What about bamboo to create a better fence/more privacy on the side where you look directly into your neighbor's yard? Very little upkeep, and it grows quickly, so you'll get privacy very fast! Other than that, maybe a natural rock garden with succulents? They thrive in the Bay Area climate with almost no upkeep (we live in Berkeley, and our yard is full of them!). That and some nicer patio furniture or a cheap but cute outdoor rug should do the trick. If there's room in the budget, a fire pit is such a great addition here. Perfect for roasting marshmallows and keeping warm on chillier evenings!

We installed a fabric sail in our rental backyard three years ago and it still looks fabulous. Very reasonably priced and fairly easy to install. We found some great patio furniture on Craigslist that sits underneath the sail and a fire pit from a yard sale. You'd never know it was all such a bargain! We use this outdoor room often throughout the year. ~ Lisa

Also, I would recommend a visit to the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden. Not only do they have awesome examples of bay area-friendly plants/garden beds, they have really knowledgeable people who you can talk to!

For the kids: maybe a tiny wheel-shaped herb/veggie garden where you get lots of light? It doesn't have to be very big to teach them about how things grow, if you time the growing right there'll always be something to do out there. Try Lasagne Gardening by Patricia Lanza for low/ no maintenance. Also, the herbs/ veggies can be replaced with flowers when you go. Hostas, or a grass/ white clover mix might do better than just grass as a ground cover, and you can still mow it.

i have been in my rental on haight street for 15 years. part of the back yard is what I have taken ownership of. we made a killer huge bench out of reclaimed wood from the salvage yard, large square cinder block bricks, some l brackets and some cargo straps. it's soooo great. leary to show pictures (wink)... dumb i know... but you get the dea. Just work craigslist, flea markets, garage sales, thrift stores. If you plant it all in containers you can/could take it with you. Bamboo is a great bang for the buck but it can go grow crazy all over the place. I would suggest field trips to sloat, flora grubb, home depot and then mix it all up to your taste. Ikea has some some OK outdoor stuff. Urban Ore in Berkeley is a great resource.

Also, look around your neighbors for quick tips on what grows well in your hood. use your camera to snap pictures so you can show the nursery folks what you are talking about. I have wasted plenty of money on plants that were wrong for my background.

have fun. get dirty.

Oh, be careful with bamboo. You (and your neighbors) will never be able to get rid of it, and even containing it is difficult (if you decide to plant it, read this info first: http://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/why-you-should-not-plant-bamboo-in-your-yard). But! The idea of a fast-growing shrub is a good one, and I love the sail idea for shade (IKEA makes affordable ones, e.g. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40125786/)

I think that table and chair set is great. You could paint them if you wanted more energy and playfulness. The fences are nice and the concrete doesn't look too bad. I think perhaps looking at Japanese gardens might give you ideas. Gravel close to the house to keep weeds down, thyme is easy to grow and will withstand abuse, drought and neglect. Sedum comes in a variety of forms and is a fast spreading and inexpensive option. I would check with my neighbors and local laws regarding bamboo, though. It's invasive and rapidly being placed on lists of no grows.

One HUGE caution about bamboo- unless you are prepared to be diligent (VERY diligent) look for a clumping variety. Other varieties spread and will get out of control very quickly. I have some in my back yard and does a great job as a privacy fence, but it's a chore keeping it contained

That's a big yard. I think your best bet is to go with a drought tolerant, low maintenance ornamental grass garden. You can get flats (32 small plants) of blue fescue, fountain grass and cerex for about $45 per flat. They look good even when they are small/sparse, but it should only take a year for them to get big and fluffy and look cool. If you google "ornamental grass garden" you will get all kinds of examples where people use the different colors and heights of clumping grasses to create beautiful designs. Fill in around the grasses with redwood "gorilla hair" mulch. Those bags are usually around $12 per bag, and one bag covers around 20 square feet of ground. It keeps the weeds away and is forgiving. So I would go with grass and mulch for the majority of your space, and then create a couple "focal point" areas.

Try putting gravel in the smaller beds near the house, and put more interesting ornamental grasses or bamboo in those spaces.

I wouldn't do a bamboo fence unless you love it - bamboo tends to get really shaggy and messy unless you know how to prune it. Instead, I would go with something like Pittosporum - prettier, and nearly zero maintenance. Acacias (subparosa) also do well in the bay area, grow fast, and provide a screen between properties. A 5 gallon acacia is usually around $75-$125.

If you have a sunny corner, plant a fruit tree. Lemon, orange, pear and apple. It probably won't fruit for a couple years, but the trees are pretty, fairly low maintenance, and future renters will thank you.

My guess is that your yard looks uncared for because the grass is struggling and there aren't enough evergreens. It is California so you have a huge choice. Check out what grows well and appeals in neighbours yards. If I wanted low maintenance I would get rid of the lawn and then just replace a part of it (not near a tree because of root competition) with a small new patch that can be easily cared for and good to play on. Dig in some soil enhancement before you plant a new lawn. Other places, replace it with evergreen ground cover. Then get some evergreen shrubs for privacy for one example, camellias. You can get concrete pavers for stepping stones or mini patios in the groundcover. You need to do something with the empty spaces against your house but watering beside a house wall is a bit worrisome so fill it in with a very drought tolerant ground cover. Put edging around any flowerbeds and keep them covered with mulch to reduce weeds. This isn't design advice, just what will look tidier and some more green to refresh the eyes.

