.

Keep the drive but turn it into a more organic product. Have two narrow concrete paths for tiers and the rest grass, make it narrower w/ Crushed limestone, or do a limestone pattern w/ grass in between the pieces. Be creative so you can incorporate all that you would like to use the yard for.

i would convert the garage into a guest house, rental, studio, or something then add a lovely walkway from the back of the house and simply park on the street.

Thanks for all the tips! I think we will try to price out the pavers option for one of the lanes. Will stagger the pavers wider at the end so it will have a chic modern stair pattern. Hope this will not be a fortune $$!!

Here's another example of grass with pavers - the difference is this is EasyTurf - looks and feels like the real thing, but not the hassle of maintenance, watering and weeding ... check us out at www.easyturf.com. let me know if you have any questions.
:)
George

i love the easy turf pics. no weeding watering or trimming.

I've made cement pavers with cement and pizza boxes. You can tint them, too, if you buy color for your cement. You can also buy molds that give you a different shape. If you do decide to go the DIY route, you may want to Google the project. There were some instructions. Most of our pavers have lasted over 15 years and through very long, cold winters. The ones that didn't were pretty clearly the result of a poor cement mix.

It sounds like you've come up with a good solution. Your paver plan will be much prettier and softer than asphalt. But if your primary motivation is to have a play space for kids, then do really consider what your kids will want to do back there. Pavement is great for bikes, skates, scooters, basketball, jump rope, chalk drawing, hopscotch, etc. Perhaps you have other locations for these kinds of activities, so tearing it out will be well worth it. If not, then consider keeping at least some of the driveway. Perhaps keep the drive that is to the right of the middle of the garage. Spend the leftover cash on some pretty landscaping to soften the edges. Add some lightweight patio furniture and the space becomes a patio, playzone, and occasional drive.

sigrid - youve given me some ideas about the pizza boxes, i have to build a parking place and didnt really want to go the gravel route. could they support the weight of a car?

I presume so, if you have the right cement and the right stuff underneath (do you call it a foundation). You may be advised to put some rebar in the pavers. I made a path with mine and we had left over cement. I got the idea out of a magazine (Fine Gardening, perhaps?) years ago.

I'd bet somewhere on the internet someone has more information than me.

Check google for "Golpla" or different plastic pavers. This is made from hard durable plastic instead of concrete. They use it for parking lots in Belgium, just not for driving a truck on it (you can, but then it would damage the plastic if it happens really often). It is another option because then you have the look of a complete gras lawn instead of pavers and gras.

I have seen people use large galvanized livestock watering tubs (oval shaped) as planters to separate a driveway from a living area. Put casters on the bottom for ease of movement. Plant the tubs with tall shrubs (arborvite?) and then use them to block off the driveway and add some privacy. You can easily move them when you need car/truck access to the backyard.

This isn't necessarily high end design but an inexpensive, kid friendly solution to occasional car use is mulch. Remove the asphalt and dig out two rows compatible with your tire widths. Mulch the "paths". Maintenance is easy; inbed weed inhibing plastic or edging along all sides. A slight valley on each side of the path will help contain the mulch. As I said, not fancy but certainly inexpensive and a quick fix to make it functional for cars and kids.

like the driveway. a lot of people with kids would love to have the concrete. a perfect place for kids to ride their toys and skate. draw with chalk, jump rope and later on you have the perfect place for basketball. you don't have all the mud and grass tracked in the house. looks like you have plenty of room for beautiful flowers. i would just use the garage for storage and put a refrigerator in there for getting drinks. mabey a toilet. you can
have a nice place for a covered and screened in patio to lounge and eat in. if you don't have a covered porch
then build a roof over an area to be in out of the rain for outdoor furniture. it looks like you still have half or more of a yard with grass. there is so much you can do to make it work. love the big shade tree. love the driveway. less grass to cut. lol. best place for the kids to play. lol. a carport would be great.

Agree with ddrc, however there are a lot of great ideas shared here! You could add nice borders in stone around the perimeter or as walkway to/from. Stone in pre-sawn squares/rectangles or irregular shapes can be as cost-effective as concrete.

