https://youtu.be/DXdP9U__HN8

We live in Northern IL so obviously climate is dramatically different. You don’t mention dimensions but our patio is 24x26 with an additional 12x12 for hot tub and 5x9 grilling space. Pergola is 8x12.

We built the patio but hired a nursery to design and plant the landscaping. In your environment, they could install irrigation too. All are shown in the linked video taken several years ago.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Curve your new patio edges and bring out your planting areas away from the corners of your yard. This will reduce your grass footprint and will give your yard a more relaxed, natural feel.

Thanks Ikloes! I thought about curving but wasn’t sure. And where would you bring in planting areas? We do need some grass for the dog but definitely open to anything that will make it more interesting! I don’t want it to just be a wide open patio. I will definitely add height with some small patio trees too. Thanks for your advice!!

Thanks fnmroberts! Good catch. Forgot to mention that the squares are 2’x2’. I estimated total roughly 1300 sq.ft. And roughly 30x40’ but it’s irregular so hard to say exactly.

We hired a landscaper for our front yard.. all drought tolerant Mediterranean plants so I would do similar in the back. Definitely need someone to do irrigation! Our sprinklers are terrible hence dead grass! Can’t wait for good sprinklers and green grass. Thanks!!

Fnmroberts, wow!! Beautiful yard! Impressive! Thank you for sharing. I’m from NJ and I miss the green!!!

Your planting areas around the perimeter aren’t very deep. Cut off the corners a bit so that you have larger triangular planting areas. Layer your landscaping in those “triangles” with taller things in the back. Japanese maples are nice because you can plant underneath them. Think about softening the lines. We did something similar by reducing our lawn by 20% which saves a ton of water, and we still have plenty of room for the dog to run around. You’re on your way to having a great outdoor space!

Thanks Ikloes! I see what you mean. Yes, we were planning just to plant along our back fence like we have our side fence. Which is a narrow planting area so we have grass. The idea is to have 2 long areas (like dog runs) along side and back so she can get some running in! Here’s our side fence. We have star jasmine along it and some flowers in front. Then we’re planning to have the 2 bigger planting beds on the side by the shed. Anything you would change with this in mind? I suppose we could curve the grass in towards the shed. I’ll try to draw. Thx!!!

Thank you @donnatrus. It’s taken 25 years so be patient. Here’s a pix from above, courtesy of Google Earth.

At the upper left of the house we fenced a dog run. You may want to think about doing similar. Ours is stone but in your climate Astroturfing atop crushed stone would make for easy clean-up and hose flushing. Then, no spots on the grass.

@fnmroberts this is exactly what I am trying to describe! @donnatrus, do you see how the corners are rounded and the landscaping has large “triangular” planting areas in those corners? Get rid of the straight lines wherever you can by SOFTLY curving the boundaries of the grass. Vary your plant heights too.

One more thing, synthetic grass gets hot on bare feet and doggy paws so I would still consider using real sod.

@lkloes - wasn’t aware of a heat issue.

Oh yeah, that SoCal weather is HOT and dry! Some artificial grass vendors recommend hosing it down to cool it off. Kind of defeats the purpose of installing a supposedly water-wise solution.

Thanks fnmroberts! It can get hot here, so artificial turf isn’t ideal but I would love it for lots of reasons!

And thanks Ikloes! Yes, I think I got it.. I’ll work on that! One issue is that the back fence panels are removable bc we have a huge slope and in the spring we have to have it trimmed and raked to the bottom. For fire protection. They remove a panel or 2 to remove the grasses. We actually have large gates on both sides of our house (front) so the truck can back up right into the yard and up to the slope. So I do need to leave a bit of space for that. Im thinking we may only need that on the left side, so maybe I can figure out the right side better. Thanks!!

Ok I’ve rounded the corners and added a few planting beds near the patio. Does this help? Any other ideas or suggestions? Particularly about placement of the different areas? Thank you!!

That looks great!

I believe you will like the softened landscape appearance. The nursery may modify to highlight specific plantings.

Thanks both!!