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Bocce Ball Madness

The Grounds for Improvement team converts a boring grass-only backyard into an authentic Mediterranean bocce court.

From "Grounds for Improvement"
episode DGFI-407

(Continued from page 3)

Finishing the Seating Area and Planting the Trees

To finish the new seating area the helpers haul in decomposed granite as Dean and Eric spread it throughout, staying inside the metal edging. Once the seating are is finally done, they shift gears to the area behind the bocce court and plant a few Italian Cypress trees to break up the long cinder block wall.

Figure M

Figure N

Figure O

Finishing the Seating Area

Decomposed granite is going to finish off the seating area. The granite composition will go on top of the fabric in between the metal edging (figure M).
Note: Decomposed granite comes in various colors and can be purchased from landscape material suppliers.
The granite composition is raked out to an even level.
The bocce court is finished being screed and is wet down with a hose to finish off the oyster layer.
Finally use a compactor to pack down the bocce court and the seating area going over it with the compactor as many times as necessary.

Planting the Trees

The Italian Cyprus trees are planted in between the wall of the backyard and the bocce court (figure N).
The holes are dug approximately 1-1/2' deep and fertilizer is added before putting the trees in the ground.

Finishing up the Project

Finally new furniture and bocce ball holders (figure O) were added to the backyard and the bocce court is ready to be played on!

Check out the before and after transformation of the lifeless backyard into a bocce bonanza!

Before — bocce court

Before — seating area