Transforming My Backyard into a Hidden Paradise

0:04 Yeah.

0:04 So, things have gotten completely out of control.

0:06 Um, I don't know how this happened.

0:09 I don't know how we got to this point.

0:10 It all just grew so quickly.

0:12 It just exploded.

0:17 I I feel like I looked up one day and everything was 3 ft tall.

0:22 Like, what the[ __] Damn, son.

0:25 Nature is incredible, but this also needs to be tamed.

0:28 like this can't stay this way.

0:30 Okay.

0:30 Yeah.

0:31 No, I see you.

0:32 So, listen.

0:33 I want to transform this place.

0:35 It has so much potential, but I realized I needed some help.

0:40 And just wait until you see what this will turn into.

0:43 Okay, let me back up for a second and explain what I'm talking about.

0:46 Last fall, I moved to the French countryside to this tiny village where I

0:50 now live in this very old house that required a lot of fixing up.

0:52 So, I spent the winter addressing all the urgent stuff.

0:56 Oh my good.

1:00 But in the meantime,

1:01 nature's been hard at work turning my front and backyard into a big mess,

1:06 which is cool, except it doesn't feel cohesive.

1:08 Not to mention, this is pretty timeconuming to maintain.

1:11 It's just not inviting when it's unruly like this.

1:15 You know, what I want to do is turn my home into this calm,

1:18 welcoming oasis of well-being full of French charm.

1:23 I felt like the perfect goal to work towards was to have everything set

1:26 up enough so that I could begin

1:28 to throw a few little intimate summer gatherings.

1:30 And I'm going to show you the full transformation.

1:33 To make this a little bit easier to understand,

1:34 let me give you a breakdown of what we're working with here.

1:37 There are basically four quadrants on this property that I'm trying to fix up.

1:42 There's the front yard.

1:46 There's the front yard off to the side.

1:50 There's the backyard off to the side.

1:55 And then there's the backyard where the studio is.

1:57 That's the studio right there.

2:00 It all began innocently.

2:02 To get the ball rolling with a few friends,

2:04 we began by removing the old fence that was beginning to rot,

2:06 which led to the realization that I was going to need a lot more help.

2:10 [Music] Good morning, folks.

2:19 The machines just rolled up and they're way bigger than I thought they'd be.

2:26 Oh, damn.

2:27 We're doing this for real.

2:32 All right.

2:33 Okay.

2:33 So, let me run you through stage by stage.

2:38 Stage one was very clear.

2:40 It was cut down the overgrown grass

2:43 and weeds and flatten the land wherever possible.

2:46 When you have decades of accumulation of things,

2:50 decades of overgrowth, when you dig a little bit at it,

2:53 when you scratch here and there, all these surprises come to the surface.

2:57 All of this is trash that I've pulled so far from just the backyard.

3:02 It's unbelievable.

3:03 Dude, this is insane.

3:05 This all transforming for my eyes.

3:10 Obviously, there's a charm to the overgrown look, the wildness.

3:14 I don't want a pristinely cut,

3:18 very short lawn that's so curated as to be sanitized, right?

3:22 I'm not interested in that.

3:24 But there was so much going on there needed to be a bit of a clearing out.

3:31 The machines helped dig up what would

3:33 become a more intentional entrance to the property.

3:36 We felt good, but I mentioned surprises.

3:41 I knew that there was a low stone wall in the front yard,

3:44 but what I didn't know was that it would break so easily.

3:49 They accidentally cracked the top of the stone wall.

3:51 So then it was like, "Oh god, what do I do now?" I mean, it doesn't look giant,

3:56 but it's a very heavy stone wall

3:59 that would require many truckloads to clear out.

4:03 So it's all all of a sudden all this new work

4:04 that I'm thinking about doing because it's like, "Okay, it's broken.

4:07 This wall's got to go." kind of sat on it for a little bit and then

4:11 my mom had this great idea to create

4:13 a pathway from the entrance to the front door.

