A Backyard Worth Wandering: Building a Retreat Behind Woodmont Boulevard
Nashville is growing fast. New homes appear almost overnight, neighborhoods fill in, and the quiet edges of the city become a little busier each year. But even in the middle of that growth, families still crave something simple: a place to step outside and breathe.
When Blayke and Brian reached out to me last fall, they weren’t looking for a formal landscape or a garden plan. They wanted something more personal — a peaceful morning perch with springs blooms and summer color, a exploration zone where their children and the neighbors could wander on the trails down to the creek, a restful nook where evenings could end around a fire.
Their Woodmont home sits on a long, narrow lot that stretches toward a wooded creek corridor. Historically, this area once carried a trolley line that transported Nashville families out of the city toward Glendale Park and its early-20th-century zoo. Today the trolley is long gone, but the idea of escaping the bustle of the city still feels fitting here. Woodmont Boulevard hums with traffic throughout the day, yet once you pass through the backyard gate, the noise quickly fades into the background. The space begins to feel tucked away — shaded by trees, softened by garden paths, and designed for wandering.
Starting with Structure
Abi, Melissa, and I stared at photos of this blank backyard last fall, and one thing became clear almost immediately: the space needed a central pathway. To where? We didn’t know yet — but there had to be a reason to explore the long wooded lot.
So the flagstone went down, and the terraces began to take shape.
At the top of the garden, we tucked oakleaf hydrangeas and Lenten roses around the deck, creating a soft transition from the house into the landscape. In summer, this corner will feel tucked behind a loose hedge of white and pink conical blooms.
Just below that first terrace, two steel garden beds sit ready for spring planting. A fig tree anchors one side of the space, while catmint and additional hydrangeas balance the other. It’s a place that naturally makes visitors pause for a moment before continuing down the path to the next level of the garden. From the terraces, the flagstone path begins to meander toward the woods. Each bend in the path offers a new view — a flowering redbud in spring, azaleas a month later, ferns that unfurl in the shade of walnut trees, and a Japanese Maples that shimmers red against the black fence.
Limestone Fire Circle
Off to one side of the yard, the landscape opens into a circular flagstone patio centered around a fire pit. Adirondack chairs circle the fire, creating a relaxed place for family evenings. Evergreen plantings, ferns, and azaleas surround the space, forming a quiet pocket away from the bustle of the street.
While adults settle in here with a cocktail, the path keeps stretching toward the far edge of the yard — where the kids have claimed a corner of their own.
A Backyard Built for Adventure
At the very back of the yard sits a small A‑frame play structure, built on top of the foundation from an old shed that once stood here. The small pop‑out window turns the spot into a woodland hideaway—part drive‑through window for mud pies, part lookout for secret passwords and neighborhood plans.
This little structure reminds me of my own 1980s suburban Kentucky childhood, when backyard forts and tree stumps doubled as meeting rooms for whatever club we had invented that week.
Around it, daffodils and wildflowers will pop up through the seasons, keeping the space colorful and a little unpredictable for young explorers. An apple tree nearby will one day offer afternoon snacks.
Spaces like this give children a sense of independence within the garden. The playhouse feels like its own little world, but the path keeps it connected to everything happening closer to the house.
Just beyond the A‑frame is a wooden gate along the fence line. We cut the gate in half so neighborhood kids wandering the nearby trail can peek into the garden before coming through. It’s a small detail, but it creates a playful connection between the backyard and the woods beyond.
Over time, this back corner will feel like a tiny woodland playground.
A Small Escape from the Street
In a fast‑growing city, a backyard can easily become an afterthought — a rectangle of lawn bordered by fences. But with thoughtful design, even a narrow urban lot can become something more.
I’ll enjoy watching the kids on this street grow up alongside the tiny redbud tree we planted near the path. Over the years the garden will change — the apple tree will start producing, the hydrangeas will fill in, and the path will slowly settle into the landscape.
There will be muddy shoes on the flagstone, chalk drawings that come and go with the rain, and probably a few vegetables that never quite make it back to the kitchen.
If all goes well, this backyard will simply become part of everyday life on the street — a place where kids wander in and out, where families gather around the fire, and where a busy road on the other side of the fence fades into the background for a while.
And years from now, when those kids are grown, maybe this little corner of garden will still linger in their memory — the kind of childhood landscape that sticks with you long after you’ve left it.
