This small backyard has the extremely functional but somewhat unsightly terminus that receives all of the of their condo community's runoff. It is both steeply sloped and a narrow, making it difficult to use. We designed a small deck for a bistro table, a steel grate walkway over a lush urban prairie connecting it to the greater deck space near the back door, and a tejas black patio with a sunken fire pit. The spaces are framed with clumping bamboo, bunch grasses, and drought-tolerant vegetation in planters of varying sizes.  In the very back of the yard, what was once a functional drainage outlet is now a lush dry creek bed.