Plans For Our Backyard Hardscape Patio

Have you ever had one of those moments when you just randomly decide to fast-track a home renovation project? Well, that’s exactly what happened with our back yard hardscape patio. John and I had been talking about adding some kind of paver patio to the relatively empty L-shaped nook along the back of our house for about two years. We kept putting it off because of budget reasons and because of our hectic work schedules, but the other day we had a “wild hair,” as they say, and just started digging in—literally.

Those photos above show the space as it looked before we got the project underway this past weekend. As you can see, there’s quite a bit of level yard, but no functional way to actually use it for relaxation or entertaining. I had dreams of tearing out the old Yew bushes (which are very toxic to animals, if you didn’t know), and laying down a large rectangular patio made of bricks or pavers. We’re imagining it measuring roughly 12 feet by 16 feet with a small walkway connecting it to the concrete pad at the top of the stairs leading down to our basement door.

You may remember the wooden platform deck that we built at our old house. I loved how that project turned out (and miss it daily), but I didn’t think that wood was the right style material for this house. We don’t really have any other wood accents on this house, so my vision was for something brick or stone to coordinate with our brick ranch. And I wanted it flush with the ground, too—not raised off the ground like our old wood deck.

That mood board above shows my vision for the space before we got it started over the weekend. Our plans have evolved a little bit since putting this mock-up together, but the general “big picture” concept is the same: a rectangular flush paver patio styled with potted plants, retro all-weather furniture, and other earth-tones accents. I envision this as a place where I can relax at a small bistro style table with a glass of wine, or lie back on a lounge chair and pretend that I’m at the beach.

I showed that design concept to John one evening last week just for fun, and the conversation that it sparked got both of us so excited that we decided to get the project going sooner than the original fall date we had tentatively planned. The first step was removing the old Yew bushes that stood right in the way of where we wanted to build the patio. They were nice plants, yes, but the toxicity issue has always been a little bit of a concern with our dog who runs freely in this yard, and we also have a bunch of really pretty versions of the plant in our front yard. We didn’t really need these four in addition to the other 10 or so that we have scattered across our property, plus they blocked the one water spigot on the back of the house. It was time for them to go to make way for our new outdoor living space.

Removing the bushes took about two hours. John used large landscaping loppers to cut as many lower branches off as he could, and then, once he had cleared enough space for him to get his polesaw in place, he used that to cut off the rest of the bush from its trunk system. We loaded everything on an extra large tarp, and then dragged that to our trash pile back in the corner of our property where John can load everything up to take to the yard waste landfill.

Next, we had to deal with the trunks and roots. For this phase, we used a pointed shovel to scoop away the dirt closest to the main trunk, and then a dig bar to chop away at the roots to break them apart. A pair of gloved hands also did wonders for brushing the dirt away from the roots that held each bush in the ground so that they could be chopped up using the dig bar and also a manual pruning saw. Finally, John used his truck and a big chain to drag the rest of the bush out of the ground. We didn’t bother to fill the holes in since we’ll be doing a lot of digging and dirt removal when installing the patio, so that photo above is what our yard looks like today.

Now we’re fixated on the materials sourcing phase of the project. We’re considering two different kinds of pavers from Lowe’s (not sponsored—we just like shopping there). One of the pavers we like is a more traditional grey/beige cobblestone paver that’s meant to look like an intricately laid tumbled stone surface, and the second option is a slightly more modern red brick design done in a faux basketweave pattern. We’re setting our sights on these types of square pressed design options because they’re budget-friendly and give us the look of a more intricate patio without quite as much lifting and setting required.

We ended up buying one of the red brick pavers because it was a little cheaper than the tumbled stone option in store, and brought that outside to lay against our existing real brick at home. I’ll be honest that the pinkish hue of the red brick paver is making me more inclined to go with the neutral beige tumbled paver. I also wish that the lines between the faux bricks on the red paver were some contrasting color to make them look more realistic. I told John that I’d paint or stain the lines across the patio to make them look more authentic, but he didn’t like that idea, so I think we might end up going with the more neutral traditional pavers after all. If you have strong opinions between the two options, let me know in the comments, and stay tuned for much more about this project as it comes together over the next few weeks!

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