Paving the Way

I had to finish up the work restoring the peastone walkway and open area between the new back steps/porch and gazebo. The building of the steps/porch required that I move most of the peastone out of the way for the contractor. After he was finished, and I had returned from a road trip to Oklahoma, I finally began the process of setting everything back in place.

However, we needed something more sturdy on which to walk from the steps/porch when going from the house to the garage entrance, especially for the winter months. 

After a visit the local hardscape store, I was able to acquire a set of large faux patio stones made of cement that were part of a larger patio assembly. These were basically left over pieces and I was able to purchase them at a vastly reduced price. Essentially, they were left overs that nobody wanted or could use.

I also added a stone near the center gate threshold. 

It looks nice and separates the walkway at the transition point from the front yard to the Zen garden.

In addition, two smaller steps were placed near the side window, the location where we stand when using the water hose real.

As part of the moving of peastone, I also laid new durable weed fabric down to keep weeds out. This fabric should last a long time. The previous fabric was of poor quality and basically disintegrated over 10+ years.

The placement of the new stepping stones is awful for any Feng Shui aspects of the walkway, but for now, it will have to do. 

These remnants were cheap, and I can't afford to complete a more elaborate hardscape walkway and patio in the back. So stepping stones and pea stone is the affordable way to go. My dream of an authentic Japanese nobedan walkway will just have to wait.

They actually don't look too bad, somewhat natural, and they are solid and work well.

 

I also had to remove, reset, and replace the small batch of pavers near the entrance to the garden/back yard transition. They were getting a bit wonky, so given that I was replacing the weed fabric, it was time to reset them.

Overall, the garden walkway and patio area are looking improved, back to normal, with a few additional features.

Alice the cat approves!

Nest step - painting the new steps/porch trim to match the house and then continuing working on the mini-Zen garden along the side the porch.