Relax on the Patio

I can finally say I love the way my patio looks and it has become our favorite spot in the evenings and to gather with friends.

But before you see the final results I want to remind you of what this area looked like last year at this time.

We had to dig this area out and level it off before adding the pavers.

 

We have been busy! Directions for Team bell tower

Directions for sign. Up cycle a Body Board

 

This is my favorite place to sit next to the “King frog” (sitting under the lilac tree).. The white bucket holds games and water guns which are stored under the overturned wash tub which doubles as a table. During parties it can hold drinks in ice.

 

Before

Directions for planter; Topsy -Turvy  Planter

Direction to painting the planter

 

And remember that view from my kitchen window!

So much better now:

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Pathway to Back Yard

This was the view from my kitchen window in the past. The top photo was earlier this year and the bottom photos was a few years ago. The middle one shows the mess I have after the tall flowers dry up – when they are in bloom I can not even see the back yard. Not the best looking garden. Last year I fell as I was walking on the uneven pavers that I had just thrown down to keep my feet out of the mud as I made my daily trip to the back yard. One hospital trip I could do without in the future.

I make this hike at least once a day to feed the cats but usually there are many trips in this direction because it leads to the agility course, archery range, shade garden, outdoor water facet, storage shed,and clothes line. And soon it will lead to the chicken coop so Bill decided to change his plan of attack and lay this part of the pathway next. He was going to work on the section leading to the front yard before rethinking the order of completion.

This worked in with my plan to remove the tall asters and redo that garden. It had spread out so was wider than I liked so this winter I re- designed the area on paper and was slowly working at doing the physical work.

Slowly because I had to wait until the blueberry plants arrived and the existing perennials emerged so I could transplant them to their new locations. This week everything came together just in time because yesterday Bill decided to work on the path.

As he was measuring and digging I was moving plants. It is true that it is best to transplant and divide daffodils after they bloom and began to dry but sometimes you just have to do what you can to save them.

Within four hours we want from this extra wide uneven mess to this

I have another blueberry plant coming and some Shasta daisy plants growing  under lights. The daisies will be planted in the center of the daffodils so that when they fade away the daisies will be getting ready to bloom. This will help with extending the bloom time for this area since before it only had color in early spring and late fall.  The blueberry plants will add summer and fall color. I left a few asters in the very back next to the building for fall color. I will also add some potato grow tubs to the ends surrounded by annual flowers  to define the corners and add a little height . Overall the garden will not be super tall except for the three small groups of aster which will be close to the building and will not block my view.

The path will turn and go up the other side of the house with sunken larger stepping-stones leading to the clothes line and  shed. (Unless we change the plan again!) Next step is to get some sand and rock and level the area before laying the pavers.

Patio and more!

Remember that poor patio that I started three years ago? It is hard to believe that this is what it looked like in August and that it took me three years to get it to that point.

Patio

Bill started working on this project with me near the end of August and by the first weekend in September we had our patio.

This has made a big difference in how we use our backyard!  In the past I have always had breakfast on the front porch with Shoes and the backyard was used only for playing on the agility course, the archery ranch, and family games. We now use this area daily to unwind.

When we were working on the patio Bill made the comment that he didn’t want to hear any more ideas about the patio –  so I was surprised when one day he said a path to the other porch would be nice.

 

Half way there! We are now in Shoes’ area so she will have a nice path to lay on  plus it will allow guest to choice if they wish to get covered in dog fur or not.

Turning the corner and heading for the side porch! This is going to be so nice. I already have decorating ideas. I think a cute little bar would be nice up against that stone wall with a few bar stools on the path. Oh well, that another project to research and plan this winter.

Since we are in her area Shoes’ has been doing her job of supervising ever step of the project which makes her a hungry dog.

Supervising is such hard work. I really need to eat so I have the strength to do it!

DIY Patio

This is was a problem area just outside of the backdoor.  It was too small of an area to get the large riding mower and we did not want to buy a push mower just to mow one small section. My solution was to add a patio. I started digging it out three years ago but due to a medical issue the patio was placed on hold. I tried to dig whenever I had a few hours but it was taking me forever and the weeds were knocking on my back door.

This week Bill who has made  a wonderful recovery started working on the patio.

The first thing he did was remeasure the area and calculated the amount of pavers needed to make sure we had enough. We decided to enlarge the area from the original design so we had to get a few more pavers.

He checked the measurements and made sure the corners were square and then finished digging out the foundation.

Next he dug a drainage ditch and laid a fiber covered drain pipe around the perimeter of the foundation and out the ditch.

The drainage pipe and ditch which leads down the slope.

The foundation hole was filled with sand stone.

The boards were used to level the sand. This is a two person job!

Bill laid the pavers after I cleaned them. Three years of sitting under the lilac bush meant a lot of dirt, grass, and moss that had to be wired brushed before the stones could be laid in place.

Last step was applying a layer of fine sand over the top to fill in the gaps followed by a spray of water to settle the dust.

Ready for a fireside evening!