4:18 So, what's really kind of incredible about this is that you start

4:23 clearing things away and then all these new creative ideas pop up.

4:32 So, in parallel, we were attacking the sauna,

4:34 which was very kindly sent to me from the brand Polyuse.

4:37 They have some fantastic sound designs.

4:39 And by we, I mean my friends.

4:41 Okay, let's see what they're doing.

4:46 A lot is being done.

4:51 Goofiness and playfulness make the work go by so much more quickly.

4:54 And honestly, I needed that kind of boost.

4:58 That's a good one.

4:59 But I also got a lot of emails actually from a lot of you.

5:02 I'm really grateful for the many offers that I received from many of you,

5:05 but for a long time, I just couldn't accept any of them.

5:08 However, I did get an email from a couple of wonderful young Americans,

5:13 Sam and Ethan, and offered to help me out.

5:17 So, a team was really taking shape.

5:27 All right, troops.

5:28 I have seldom seen the enemy this week.

5:31 Today is our day.

5:32 The ivy is on the brink.

5:34 Sam, I need you on the rake.

5:37 Ethan, I need you to watch our backs.

5:39 Claudia, keep yanking with your gloves.

5:42 Okay.

5:42 And I'm on clippers.

5:44 We got this.

5:44 Let's do this.

5:46 Yeah.

5:46 All right.

5:48 We had to do quite a bit of clearing

5:50 out of the backyard because everything was so overgrown.

5:53 If you just leave trees to grow, they keep sprouting new branches,

5:57 but it makes it very difficult to actually

5:59 remove all of the ivy overgrowth everywhere.

6:03 We just went completely ham on the backyard pruning the trees,

6:08 clearing the ivy, and I have to say, this has to be one of the most

6:12 satisfying outdoor activities I think I've ever done.

6:16 It was just so good to clear it out.

6:20 This felt exactly like pruning a bonsai, just on a much larger scale.

6:24 You're working with nature, not eviscerating it, but providing direction.

6:28 A lot of life works this way.

6:31 It's nice to have a sense of direction.

6:36 From there, we dug a shallow hole,

6:40 laid down tarp, and then I needed fine gravel.

6:43 It is so heavy.

6:44 The car literally feels lower.

6:46 I can feel it.

6:48 That's so bad for the suspension.

6:55 And I pushed my car to its absolute maximum in terms

6:59 of carrying weight to bring it from the hardware store.

7:03 450 to 500 kg.

7:05 Laying down the gravel was awesome.

7:07 So, we built the base.

7:08 Bartholomew and Claudia are champions for coming out to help me.

7:12 Laid down the concrete slabs and brought over the base for the sauna.

7:18 [Laughter] Oh,[ __] I moved it.

7:24 Good.

7:24 I knew you would love this camera.

7:28 Can you get a little closer?

7:29 Yeah.

7:29 Yep.

7:33 And I got to give a special spotlight to Sam and Ethan.

7:36 I got to say, these two guys were amazing.

7:40 Together, we built the exterior of the sauna.

7:43 The further we got, the more excited I got.

7:45 It just looks so amazing.

7:47 Perfectly tucked away, nestled in my backyard.

7:50 But not just that, we began laying down tarp all over the place

7:54 on the property in the areas where I wanted to have a bit of gravel.

8:00 Then finally, with everything kind of ready to go came the big day, the big boy.

8:06 The big one.

8:08 Here goes nothing.

8:11 15 tons of gravel delivered on my property.

8:17 Oh my god.

8:18 Okay, so I had to shoot this pretty closely framed

8:23 because I don't want to give away the full transformation.

8:25 It looks incredible behind me.

8:27 But before we get to that, cuz we're not quite there yet,

8:29 I want to briefly talk about BetterHelp,

8:31 whose support in this paid partnership is

8:33 what makes this kind of thing possible.

