San Leandro Residence
A backyard the owners had lived with for twenty years, rebuilt so it stops generating chores — with room for a dog to run and a table for twelve.
Keep what works. Retire the chores.
After twenty years in the house, the owners realized exactly how they wanted to live outside — and their San Leandro backyard had no room for it. The lawn had gone to weeds, the dog tracked bare dirt indoors, and a fallen oak next door opened the fence line to view. They wanted a garden that ends the chores and seats twelve.
The plan splits the yard in two: a stabilized gravel terrace on a Gravelpave grid for the dinner table, and a pet-friendly synthetic lawn beside it. The pergola the owners built themselves and their planters stayed — replanted as a pollinator and herb garden, fenced low to keep the dog out, with trellis screening to close the opened view.
Every plant was screened against a dog-safety list before it made the cut. Plants came from Devil Mountain Nursery; BAYSL built the garden in spring 2025.
These photographs were taken the week the garden was built.