I agree the kids are going to grow and want the slab... what a great basketball / tennis / biking / skating / raquet ball area (with a little creativity).

funny. we are looking to do the opposite. we have a short driveway in the front of the house. we'd like to relocate the garage door to the rear and have a large wrap around driveway...the primary reason is to create a great play area for the kids. Boys 6 & 5.We have plenty of yard with grass, but they need the area to ride bikes, scooters, play hockey and basketball. I don't know how old your kids are, but you might want to reconsider their play needs for the future.

Having you cake and eating it too X two.....use your pavers and grass idea and THEN use moveable privacy fencing and potted plants and furniture to create a courtyard for relaxing or play in that area.

Planting grass over the whole are will be fine to drive on occasionally. Keep it watered.

Love your idea to do the pavers in a stair pattern! Can't wait to see pics when it's complete!

If you want to save money and have an attractive backyard, buy a cordless blower and keep the drive very clean; use the garage for your cars- not for storage; add a few structural evergreen plants and a bed of seasonal flowers to the right. You already have attractive garage doors. Espalier roses on the side or corners of the building. A soft line of nandina on the left that you prune in thirds each Feb. They will soften the straight lines of the drive and have beautiful berries in the fall and winter. ( someone just told me about yellow nandina berries)Replacing a drive can be costly and yours appears to be in good condition. Be sure that the front of your home is always attractive, and with a little care and attention, your backyard will be attractive too. One day you will be glad that you did not destroy your driveway.As someone mentioned, children do a lot of playing on solid surfaces.

Love all of these tips! My gardener read these too and first came up with the suggestion of ripping out the whole thing and putting down gravel for tire lanes. However, spring just hit and I'm watching my son spend hours on end on the driveway with a scooter. Now I'm thinking to rip up only half. Any tips on how to border the outside of driveway with plants? A nice, chic border?..? Sorry for the late response..I was in China for work.

How about adding raised beds and pots to the left of the driveway? http://www.houzz.com/pots-and-planters. That way you have something that allows for options if you decide to take out the driveway in the future, but gives you some greenery.

I definately agree with ideas above. The driveway as 'patio' and dual purpose. Here are a couple more designs.

1. square pavers with pots to one side.

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2. staggard pavers, different sizes.

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3. I like the idea of Grass, from Easy Turf.

Also try Rugzoom.com .. it costs are affordable, only about 10.00 sf installed, and the grass can have padding, underneath. to feel soft for stepping. If you want a grassed area to the side of pavers for a play yard, (in an area next driveway, next to your real grass).. this would stand up to playing and require virtually no maintenance.

There are many more pictures, see the ideabook called Landscape ideas on my page.

Buy your kids a basketball hoop!! They'll love it, no redesign needed ;)

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Many older homes in the Midwest have a detached garage that involves the driveway taking up much of the back yard and no turn-around space, either. If you can get permission to use the old road to get onto your property, perhaps you could move the drive-doors of the garage to the opposite wall or side where the road is and have a rear-entry garage. Then, perhaps you could fence off the space that goes from the right front corner of your garage, as per your photo, and over to the right. Of course, you could install a walk gate next to this corner of the garage so that you can get to the house easily. This space off the old road could become guest parking and would keep the traffic away from your children. I would not suggest installing a pool because that could be more of a hazard to your children than the cars would be. I would suggest tearing up the driveway surface and planting grass the children can enjoy while playing outdoors.

Yes, I agree with the Houzzer's who suggested driveable pavers that have spaces for planting something green. You could do this on just half of the asphalt where you drive and remove all paving on the other side where you could plant or do whatever! I'm in the process of removing about one third of the concrete slab in an old RV parking area that was installed when my house was built in 1960. It's hideous!! One section has a nice grape stake fence between the RV parking and the sidewalk and I'm removing a wide strip of the concrete along that fence to create a garden with some large shrubs and maybe a small shade tree (it faces south). In the future, I may remove more concrete, but unfortunately I can't take it all out because one side supports a planting bed and the house foundation.

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What did you do? Did it work out?

Send photos of how it turned out! id love to see it!