Even after putting much time and effort into the gardens, I wasn't happy with the front garden and entry approach to the house. There was no defined pathway from the street and the flagstone walk from the driveway was messy and left little room for foundation plantings to the left of the front door. The existing garden had no seasonal interest and there was a large expanse of grass in a circle by the street.
In my mind, I pictured a winding pathway, some low stone walls, an arbor and plants that provided interest from spring through the winter months. More lighting would be nice and perhaps a water feature of some sort.
Originally I had planned to do this myself, but with a bad back, the scope of the work, and the desire to get a professional look, we decided I wasn't the right person for the job. So, we hired a contractor and he went to work. We explained what we wanted and laid out garden hoses in the approximate shape. He refined the curves a bit and marked the area with spray paint. Then he dug down about 8".
We also had the contractor remove all the turf grass to the street. This was a real time savings for me. A new entry garden will eventually evolve in this spot.
After the initial dig, the contractor laid about 4-6 inches of base material, compacted and leveled the area, and let it sit for a couple of weeks. Then the fun started. Sand was leveled and used to set the pavers. We chose a concrete paver product from Unilock called Brussels Block which is tumbled for a an older look. Using all 3 sizes of block, a random pattern was used. The block is actually faintly reddish in color (I think the color is called Brownstone), although you can't see that here.
Work continued for a couple of days. The walkway is approximately 50 feet long and 42 inches wide. I'm glad I didn't try to do this myself-it still wouldn't be done and it never would have come out looking this good.
Click on the star to see pictures of the finished product
