Patios, Stone Walls and Foot Paths

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Lawns USA Services - Patios, Walls and Paths

Patios and sidewalks are an integral part of the landscape design. They provide the living areas and access to enjoy the yard.

Many patio and sidewalk options are available such as, concrete, plain and exposed aggregate, pavestone, flagstone and wood, just to name a few.

The patios and walkways should add to but not dominate the landscape. Therefore, the patio and sidewalk are very important in the planning and design of the yard.

Hardscape is the non-living aspects of the yard such as patios, sidewalks, arbors, retaining walls and steps. These items provide the foundation of your landscape and must be planned so that they flow with the yard as well as perform its specific function.

Landscape Design - Patio Rooms, Decks and Terraces

Your patio, deck or terrace is the transition space or area that generally adjoins the house to the landscape. It is more of an out door living room- your patio room. It may be elevated, flat on the ground, squared off or curved, open to the sky or covered.

There may be stone covered pillars. Wood pillars with vines growing up over a trellis or pillars of the same material and color of the house.

Flagstone, Stone and Stepping Stone Paths

Flagstone is a perfect patio flooring material and great for stepping stone paths. It is natural and beautiful. Because it is hand mined, hand cut and hand laid you are paying for artisan's work and skill as well as the stone itself.

Gravel, crushed stone or crushed granite is also a perfect garden flooring material. It is natural and beautiful. Usually this crushed material or gravel is very reasonably priced.

Flagstone Accents

Flagstone accents in strategic places throughout your landscape design will give you a rich look. Perhaps edge your swimming pool with stone. Use the stone to accent your outdoor fireplace or put on the top of your barbecue grill counter. Use natural flagstone stepping stones on secondary paths.

Flagstone can be civilized and formal. Saw cut in uniform geometric or free form shapes set with regular grout lines gives a sophisticated style. Flagstone can be more rustic or natural with a snap cut. With this look use spaces between to grow thyme or diachondria or fill with crushed granite.

Flagstone is a common choice for landscape flooring. Area stone will integrate your paths and flooring into the natural landscape around you. Before you order, go to the stone yard to look at the many possibilities.

Take a couple samples home to see how they look next to your house. Remember the patio, deck or terrace floor is adjoined to the interior of your home. When the door is open you will view the interior floor and the patio floor at the same time.

Some homeowners and designers will use the same tile flooring on a covered patio as the tile in the interior of the home for a continuous indoor/outdoor design.

Crushed stone or gravel paths are wonderful passageways in landscape design. With beds overflowing with perennials and beautiful shrubs you can’t tell where the beds begin and the passageways end.

Using the crushed granite as a mulch in perennial and shrub beds makes sense. It works well in passageways and up next to swimming pools and pool deck separating the grass from the pool area. If you are doing an overall desert landscape design it can work well and look natural and beautiful.

Passageways where you might walk barefoot, the crushed granite can be very hard on the feet. Stepping stones are a great solution. Two by two slabs of flagstone stepping stones in these areas may be a good mix of materials and a solution where form follows function. Like walking from your swimming pool to the pool equipment!

Maybe a path through the grass... Stepping stones from one patio area to another.

Personalized stepping stones can be added to the mix. Just one Victorian stepping stone or a resin stepping stone in a sun face may give you the personal touch that makes you smile.

The use of stepping stones creates an informal and easy to construct path. A stepping stone path is ideal for areas that are constantly moist or wet underfoot, or areas, such as lawn, that begin to show signs of wear from foot traffic.

Selecting stepping stones

Stepping stones can be made from a variety of materials.

Precast concrete stones are available in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours, and are well suited to a formal garden setting. Round, square, rectangular and kidney shapes are common and come in a range of diameters to suit the situation.

Timber rounds look well in a natural bush setting. They are cut from a variety of hardwoods to a minimum thickness of about 50mm. Soft pine timber is not recommended, as direct ground contact will lead to rot, insect and fungal attack. To increase the life of the timber, coat the rounds with preservative before laying them. Preservative-treated rounds can be purchased ready-cut, or if you can obtain suitably sized timber, cut your own stepping stones using a chain saw.

Flagstone is any flat, irregularly shaped stone or rock. Although heavy and sometimes difficult to find, the natural colours and durability of this type of stone make it an excellent choice as a path material. When selecting stones, choose large pieces of similar thickness.

For a more formal approach, create stepping stone pads from bricks laid at intervals. Usually two or three bricks is sufficient for each pad, with the bricks laid in any pattern of your choice.