8:35 I mean, I've ended up working on this yard

8:38 transformation on and off for more than four months.

8:40 I've had to hire help alongside all the work that I'm putting into it.

8:44 So, getting this kind of support makes a huge difference.

8:46 Plus, I fundamentally believe that therapy is

8:49 such a good investment to make on yourself

8:51 to better understand your own triggers

8:52 and emotional hang-ups because we all have them.

8:54 I talk to my own therapists every single week and have been

8:57 doing so for over 6 years and it has utterly transformed my life.

9:01 I think there's a big misunderstanding that therapy

9:04 is only for when you're like in crisis,

9:06 but I think it's excellent to do it even when you're

9:08 doing great because there's always more you can be learning about yourself.

9:11 And BetterHelp has a wide network of credentialed therapists that can help you.

9:15 Plus, there's the fact that it's incredibly flexible to fit your schedule,

9:18 whatever your schedule may look like.

9:20 Whether you want to talk via video, phone call, or text,

9:23 you can keep changing your therapist for free

9:26 if you're not clicking with who you're talking with.

9:27 And it's really easy to sign up and get matched with someone.

9:30 There's a link in my description if you want to check it out,

9:32 or you can go to betterhelp.com/nathaniel Drew.

9:34 Clicking that link helps support this channel,

9:36 but it also gets you 10% off on your first month with BetterHelp.

9:39 All right, having said that, let's dive back in.

9:41 And let me tell you, the transformation only gets better from here.

9:48 So much I don't even think it's going to be enough,

9:49 but this is a really good start.

9:56 So, it's 7:30 in the morning.

9:58 Bright and early.

9:59 Actually, not that early by countryside standards, but just work with me here.

10:02 We just got to work.

10:04 We just started spreading it all over the place.

10:07 It's exhausting, but it's also very satisfying.

10:10 It's just so cool to see it fill up the space, create new pathways.

10:19 I added gravel to the side of the house,

10:22 also in the front yard and the front entrance.

10:25 I was just thinking about as I was breaking the gravel that you guys

10:29 came here and it looked one way and you're leaving and it looks very different.

10:33 It looks stunning.

10:34 We got way more done than I expected.

10:36 You've got a whole new yard.

10:37 Yeah, I'm really happy with the progress we've made so far.

10:41 15 tons was nothing to us.

10:45 The next stage was to plant for biodiversity and clover

10:48 makes sense on so many levels as a base.

10:51 It looks nice, needs less maintenance than grass, and also attracts pollinators.

10:55 It's also really good for the soil.

10:57 With the help of a friend, Nico, we got to work laying down the seeds,

11:02 flattening them on the ground,

11:04 and then I needed to water it pretty regularly for that first week or so.

11:08 For those of you that are wondering, the water comes from my well.

11:12 With the exterior of the sauna now built,

11:14 my dad came over and helped me add finishing touches,

11:17 stain the outside, and also build the inside.

11:23 back action.

11:29 Like I'm swimming or flying or something.

11:32 All the while, the clover was starting to come to life,

11:34 which was so satisfying to see.

11:37 My little babies are growing.

11:40 That's one week.

11:41 Wow.

11:42 Wow.

11:43 Wow.

11:43 Wow.

11:43 Wow.

11:44 Wow.

11:46 I ordered another 15 tons of gravel.

11:49 We at it again, baby.

11:51 Yes, that takes us up to 60,000 lbs of gravel, which is just bonkers.

11:56 I never thought I would buy that much rock in my life.

12:00 It's just ridiculous.

12:01 But it looked so good and it was so helpful in adding balance to the property.

12:05 I used this new gravel to fill out the entrance path for the car,

12:08 which you can more easily see here.

12:11 At this point, my brother came to live with me for a chunk of the summer,

12:14 and he was super helpful in tackling the second pass on the gravel.

