Walkway revisited

Back in 2010 my husband and I got working on a new walkway to replace the flagstone path in the front yard. At first I didn't really know what I wanted, but eventually we settled on really big concrete circles. They were a lot of work, but in the end it was worth it. Every time anyone comes to my door, I get so many compliments!

How did we make them? Well that is a good question. First we dug out the area a good 6"-8" deep. Then we shoveled and packed-in crushed stone, about 4" worth, on average. At first we were clueless on how to make the circle molds for the cement, but then we discovered Wacky Wood at a specialty wood mill. It's a plywood product that bends easily without breaking. So we cut a bunch of strips of Wacky Wood, laid them down and held the shape with stakes on the ground and screwed everything together. We then added rebar reinforcement inside the molds to prevent cracking and breaking problems. The bulk of the cost was hiring a company to pour the cement and finish the top surface of the circles with an anti-slip texture. We initially wanted to do it ourselves, but sometimes it's worth hiring the experts.



End result, a very unique walkway. We really love it and hope you'll be inspired by it.

Fiberglass planters

Last week I picked up two large 20" white planters at Target. They have a nice clean modern look and are light weight. Don't want white? They also come in black and zinc, And the best part is that they're on sale this week for $33.99.

Getting another planter

The 20" steal planters with rusty patina in the photo above were made by artist Joe Papendick. I asked him to make me some after I was poking around some of his photos and saw that he had made these cute planters pictured below.

Recently I decided to order an even bigger one for the back patio area. I've bought metal planters in the past and they feel so thin, they were never big enough and don't weather well. The planter below is from CB2 and this was the biggest size they made... not big enough. The new one will be big, 42" x 32" x 12".



I'll post a bunch of pictures when it arrives!

Spring is in the air

I have made an appearance outside everyday this past week mostly racking, and leaf blowing. My house has no back yard, just boulders and trees. It's impossible to keep up with all these leaves. The picture below is of the back patio outside the bedroom door.
I need a team of gardeners stat! lol

West Elm outdoors

Seeing this outdoor furniture cheers me up after hearing about the snow i'll be getting tomorrow... Yuck!

Click here to check out West Elms new outdoor items.

I miss you

I was looking through some old pictures from last summer and I came across these... weeps.

Almost finished

When we first moved in we had to cut down lots of old growth shrubs. That project seemed like it would never be completed! So after dealing with that craziness I decided that I wouldn't plant any more bushes in the front. A simple border of stones was all I wanted, clean and simple. Oh and the toads love it too!

Enjoying the warm weather

Sorry you haven't heard much from me, I've been out side enjoying this nice weather, it's like I live outside now. No new projects at them moment but, I did order two custom 20" steal planters from Joseph Papendick, one for each side of the garage door.

The yellow sculpture pictured above is also made by him.

Spring is not getting here fast enough!

A few weeks ago it was in the high 50's and into the 60's, so gorgeous! Now it's super cold. I'm patiently waiting for my yard of grass. Click here to see what my front yard looked like when we moved in.

It's being poured! Updated*

I can't believe my husband and I ever thought of doing this ourselves, pouring cement is one tough job! Now that I see the professionals doing this, I'm glad I get to sit back and watch.

The cement will be dry in 2 or 3 hours but it still needs to be left alone for a week. I will definitely need to rope off that area, I can so see my mailman hopping up those things.

The cement guys are still outside doing the finishing touches, I'll take more images when they are done.

*It's done!

I'm giddy!

Wednesday my husband and I cut wire mesh for the circle forms in preparation for the cement delivery that is getting here in about 10 hours. It felt like it was never going to get done and I'm giddy just thinking about skipping on my circles! I'll keep you updated on the progress.

Finally!

Image found on junk culture shop

It's finally going to happen! The circle forms are done for our walkway and we are going to get someone to pour and finish the circles in about a week. It's going to take about 180 sq ft of cement to fill all the circles! We got quoted $800, I wish it was cheaper but I'm so sick of looking at empty circles that I just don't care anymore. I hope it comes out looking fantastic!

Send me a landscaping angel!

Al and I have been slowly working on the front yard and walkway. I mentioned a few weeks ago that we had started to lay down the forms for the concrete stepping stones, and we have about half of them up already. The wacky wood is working out great, but getting everything in the ground has been tricky, since there's a massive rock the size of a van directly under the walkway! We've had to, um, get a little creative with some of our forms...

We're slowly getting there, though. I can't wait until they're done!

Walkway

No I didn't keep you out of the loop, I just haven't done a thing with my front yard. We finally decided on cement circles, but how to make the forms was another roadblock. We decided to get quotes from contractors but we weren't to happy with paying $2000 to get it finished. Then finally my husband found something called wacky wood, which is a bending plywood. I will keep you all updated on our progress.

It's here!

I love it so much! It looks just as I imagined it. My next steps are to paint the inside of the garage a bright white and get up some peg board. Currently all of my husband's tools are in the guest room; I'll be so happy to get that room back!

Front yard: I need to mix some peat moss and lime into the dirt to have some healthy grass growing.
Walkway: We have decided to put in 20" square cement stones for the front walkway. We still need to shop around for supplies.

Front yard

Now that the ground is thawing I've been spending my afternoons outside moving dirt around and my husband has been preparing the carport for the new garage door. Also we are starting to rethink the design for the walkway. Once the garage door is in place the front door will be the only entrance to visitors and that will need to be shoveled out in the winter. I'd like more of a flat surface than the cement circles with stones we were originally planning. I'm thinking of redesigning the walkway to have shapes like these with moss planted in the negative parts like this. We are still very undecided...



It still looks like a mess but hopefully in the weeks to come the walkway will be done and we will have a patch of grass where that dirt is.