Is it impossible to have a lawn in your area without a working sprinkler system?

I have! that's an option I am considering for the front yard. Two others on the block have done it and it looks nice. But it would entail more $$$

.. then as budget allows either remove the base for strategic plantings of drought tolerant plants, or pavers, etc for seating areas.

I'm in Sacramento and this is a bad drought year. However, I mentioned the sprinklers because I'm not sure if they'd have to be pulled if something covered them.

Then you could put in a variety of native plants around the sides of the patio area, adding to them every year or two. A local plant nursery could recommend natives that would survive with minimal watering.

If it's not prohibited in your area, you could recycle "gray water" from laundry, showers or dish washing to water the new plants until they're established.

You could also think about getting some large stones to add interest.

If there are walls surrounding your back yard, see if you can get permission to paint a mural on at least one wall. You could paint green plants and flowering vines, for example.

I mentioned the pea gravel because it would let water drain through when it does rain.

I'd surmise a fine crushed stone might cost the same but would look more organic. You could also just cover it all with mulch -- that would have to be the cheapest.

Like concrete? I rather like the look of exposed aggragate or a stamped concrete.

On edit: If you, or the next owner, ever wants to remove the concrete it's going to be a tough job. The gravel is a lot easier. Like I said, it's more organic and a lot prettier IMO.

Good luck!

They make a mild binder which can be added to help it stay in place.

it wasn't cheap or easy.

i bought the cheapest concrete pavers 12x12 and i had some 16x16 and red bricks laying around but it still ran us over $500 not counting the labor which was intensive to do it right as we had to haul in sand as a base.

in Sacramento, you just need to hang around Lowes until the Yard Crasher guy shows up and let him do it

Sounds inexpensive to me! I'm not physically able to do the labor that placing bricks or pavers entails tho. I had a contractor come in and he gave me an estimate of $3500 (!) for brushed cement. If that's the cheapest option, I'm in trouble! I can't resod, because he said I have nutgrass, which isn't killed off by roundup. 2 of my three adjoining neighbors have jacked-up, nutgrass filled backyards too, so it seems like I'll need to fill the yard in or their weeds will reseed into my yard. The contractor said that a deck was around 15 grand!

Still waiting for another estimate now...

the rule of thumb is your will pay in labor about the same as the cost of materials

i just read up on nutgrass and i'd probably scalp it, put a heavy industrial plastic sheet down and cover with a THICK mulch and keep that in place for a couple seasons.

another cost effect way of weed control we use here is put down old carpet and cover with driveway chat. the carpet really makes it hard for weeds to punch through and if you want you can sand the chat and lay pavers

It's cheap, it's easy and it's easily modified. Add some bunch grass. driftwood and some beach chairs and you're good to go.

There are a lot of free roaming cats in my neighborhood. Not sure if I want my backyard full of cat turds. I got another bid for concrete for 2 grand. It beats the other one at $3500, but I'm going to get one more. Thanks for the tip though. If I lived near the coast, it might work.

It was about the size you're talking about. He left holes in the concrete for shrubs and painted the whole surface green. It was definitely cat proof.

Just thought of something..artificial grass hot right now. Costco sells it so it must be good and/or popular. It comes in 1x15 sections, for $30+. I saw some in the store and it looked pretty natural. All that's needed is to hose it down every so often. It would solve the problem, but not be permanent. Hmmm.....

Or maybe areas of bark and of gravel with some blocks and pavers to give it definition. Get some big pots and planters. Maybe a tub of water and some bird feeders. Bark holds in soil moisture. Cement be hot as hell with the Sun on it, and it's so permanent. The Romans built the coliseum out of it, and it's still there.