u/capikati

EDIT: Thanks for all the helpful responses! I’ve got enough here to work with and plan next steps :)

Trying to figure out what to plant in this part of our backyard and would love some opinions!
We’re in the middle of a backyard project and just finished the retaining wall + planter this weekend. The plan is for the planter to become a pollinator garden, while the upper terrace will eventually be a fire pit/lounge area.

For the bare area in front of it, I’d really prefer some kind of ground cover rather than traditional turf, but I’m having trouble figuring out what will actually work for how we want to use the space.

A few things about the area:
- Backyard faces true south
- Terrace is on the west side
- Pollinator planter is on the east side
- This area gets full sun basically all day, aside from some morning shade from a huge oak tree next door
- We plan to get a dog in the next couple of years, so it needs to tolerate at least some pet traffic
- I would love something that feels good underfoot.
- I’d love to be able to throw down a blanket, sit in the sun, do yoga, etc., so it can’t be something that really shouldn’t be walked or lounged on

I love the idea of buffalo grass as it’s native, but I’ve heard it can take forever to really fill in and doesn’t handle foot traffic or pets well…honestly, r/fucklawns lol. Frogfruit or Wooly Stemodia are probably my top choices right now, but I keep finding conflicting information about how well it actually handles regular foot traffic and dogs.

Has anyone used frogfruit this way? Is it comfortable enough to walk on barefoot and actually use as a yard, rather than just look at? Or is there another native/low-water ground cover you’d recommend for this kind of space?

My tomatoes are ripening slowly in the heat (which is to be expected this time of year) and I’m concerned about splitting and pests. I’ve read that tomatoes can ripen indoors and saw this work with one I accidentally picked early and it started to blush after a couple weeks on the kitchen counter, which makes me think I can technically do this but curious what the downsides are, if any?

Do you pick tomatoes while they’re still green before the breaker stage to finish indoors? Are there downsides or flavor differences compared to vine-ripened fruit?

Photos of my current tomato plants :)

My husband and I are rethinking the layout and flow of our home and would love outside perspective.

Right now the kitchen, dining, and living spaces feel very compartmentalized and “cave-like.” We spend most of our time cooking together, hosting friends, and having dinner parties, so we want the main living spaces to feel more open, connected, and functional for gathering.

The front room in the top right corner is currently a bedroom, but we’ve considered turning it into a listening/lounge room for records, wine, reading, etc. We’ve also discussed potentially swapping the dining room and front bedroom functions entirely.

Current ideas:
- Obviously opening up the wall between the kitchen and dining/living spaces
- Reworking the kitchen layout to create a more central gathering space/island
- Converting the front bedroom into a lounge/listening room instead of a traditional bedroom we won’t use
- Swapping the dining room and front bedroom layouts entirely to redefine the spaces

Floor plan attached and fully to scale. We measured everything! Notes and details are included in the legend as well.

My husband and I are rethinking the layout and flow of our home and would love outside perspective.

Right now the kitchen, dining, and living spaces feel very compartmentalized and “cave-like.” We spend most of our time cooking together, hosting friends, and having dinner parties, so we want the main living spaces to feel more open, connected, and functional for gathering.

The front room in the top right corner is currently a bedroom, but we’ve considered turning it into a listening/lounge room for records, wine, reading, etc. We’ve also discussed potentially swapping the dining room and front bedroom functions entirely.

Current ideas:
\- Obviously opening up the wall between the kitchen and dining/living spaces
\- Reworking the kitchen layout to create a more central gathering space/island
\- Converting the front bedroom into a lounge/listening room instead of a traditional bedroom we won’t use
\- Swapping the dining room and front bedroom layouts entirely to redefine the spaces

Floor plan attached. Walls marked in red are load-bearing, as confirmed by a structural engineer, and the floor plan is fully to scale. We measured everything! Notes and details are included in the legend as well.