Transformation Tuesday 11/24/2020
In this Transformation Tuesday, our client had a yard that had never been landscaped. It was mostly dirt with weeds and wildflowers growing everywhere. There was one juniper tree in the corner that had good growth on it and was in very good health.
The plan was simple: a clean looking landscape with flagstone steps from the gate to the porch and from the porch to the flagstone patio with several, easy to care for plants along with some vines on trellis' that would help break up the cinderblock wall.
Lastly, our client wanted the entire yard to have a weed barrier and gravel, with a dry riverbed to help direct water away from the house.
We started clearing all the weeds. The most efficient way is to use a flat shovel to cut the weeds out below the dirt taking out most of the roots. Once all the weeds were raked up and thrown away, we trenched out the dry river bed to slope away from the house and end at the juniper.
Our client did not want irrigation to the plants since there were only 13 of them so water-efficient plants were planted instead (Honeysuckle, Blue Mist Spirea, Yarrow, Agastache, Lavender, Butterfly Bushes, and Cotoneasters). Once established they can withstand a missed watering every once in a while. They were positioned where the flagstone patio would go so whenever the client was enjoying a meal they could enjoy having all the plants near them.
Our client wanted an irregular flagstone patio that was not symmetrical. This was done by leaving one side of the flagstone piece uncut and unchiseled. All the other flagstone pieces were cut to fit and chiseled, giving the outside of the patio its unusual shape and the rest of the patio a nice clean finish. The flagstone steps were cut and stacked under the porch to be used once the gravel was spread.
Our team laid out weed barrier over the entire backyard and secured it using landscape pins. Once the tons and tons of 3/8" gravel was spread, it was time to bring in the 2-4" river rock for the dry river bed. After the dry river bed was complete, we laid and leveled the flagstone steps and this transformation was complete! The client was happy with the look of her new yard, especially her flagstone patio!
