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Our Tropical Oasis

Last week we told you about how we were prepping for our tropical oasis in our backyard and now we have the reveal!

We’ve been working on this project in phases over the last three months or so and have finally finished. Now we can relax in style!

Our Tropical Oasis - A backyard Hammock area - Charleston Crafted

We started this project by building a hammock pergola stand. This was the biggest deal, but is super easy to actually do.

Then, we built a side table using a log and an extra piece of counter top from our kitchen.

Finally, we transplanted some grass that had grown in and planted some tropical plants. All that prep led to the final steps.

Our Tropical Oasis - A backyard Hammock area - Charleston Crafted

In order to really section this area off from the rest of the yard, we laid down strips of our excess counter top.

The counter top installer asked me, “why do you want all these pieces?

What are you going to do with them?” At the time, I had no idea, but now we’ve used one piece for the table and all the long strips for this border.

Plus, we still have a HUGE ovular piece that we do have plans for in the future. Anywho, here’s the border.

Our Tropical Oasis - Charleston Crafted

Next, we spread newspaper down in the whole area.

This is a free way to block weeds from growing without having to buy a weed barrier.

Our Tropical Oasis - Charleston Crafted

Finally, we spread pebbles. We ended up using 39 bags of pea gravel to make it about 1-2 inches deep.

Our Tropical Oasis - Charleston Crafted

The bags are normally $3.78 apiece, but we got 21 of them when they were on sale for $2, 15 for full price and three for 50% off because they were ripped, for a grand total of $102.

Considering everything else was free, this wasn’t bad.

The last step was that we went around and caulked the seams where the border pieces came together to try to keep them from moving.

Our Tropical Oasis - A backyard Hammock area - Charleston Crafted
Our Tropical Oasis - A backyard Hammock area - Charleston Crafted
Our Tropical Oasis - A backyard Hammock area - Charleston Crafted
Our Tropical Oasis - A backyard Hammock area - Charleston Crafted
Our Tropical Oasis - A backyard Hammock area - Charleston Crafted

We love this tropical oasis in our backyard now and love spending time in the hammock feeling like we’re on an island… well, other than James Island.

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20 best ideas for having a makeover that will inspire your next outdoor project - Magical Soil

Thursday 17th of June 2021

[…] via Charleston designed […]

Liz

Sunday 7th of June 2020

I am currently in the process of using your amazing plans to build this hammock stand, thank you!! I have what may be a silly question - with the posts being cemented into the ground, did you just plant your trailing vines (what did you use?) as close to the posts as possible? Thank you!!

Morgan

Sunday 7th of June 2020

Hey liz! Yes, we didn't have like a wide amount of concrete around the posts. It's pretty minimal. We planted the climbing plant just past that. Our plant is wisteria and in retrospect I would NOT plant wisteria here because it tries to get into the oak limb above it. It grows wild and crazy in the summer!

Jamie

Thursday 3rd of August 2017

That turned out amazing! What a great way to relax and enjoy the beautiful yard. :)

Sean

Thursday 3rd of August 2017

I can't tell if I'm relaxing when I'm passed out :)

Milena | Craft Beering

Thursday 3rd of August 2017

Looks beautiful! I'm very impressed by the pergola stand for the hammock too. If this mini oasis was in my backyard, I'd probably spend all my time in the hammock trying not to spill my summer drinks all over myself:)

Sean

Thursday 3rd of August 2017

We do too... ;)

Susan

Thursday 3rd of August 2017

I bet you spend every minute you can in your oasis. I know I would. And you're so smart to add the little table! Congrats, you're featured this week at the This Is How We Roll LInk Party.

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