Wow, this looks like a house on my old street in the Bay Area- Terrace St.

What about container planting? You could have just about any plants you'd like and then when or if you move you can take them with you?

Some mulch or rock around the patio would tidy it up a bit. and then set the containers on top.

bluestone perennials has wonderful stuff and a knowledgeable staff who would be happy to help you select plants, including groundcovers [no mowing, yay]. if you are into edibles, edible landscaping is my latest addiction [pineapple guava, hardy kiwi, patio mango, edible passion fruit and a fig tree have been ordered. i yearn for dwarf peach, dwarf banana, etc but dont have room to bring in to over winter]. another great plant & advice source is to join your local native plant society, people will gladly gift you their thinnings/prunings. local plants are already pest resistant, and dont need much help in the way of soil amendment or extra watering. out front, you could do herbs or order a prefab garden kit [again, bluestone perennials] you can fill in with annuals for the first year until they spread out.

to keep the dog separate from foodfriendly gardening, you could make a run between two posts with a strong overhead wire, to prevent tangles.

to extend the patio area, you could use timber framing and fill with pea gravel to level and put concrete pavers on top. epoxy paint on the paved area could be cool art, or rug to add color.

- A covered sandbox: covered because otherwise it would be 1) a pond or 2) kitty litter.
- A simple swing set, sized for even adults to go out and get a bit of exercise.

On a general note, put in hard-surface first (paths, patios, fences) then trees then bushes (raspberries on the side yard, instead of bamboo) then herbaceous plants such as flowers, veggies, grass and flowers.

In your location, ferns are wonderfully hard to kill, and gathering fiddleheads for salad is fun for kids.

Hi Rachel,
We also live in the Bay Area and are renting. I have studied Landscape Architecture and Interior Design and would be happy to answer your questions free of charge of course and help you find inexpensive, yet nice solutions. I am home with 2 small kids and always love a challenge :)
Feel free to email me directly funnick2000@yahoo.com
Cheers!

No to bamboo: imho, somewhere there is the mother bamboo plant and all the rest are simply runners.

Using bark in some of the areas is a good idea but I would use something a bit coarser than gorilla hair. Chamomile makes a nice ground cover. Some nice vines or orchids in containers with catch-alls underneath along the back fence would be nice. However, remember that English ivy and Morning Glories are weeds in CA: never gets cold enough to even slow them a bit. Sandboxes should be covered except when in use by your child. I would cover some of the patio with wooden decking. Ikea has inexpensive and attractive decking that you could use. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20165486/
I wouldn't spend too much on the lawn since lawns are a huge waste of water and time. However, a few large patches are restful to the eye and nice for tiny bare feet. If you are willing to do the work yourself, rough up the areas and kill as much of the crab grass as you can in the areas you want to be grassy, then go to Navalet's or another garden store and get turf to lay on those areas.

Are you interested in gardening? Its very easy to put in a raised bed, my 50 lb lab knows to stay out of my garden beds (I think because its raised), and the beds are relatively easy to keep weed-free. If you are not into vegetable gardening, you (or a future tenant) could plant a cutting garden, and of course, they are enormously instructive for children. The raised beds are inexpensive, giving you savings to invest in perhaps re-planting adjacent grass for your children to run. A seat near a garden can be a wonderful meditative spot to sit and reflect. Have fun!

And I'm glad others have already explained the difficulty with bamboo!

You don't mention if you have a sprinkler system, so I am assuming you don't.

I would plant low water plants around the house and patio and in your containers. Looks like that is a shady spot, so get some that will do well for that (aloes, other succulents). I would first hit up Home Depot/Lowes for the cheapest selection. Even better if you have friends with some in their garden who will let you take the offshoots for free. Add thick mulch between plantings. You need to keep the grass in the front part for the dogs, right? I would look at products that help eliminate the urine burn. Then I would get some paint to spruce up the furniture, maybe add fun string lights/thrifted accessories to add character.

For the back part, I would recommend you get a weekly service to come in to mow/keep the pine needles under control. I would also remove any plants that are dying or just not doing well. Then I would suggest using whatever money you have left for a play structure for the kids. You might get lucky with Craigslist or garage sales.

Good luck!

Original questioner here. Wow, what an amazing compendium of advice! This community has managed to get me excited about a project that I was regarding with a fair amount of wariness. We're total gardening novices, so a yard this size is incredibly intimidating. I appreciated the advice about hardscaping first, then trees, then bushes, then herbaceous things. Not something I would have considered, but makes sense.

I think decorative grasses & gravel in the beds near the house makes sense to me. Plus some edging to neaten things up. We already have some bamboo in the far back that we've struggled to get rid of, so I'm staying FAR away from that:) We're actually good friends with our neighbors and don't feel like we need any additional privacy from them, so not so much an issue.

