Building a Bocce Ball Court
Backyard Bocce Ball Court
I’ve always wanted a Bocce Ball Court in my backyard. Our last house in Denver didn’t have a back yard but rather a very narrow side yard which had zero room for a court. So, when we bought our two-acre farm in Palisade I was determined to make this dream a reality!
The main house where Andy and I live is a ranch style home a little over 1600 square ft. The backyard runs the length of the house and beyond by approximately 25 feet. It is an unusual layout in that half of it is lawn with sprinklers etc… while the other half is mostly undeveloped. There is a row of four Pecan trees and six Lilac bushes that separate the two sections of the yard. There appears to have been more Lilacs at one time, but they seemed to have died, not surprising as the irrigation that appears to have been installed to water both the trees and the bushes has also been neglected, that or the sprinklers that water the lawn were intended to replace the drip system. Talking to a previous owner, I learned that this section of the backyard was at one time a road, which could explain the lack of vegetation, well except for the weeds of which there are many!
This undeveloped part of the backyard is where I’ve decided to build our Bocce ball court! Although the US Bocce Federation states that an official Bocce ball court is precisely 91 feet long by 13 feet wide, ours is not. In doing my research on how to build a court I learned that backyard Bocce ball courts can be whatever size fits your backyard. Our court is approximately 29 feet by 12 feet. It’s a perfect fit between the north end of the yard and the gravel path that leads from the lawn to the backyard entrance of the market garden. Two Pecan trees shade the court in the afternoon and early evening. Bistro lights are strung from these Pecan trees and connect the Court area to the patio where we have our fire pit and outdoor seating. The two spaces combine make for a lovely outdoor entertaining area. I will be adding another string of lights that run the length of the court so we have additional lighting for evening games.
This gives you a general idea of the location of the court as well as its length. After identifying the location of the court, I did some research on how to build it, thank God for You Tube! I naively watched a couple of videos and decided I learned all I need to know and headed off to Home Depot to buy some wood! I say naively because there were a few things I’d forgotten to take into consideration. The first thing was, it takes more than one person to build the court. The second, the ground on which you want to build said court needs to be level! Trying to level an area that use to be a road by hand is insanely hard and takes a great deal of time, more than a single weekend! This is where we stalled out, temporarily, on our construction. So, our lumber, seven 4 x 4 pieces of wood, sat outside in the spring weather. Here I learned a very valuable lesson, never leave fresh wood uncovered and exposed to the elements. The result is warped wood! But I didn’t figure that out until later during construction.
Luckily, one of the guys that works with our contractor came to my rescue and offered to level the area where I wanted to build the court, he was a God send! What would have taken Andy and I weeks, he completed in less than an hour using his mini-Bobcat! With this hurtle out of the way, construction on the Court began.
The first thing we did was put down weed barrier that covered both the court and the surrounding area. Next, we cut one of the 4 x 4’s in half and laid them out on the ground. This is when we discovered how bad the wood warped. With this discovery, we had two options, replace the wood (waste of money) or figure out a way to use what we had. Given the amount of money we have spent getting the Market Garden developed, we opted for the later. We attached the beams with metal corners and then used straight metal strips to connect the boards that ran the length of the court. Using a rubber mallet, we squared up the rectangle.
With the shape the court created we set to work filling the interior. Over the weed barrier we first added a layer of gravel for drainage. Next came a heavy layer of sand, which was followed by another layer of Basalt Black/Blue trail mix which is dense gravel material. With the different layers down, we then set to work compacting the surface using a tamper. We did this twice and then sprayed the surface with water, waited for it to soak in and tamped the court again.
To finish off the area, I added wood mulch around the court. This helped to hide the twisted areas of the board as well as keep weeds out of the area. Eventually I will add more landscaping to further beautify the area but not this year. Instead, I moved our outdoor dinning table with its four chairs over by the court, under one of the Pecan trees. Then under the second tree at the other end of the court I brought over one of the wine barrels I bought the previous year. My plan is to purchase two outdoor bar stools to go with the barrel. So now we have ample seating near and around the court and we are ready for the games to begin!
The winning shot!
Postscript: Andy and I played our first game two nights ago. He was beating me the whole game until at the very end I had a couple of exceptional shots and pulled ahead and won the game! I was a gracious winner and only danced a little ….