12:18 But even more than that, it was a unique

12:20 bonding experience to spend time together out here since

12:22 it has been years since we've spent this much

12:24 time around each other and we've both changed so much.

12:27 It's like I got to know my brother again, but this time as an adult.

12:32 With the additional gravel,

12:33 I was able to create that pathway now through the stone wall.

12:38 Oh, and we set up the pathway in the backyard that leads up to the sauna.

12:45 From here, I tackled one of the most satisfying projects yet.

12:49 It's sort of like one thing leads to the next.

12:51 You build a little bit of momentum,

12:53 and each cool new addition just brings everything more to life.

12:57 I wanted to build a couple of flower boxes to create a flower bed

13:01 to hold up the dirt in front of the studio because it's pretty uneven.

13:06 And maybe it's obvious already, but I'm not a very handy person.

13:09 So much of this is outside of my wheelhouse.

13:12 I've really never built much of anything out of wood.

13:14 So, while this was not perfect,

13:16 and I think you shouldn't look too closely at the details,

13:18 I was really proud of how this came out.

13:21 And simultaneously, other parts of the backyard

13:23 were coming to life, like the sauna.

13:25 Yeah, let's do this.

13:28 I had to give it a shot for myself.

13:30 Very excited about it.

13:36 Whoa.

13:38 Oh, it's hitting.

13:42 It works.

13:43 It works.

13:44 I can tell you it works.

13:46 Since I wanted to throw a few intimate summer gatherings with friends,

13:49 I was beginning to run out of time.

13:50 So, I had some guys come out and help me clean the roofs,

13:53 which resulted in them literally changing color.

13:57 [Music] and cut back some of the overgrowth again

14:07 since several months had actually gone by at this point.

14:13 Things kept coming more and more to life and lining at this point.

14:17 It was all just so cool to see it come together.

14:20 My god, are they sweet?

14:23 Juicy as[ __] N this is it.

14:26 I'm loving your house.

14:27 The color.

14:28 As we headed deeper into the summer, the days and weeks blended together.

14:32 long, bright, and warm.

14:35 Always some project to do,

14:36 but no major rush like there had been in the early days of me living here.

14:40 This is me finally planting the flowers in the flower boxes I built.

14:43 And before I even finished planting the flowers,

14:46 bees were coming over to check out what was going on.

14:50 That was so cool to see.

14:52 I mean, guys, come on.

14:54 This looks so good.

14:59 [Music] And so even though I wasn't quite done,

15:04 the small summer gatherings began.

15:06 So the spoons I think I'm just going to steal.

15:08 You have had 100,000 past lives.

15:10 I love it.

15:14 Thanks for cooking.

15:18 Wow.

15:19 And it was also it's almost like [Music]

15:27 I ordered some lights which I knew were really

15:29 going to add to the magic of the space reaction.

15:38 Look at this.

15:40 Wow.

15:41 I mean, I knew this was going to happen cuz

15:42 as soon as you put lights up, it feels magical.

15:44 But that looks so magical.

15:47 Wow.

15:48 All right.

15:59 So, oh, okay.

16:00 This is unusual.

16:04 The place really comes to life when there are people here.

16:11 Some of you may remember the two artists that I

16:13 lived with last year through whom I found this house.

16:17 [Music] They came over to see the transformation with their own eyes.

16:25 It was a nice full circle moment.

16:28 Very friendshipy.

16:30 A little bit tough.

16:33 [Music] [Music] The clover is definitely going to need

16:49 until probably next spring to create a fuller, more uniform ground cover.

16:54 But so it goes.

16:55 These things take time.

16:56 Nature will continue to do what it does.

16:58 The project is never really done.

17:04 So here finally are some of the before after

17:07 shots that show just how much this space has transformed.

17:11 Of course, it's a project that's never really done.

17:17 There's always something more still to do or clean up or expand upon.

17:21 But I'm really proud of how far it has come.

17:25 [Music] D [Music] no d [Music] dot.