April 13, 2017 - Final day on the Paved patio

Today I finalized the paved patio.  I spent most of the morning and afternoon working on the two edges.  The edge along the back of the house starts at the corner where a roof gutter pipe drains toward a lower point at the edge of the end of the house into the lawn. I purposely left the paver edge in ragged points.  I did not cut the bricks to make a smooth edge as I knew I would need it to drain off the excess water.

I took those rocks - those 1  1/2 to 2 inch diameter rocks that had been in a path in the old vegetable garden - couple months ago - I blogged about them.  I have been digging them up and putting them in 1 and 2 gallon pots to move them in to something else. Well - I found the something else. I rinsed the mud off them and poured an ample amount in the ragged edge between the patio pavers and the garden edge.  Then, I plunked back the slabs of grey slate stone between the various perennials along the garden edge.

I moved a useless green Liriope - the kind that sends out runners- not the nice-stay-as-a-clump type and replaced it with a chunk of Caesar's Brothers Siberian Iris.  

When the few clumps of red tulips have matured and dried, I will dig those out and add a few more clumps of Siberian Iris in an undulating manner down the length of the back garden out to the lawn. It will be a dry river bed with edging of Siberian Iris clumps and when it rains, the downspout will fill the little rock filled gully with nourishing rain.  [Trust me, I will take pictures - but for some reason my camera is among the missing.  Oh Well.]

On the other side I removed three rows of the cobblestone bricks and re-set them in order to re-negotiate the path to meet the patio in a smoother transition.  The patio bed near the Kiwanza cherry tree is now trimmed out in cobblestone edging on top of the edge of the pavers and makes a smooth transition to the lawn area where the grey slate comes in to play.

I also lifted a few sections of the pavers and added more sand to even things up and then I sat in the shade and admired what I had accomplished in the last four days.

Yes, neat and lovely.  I can picture a large pot with a dramatic planting in it.  Not sure which pot I will steal from what location, but, yes - it needs that last touch.

This next coming week I will be spraying grass kill on the two apron areas from the lawn and then covering it up with mulch so that I don't have to mow in those areas.  That will finish it off for this season.  Next season I will add more pavers out to the lawn edge.

Now, off to other "offensive" areas that need some serious attention and re-doing. Next area is "Left of the front door steps."  Serious re-work coming to you soon.

Garden experts say you have to re-do your gardens every seven years or your gardens go to a tangled mess.  I agree as I find this to be so true.  I also like the "change-up" in order to keep things interesting, new, and fresh.

Pictures soon - I promise.