7.04.2012

the road to hell is pavered with good intentions...

The landscape architect has suggested a healthy amount of either concrete pavers or limestone for the back yard:


There are pros and cons to both. Concrete would be nice and austere and carry the inside concrete floors outside. Limestone would add some warmth (can't believe I'm saying that...) and perhaps tie in with the limestone cladding on the front of the house.

But my dream pavers? These babies:


Narrow Modular Pavers by Stepstone, Inc. They be beautiful! I first saw them on this project:



They're long, they're linear. They have tonal variations (differences in color). Unfortunately, like all the cool stuff, they ain't cheap. This thread suggests they run $9 a square foot. We need about 480 square feet of paver stuff. Limestone in 2-foot by 4-foot chunks is running about $7 a square foot, so these guys would be a "slight" premium. But man, all these "slight" premiums start to add up...

Since we're having a pleasant chat about landscaping, let's talk about planters. The architects would like to see some planters out back in these places:


They're thinking metal, probably the rusty kind, like these posted up at Houzz:


But I'm wondering about doing something like this:



which is something I photographed at the new Hop Doddy's off of Anderson Lane. I kinda dig that board-line look. 

The landscape architect is thinking limestone block for the garden beds out back, but I think this concrete business would work there as well, or perhaps something like this I saw at the Wildflower Center:



And while we're on the landscape topic, we'd love to have one of these purple martin houses:


Spacey (and mosquito free)!




5 comments:

  1. We wanted something "softer looking" than smooth concrete, so our mid-garden patio has small pebbles on its surface -- a feature often seen in MCM homes. Our planters used the same burnished block as the house "feature wall."
    http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3641/5708713550_c808606c4f.jpg
    These pics are 16 months old now and today all our screening plants are 7' H and 3' W.
    We had also built rusted steel planters in another part,as per a Sunset mag tip
    http://www.sunset.com/garden/how-to-build-raised-beds-metal-00400000040098/

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    Replies
    1. Nice! And mucho thanks for the link to the Sunset article.

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  2. I love those stock tank planters. Callahan's!

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  3. The tree(s) that need(s) to be removed? Best to take it/'em out before construction starts, for easiest access. Let me know if you'd like a recommendation for a good, affordable tree guy.

    Oh, and the linear pavers? YES.

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