This backyard patio has such great appeal!!! Invite the family and friends on over for a fun evening!
The patio has a great layout which includes an interesting pattern in the pavers, an outdoor kitchen, and a gas firepit as well as a sitting wall, a fence, and some nice plantings.
Look at the plan to see how it is laid out. We were presented with an area at the rear of a house which was bordered by a driveway, a generator, a big propane tank, and a shed. There was also a large piece of granite ledge that was in the middle of the space. So, looking at the plan, you can see that the patio connects to a set of stairs, the head of the driveway, a place where you walk between 2 buildings, and a place where you walk to access the shed. With all of the foot traffic patterns, the patio needed to be laid out so that everything functioned nicely without having to ‘walk around’ things like the table or fire pit just to walk to where you’re going. So, in other words, foot traffic patterns were one of the driving influences on the final layout of the patio.
This was the basic ‘wish list’: The homeowner wanted a place for a good-sized table and chair set, an outdoor kitchen, a gas-operated fire pit, and a possible water feature. In addition to this, we discussed some other things to consider. A ‘sitting-height’ wall could be used as an entrance feature from the driveway and accommodate extra guests near the fire pit. The propane tank and generator could be screened from view by using a fence which would also double as a nice backdrop to the planting area.
We used ‘Techo Bloc’ products on this project. The patio has a great theme of a ‘carpet’ where the table will go. The inside rectangle area of this ‘carpet’ is 9’ x 12’ – big enough to put a good sized table and chair arrangement. The sitting wall and retaining wall are also from Techo Bloc and the cap blocks on these walls match the countertop on the outdoor kitchen. The fire pit blocks match the walls, and so many of these products were chosen to coordinate beautifully with each other. For instance, notice how the steps that go through the sitting-wall match the band of pavers around the ‘carpet’ as well as in the firepit and outdoor kitchen.
We ended up not installing a water feature for this area, but we did put in the necessary buried sleeves that would be needed so that a water feature can be added in the future. The plants that were put in soften the edges nicely, and an irrigation system was installed.
Some other considerations were
1) changing the type of rock that is walked on to access the shed
2) correcting drainage near the propane tank
3) keeping the steps through the sitting wall away from the snow/ice fall from the roof
Not only did we install this patio area, but we addressed some other areas of the property as well. We made an unsightly drainage ditch more visually appealing. The planting bed along the street was updated and had some more colorful plants added. The front lawn was repaired.
All in all, a wonderful project with a few more projects around the property that we will address in the future.
Many thanks to these great folks for trusting us to realize their landscaping dreams with them.