Patio |
When I was dreaming of a backyard patio, I had several visions in my head. One stood out and I would call it timeless.
That's what I am hoping to achieve by using the most budget friendly material to do a patio.
Rock.
We could have used paver stones, but one fear kept creeping in my mind. Am I going to like it ten years from now? Plus when I stared at several photos of backyards that appealed to me, they had two things in common.
One of them being a gravel base. Not expensive pavers. That shocked me. I mean here I am looking at these formal gardens filled with Boxwood's, and mass plantings of conifers and hydrangeas and they use rock as their patio?
Brick was another option, but once I saw the price and the installation process, I passed. I am getting too old to spend a week on my knees laying brick pavers! Plus we didn't like the look, seeing as the house is brick.
We went with the extremely budget friendly option of 5.5 tons of small pea gravel which was $350.00 and we did the install ourselves. Our backyard being mostly sand anyways, we had some grass and a lot of high spots to take out.
That was the hard part. Of course we hit high 80's with tons of sunlight all 3 days we worked on this. Which I am thankful we weren't doing this when it was July or August and in the 90's or worse!
The patio area is roughly 33 feet wide by 20 feet deep. When I was at my local rock distributor Niemeyer's they quoted me 10 tons at 2" deep. I compromised and bought half of that, thinking if I needed more I could use the truck to get more. I don't think we are going to need those other 5 tons. We finished it on 5-1/2 tons.
Which is good, because I wouldn't even know how to return the unused gravel!
Greg got home Friday a tad early, so we got started. Working about 4 hours and then calling it quits.
Saturday I worked on it with the help of my sister and daughter until about noon. Then the heat pushed me inside. I was feeling pretty crispy on the second day even with using sunscreen. Greg came home in the afternoon and gave it an hour before calling it a day too. He had been helping a buddy do a brake job.
Sunday morning 8 am sharp we were back outside and working hard to get it done before it got in the 90's.
Luck was on our side, because we had all the gravel laid and half way leveled by 12:30!
It took us about fourteen hours to do this patio. Not bad, considering a paver patio would only be about halfway done! Wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow we brought the rock in and slowly we saw it come together. We weren't lucky enough to be able to get a bobcat this time. DIY season is in full bloom and there are no rental machines available.
I am going to spend Monday trimming up the overlapping landscape fabric, putting the furniture back. Albeit slowly; my Mulberry Tree is performing as expected and already dropping berries.
Much to the delight of every bird within a 100 mile radius.
I bought 8 - eight foot long landscape timbers (3.89 each) to border and contain the rock until garden borders go in. I have no idea when that will be.
I have dreams of new garden beds on the outer perimeter. Lots of Pinky Winky Hydrangeas and Boxwood's. Also to re-seed where they are bare spots of grass. And a huge River Birch Tree.
But right now I am pushing those ideas out for something better.
Ice cream and ice water!
Plus a nice cool shower. I am dripping with sweat, hot and so glad the hard part is done! On Wednesday or Thursday I am going to be sharing the new water fountain / water feature in the yard. You may have seen a sneak peek of it above.
Stay tuned, That's when I will be having a giveaway too!
