My next-door neighbor on my other side (the one abutting this little piece of turf) suggested that I consider leveling the entire area with cement and putting a roof over it, making it usable for storage. Pretty ambitious, considering my garage is big enough. If it becomes too small, it’s only because I need to get rid of stuff. Aimee brought up expense and drainage and I pretty much discarded that approach. Filling with dirt would require retaining walls or other additions.
What I came away with was on the other end of the spectrum. First things first, get a licensed and insured hauling company to remove the cement chunks. Then I’ll see what’s really back there. Doing this shouldn’t cause problems for my neighbors. It would make the area much safer, probably enough to leave it alone with little additional work. Besides, removing the rubble would be needed as the first step for anything else done.
Maybe the next owner will be more creative than I’ve been. And if not, they can just leave it alone for another 45 years.
Yeah, I own a house in the San Francisco Bay area. I just missed the anniversary of the date I purchased it, Nov. 1, 1981, and I hope it isn't too upset with me. Perhaps having a section of my website dedicated to this fine bit of paradise will make it feel better. Probably not as much as if I cleaned it up real nice, but it's a start.
Shin the Homeowner
That Worst of the Worst
I like to prioritize my yardwork. Last month I talked about the plans for my back yard. Basically giving up and just making it as easy to maintain as possible, since nobody really sees it anyway. But there’s a corner of that back that’s pretty much the most remote piece of my real estate empire. It’s about forty square feet of totally unlevel ground behind my garage.
The picture doesn’t do it justice. It’s pretty much as it was when I moved in 45 years ago, which is to say, a dump. Literally. Big chunks of cement were discarded back there to rot, except that cement doesn’t rot. It just stays where it is until somebody moves it. Which nobody does.
It’s an irregularly shaped area. The gap between my garage and the neighboring fence is about two feet or so at the near end, and far end is more like six feet. It’s about ten or so feet from that gap to the far side, so it’s what in geometry would be called a trapezoid. I had to look that up, never having paid much attention to geometry. The bigger problem is that from the gap to the far fence, it slopes downward about two or two and a half feet.
It simply was out of sight, out of mind until about three years ago when I noticed the beginnings of what I think was a plum tree had started to grow back there. I had it taken out, but began taking notice of what was back there and occasionally made sure nothing else grew. That meant actually entering this bit of wilderness. The cement chunks were totally unanchored, and I began to notice the footing was seemingly getting more and more treacherous.
Yeah, at my age I could get hurt back there. Or worse yet, someone else.
My next-door neighbor’s daughter Aimee happens to be a landscaper in Sacramento. She happened to be in town, so I asked if she might give it a quick look. I’ve known her mother for many years (she was there when I moved in) so she came over. I had several ideas, but there were a few thought-out parameters.
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Low-cost
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Low maintenance
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Safety
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No impact on my neighbors
Last Update: June 5, 2026
The John Shinnick Web Site
Yeah, this is the ugliest part of my yard, and the most treacherous!
This section includes the house, the yard, the garage, the car and environs.