I also agree that we'd like to avoid lawn as much as possible--but one big patch would seem to make sense for the kids (although how to keep the dogs off it is an issue). We've struggled so much to keep the area grassy under the tree in the front that I'm tempted to give up on that, just do ground cover there--and outline a grassy area in the far back where we'd put down some sod. Am wondering about watering though...we have a hose, but not a ground sprinkler system. How much do those cost? I wonder if we could get our landlord to go halfsies on that...

Appreciate the advice for at least one raised bed for vegetables, a few fruit trees, a sand box, and a play structure. I think those things all make sense. So far, the plan is:

--ornamental grasses + gravel in beds near the house, in the "front yard"
--ground cover around the tree in the front part of the yard, replacing the dying grass there now
--in the back area, one grassy area, a covered sandbox, a play structure, a few fruit trees in a sunny corner, and a play structure. There's a large bed just past the fence separating the front from the back yard which gets a lot of sun and I think would be perfect for a container or two for vegetables. And some time of woodchips/mulch around the plantings.
--some flowering plants in our large pots around the patio
--some new colorful cushions, outdoor rug, some twinkly lights, maybe a sail awning on the patio area (that might blow our budget with everything else, though, and we have a fair amount of natural shade thanks to a large spreading tree over the house).
--BIG QUESTION: watering system for all this?! All we have is a hose near the house. Maybe if we covered cost of everything else we could convince landlord to do that, but not sure...

How about building flower boxes along the fence and planting perrenials? This would be relatively inexpensive and easy to maintain. It would be great if you could also convert the ranch style fence to something more private, and then add flower boxes to that side too, or even plant a hedge. Otherwise, buy some big planters and plant some lush, vibrant flowers. You can take those with you when you leave, but enjoy them in the meantime. I also agree with RachelMD24 on the twinkle lights. You got a great tree that could use a little bling :)

I would concentrate on the patio - surrounding it with free-standing trellises high enough to give you a sense of enclosure and similar but higher than the one leaning on the house. I would make the patio as neat, pristine and cheerful (with annuals) as you can manage. Remove any dead plants but with dogs and a move a move in three years very little will grow or survive long enough to enjoy. You could try grass seed (but that requires lots of water initially) by fencing off half the yard in spring then do the other side in fall. Play equipment should not be permanent. Big plastic components that nursery schools have would be my suggestion. By all means plant annnul seeds - mornng glories and other climbers on the fence and sunflowers where there is sun but grouped together for greater impact. Visit a Waldorf school playground for some ideas.

There are non-invasive versions of bamboo like Heavenly but even those will spread. My house came with some already planted, and while I find it easy to prune the little bit of spreading, what I don't like is how shaggy they get, with lots of dead yellow leaves and blown debris trapped within the thick plants.

I would say jasmine, ivy, royal empress and holly are just as invasive as bamboo. Please plant responsibly. Some Acacias are also invasive - google your plants before you buy them just to make sure you aren't creating future problems.

Since you are in the Bay Area, check out Flora Grubb in hunter's point. Very inspirational, and the salespeople will offer good advice.

I balk at spending money on a rental, no matter how much you don't like the yard. Consider potted plants, urns, that you can take with you. Cheap and hearty ground cover, like ivy to grow up the and cover the fence. See if your landlord will defray at least some of the costs.

I think you've culled out some great ideas...my favorites are plants in containers around the patio, stepping stones set into pea gravel or decomposed granite inside framing timbers to extend patio (be sure tokill existing grass and put down weedcloth first) and raised beds!! There's really no way to have a picture-perfect lawn with dogs. I would think a sprinkler attached to a garden hose would be a perfectly fine irrigation system, but if you want to look at installing something, consider drip irrigation, which can be a DIY project, can focus water exactly where you want it, and is much cheaper and more efficient than an in-ground sprinkler system. I would also add, only use native or naturalized plants, and some that spread - like bulbs, or mint. Then it just gets better every year. Since you have small kids, here's a cute idea for this summer: make a teepee frame with 4 or 5 bamboo poles from the hardware or garden store, with a space big enough for a kid-size entry. Plant morning glories or runner beans at the base of each pole, and your kids will have a living teepee to play in. Kids also love tall sunflowers, which can be planted in a circle or square, with space open for a "door."

I would love a project like this, how exciting. Considering you have dogs and kids, I would recommend keeping it simple and modern, add colour through furniture and accessories not just flowers! Maybe a few beds filled with easy to maintain shrubs, or some lavenders/rosemarys (but prune back well once a year at least to stop going too woody) that will fill out and look/smell good. A raised vegetable patch for the kids, edged in chunky railway sleepers would look great and get the kids involved. Then I would keep the rest to lawn, with a good sized patio area. We've just used astro turf in one area of our garden for the children, as grass just wasn't taking and would get very muddy, the astro turf looks ok as it keeps the garden looking green. I would then complete the look with some easy maintainable, contemporary furniture to add a touch of colour and style to the garden. I also like the idea of someone above with maybe some fruit trees if space allows!