Let’s create a little patio

Patio #1

When I decided that I ‘needed’ a potting bench, the first decision was where to place it.  A quick look around the back yard helped with that decision; it made sense to put it close to the water faucet.  Once I had chosen the ideal spot, I figured I should do something to level the ground before I built the potting bench so I decided to create a platform/patio as the base.

Using some 2x4s, I measured the area to get an idea of how big it should be then proceeded in pulling up sod, leveling the soil then creating a border with the 2x4s.  Our soil is very rocky and I often find large rocks and boulders when gardening – working on leveling the soil for the patio proved to be no different.

Next step in the patio project was adding some pea gravel.  Once that was done, I laid landscape cloth to prevent weeds and grass growing up between the pavers of the finished patio.

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Once the sod was pulled up (by hand), the soil was leveled, 2×4 border in place and the landscape cloth was installed, it was time to plan the layout of the pavers.  I had a couple of options….

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Since it was summer time and super hot outside, I used my deck umbrella to protect me from the sun while working on the patio.  I have used that umbrella more while working on projects that while sitting on the deck.

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Patio #2

This summer was filled with outdoor projects.  One of those projects was adding a barrier between the fence in the backyard and the grass.  I figured it would make mowing the back yard faster and also prevent having to weed along the back fence line – something I did by hand.  I do enjoy weeding; I find it relaxing and it gives me a sense of accomplishment.  However, we have a good size backyard and it is time consuming.

I decided on a 3 foot wide barrier, removing the sod closest to the fence.  Once I was finished pulling up the sod, I planned to put down landscape fabric to prevent the grass and weeds from growing, then add a layer of bark for decoration.  Before this project, my friend, Leslie and I had built a little wooden bench from some chair backs we found at Habitat a few years ago.  That bench sat next to the fence until the weather got the best of it.  I didn’t get around to repairing it before it fell apart.  It is now on my list of projects to do.  Since I was in the middle of this project, I decided to try to find another bench to use and found a darling red metal one at Hobby Lobby that was the perfect size.  It was on sale for $75 which was much less than other benches I had been looking at.

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The wooden bench had been sitting on a piece of plywood.  You know what it’s like when you are upgrading and you look at the current state of affairs and wonder how you lived with it that way?  It was like that when I put the new bench on the plywood – yuck! So, it made sense to build a patio for the new bench to sit upon.  Now, normally, as I did on Patio #1, you would level the ground, add sand, pea gravel, tamp it down so you have a nice, level surface to lay the patio bricks.  For this little patio, though, I just didn’t want to take the time to do all of that as this was an addition to an already large project. Pulling up all the sod by hand, laying down the landscape cloth, hauling cement bricks and bark from the garage to the backyard was enough manual labor for one project.

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So, I decided to just lay the little bricks down on the landscape cloth with no other preparation – just right there where there had been sod.  It did take a bit of time to figure out the pattern so that the bricks fit between the cement blocks I already had installed and the fence but eventually I succeeded in a pattern that worked.  Once the bricks were in place, all I needed to do was add some sand to stabilize them.  I have to admit, I love the look!  It has that lived-in, been there awhile look that usually takes years to accomplish and looks nice with the weathered look of the fence.

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