Looking for ideas for a new patio, poolside area, driveway, or walkway? Or maybe your yard is looking tired, without design or you just need to define a space in your landscape? If so, you should consider pavers!
What are Pavers?
Pavers are a single unit or slab which, when designed and laid together in a pattern for a patio or driveway, create a beautiful and natural environment. Pavers can be made from precast concrete, which is part cement, aggregate, and rock material. Pavers are also available in natural stone, rock, and brick or cobblestone.
While you might find a limited selection at your local garden center or a large home improvement retailer, rest assured there are many more options available that offer beauty, color, and texture to any yard.
What are the Different Paver Types?
Brick is one of the most popular materials for patios, walkways, and garden edging. Brick can be placed either in a traditional layout or a modern design and offers a warm, rustic feel to a landscape.
Concrete pavers are an alternative to poured concrete. Typically, more affordable than some stone or brick, concrete pavers are available in a range of colors and can be used almost anywhere. Concrete pavers come as interlocking pieces that are suitable for driveways or heavily used areas. Architectural slab pavers have no edge spacing and tend to be thinner so recommended for patios.
Natural stone pavers provide a wide range of durability, color, and style. Primarily cut from real rock, stone pavers like slate and marble can be more expensive, but the design options are almost limitless to create any garden style. Careful evaluation is needed on what kind of stone is best used for what type of landscape purpose.
Pavers also come with different surface textures and corner designs. Some have chiseled corners or edges that give a more distressed look, perhaps suitable for historical homes. Others have a cleaner edge that butts up neatly to the paver next to it.
Why are Pavers Popular?
Pavers are a terrific choice for patios and landscapes!
Almost any type of paver will be robust and durable to withstand traffic, wear, and weather. Patio pavers, especially brick and concrete, are low maintenance options that are easy to clean and are not slippery underfoot.
Pavers are easy to repair or replace should one crack or get damaged. Many pavers can be simply removed and replaced with a new one! The color and design choice of pavers will transform your garden and add an extra design element to your home.
Depending on the paver material you choose, pavers are an economical way to make an impact, define a space, and add character. With some knowledge and skill, pavers can be laid in a relatively short amount of time but transform an area fast!
Are you considering adding pavers to your patio, entranceway, walkway or garden? Contact us! We’re experts in designing, installing, and maintaining pavers to get the most distinctive look and quality installation possible. Our design and installation process ensures a solid and hard-wearing area that will be enjoyed for years to come.
While most homeowners dream about lush gardens, flowering plants, mature trees, and year-round color, not many are looking for the hard work, cost, and time required to achieve these results. In fact, happy homeowners tend to strive for a beautiful garden that they can simply enjoy, year-round, with family and friends. Low maintenance gardening offers beautiful landscapes that work with Colorado seasons to deliver outstanding results with minimum effort.
No matter what approach you take to achieving your low maintenance Colorado garden, add hardscaping! Not only will a spacious patio, deck, or porch provide you just the view you’re looking for your new yard, it will lower the maintenance needs of your outdoor environment and provide a purpose-built area for you to enjoy! Consider how you will use your Colorado garden and map out all the ideas for hardscape design options.
Low maintenance perennial flowers are the perfect addition to your garden landscape. Many are cost effective and provide beautiful flowers without needing excessive attention. Creating a planting scheme that allows for blooms from different plants year round further accentuates the beauty in your yard with minimal effort. Make your low-maintenance flower beds stand out with quality mulch or rockery that will help retain moisture, block weeds, and reduce your gardening chores.
The most robust and long-lasting landscapes benefit from smart irrigation systems. Using the right irrigation technologies, you can reduce your water usage, lower time spent maintaining your garden, and save money. Grass, flower, and tree watering can take up a lot of time and effort. Professionally designed, installed, and maintained irrigation systems are a great, long-term investment for you and your yard.
During the summer and fall, you’ll find that leaves are yellowing and beginning to fall off trees, bushes, and flowers. If you have plants in your water feature, they are also starting to show signs of changing and getting ready for a dormant winter.
Unless you have fish living in your custom water feature or plan on performing maintenance throughout winter (see Step 3: Air Circulation), plan on draining the water from small water features and fountains. Be sure to empty or blow out water from the lines and pipes that feed the water feature.
If you’ve drained your pond or water feature, unplug the power source, remove the pump, clean any filters, and store it away for next year. Pumps left out during the winter can crack or freeze, which will shorten the performance and life of the device.
Paved areas can certainly host family dinners and parties but have you thought about a patio as a place to watch the stars, read a book or work from home? Will you want to enjoy your patio in all seasons or just during spring and summer? Does the patio need a cover or special lighting?
Do you prefer order and modern design? Think about adding straight lined walkways and patios with clean, defined edging. Is a more natural and creative space what you’re looking for? Consider curved, flowing paths and soft edges around your patio. Either way, each can be made more beautiful with suitable plantings, year-round greenery or water features.
As part of a custom landscape project, patio and walkway design become part of an overall design for your home that is coordinated to bring out the attractiveness of unique features. Adding lighting and illumination will further increase value and enhance all the landscape elements, plus increase safety for walkways and add ambient lighting to gatherings on the patio.
Scrap the mower bag and allow the cut grass clippings to fall back onto the lawn. They will act as a mulch to retain moisture and become a fertilizer as the clippings decompose. The exception? Remove cut grass clippings from areas near storm drains and any water streams to avoid contaminating water sources with grass fertilizer or pesticides.
When you plan out your Colorado garden, consider using plants native to the area and those with lower water needs. Xeriscape options create beautiful, natural results! Your garden will be less thirsty and produce color and interest year-round.
Did you know you could train your trees, plants, and grass to use water more efficiently? By watering as deeply and infrequently as possible, you allow plants to establish roots, receive nourishment, and avoid water waste. Shallow watering forces roots to stay near the surface where it can be hot and dry!
To check if your flower beds are too dry, get a handful of soil and make it into a ball. Does it crumble immediately? It’s too dry and needs watering. When you push your finger into the soil ball, does it break apart? It’s probably just the right moisture. Is it muddy? It’s too wet.
To conserve moisture and avoid evaporation, add up to 3” inches of mulch around plants and in flower beds. Bark nuggets or shredded bark work to shade the soil and keep it cooler in the summer. Pea gravel as a mulch can also work, and add a decorative element, for xeric plants that require shading all the way up to the plant crown where the plant emerges from the ground.