As most of you know, hubby and I have been building a pond this summer!
If you missed it, you can see it here!
In addition to the pond, we wanted to extend our paved patio around the pond and connect another patio we built a few years ago that houses my hubby’s “hammock”!
That’s the space in the background!
By this time, we’ve become fairly familiar with how to lay paving stones (if you’d like to see more walkways and patio spaces, click here) but, I thought you might enjoy seeing the transformation!
This is our space before………..
……..and after!
Before…..
And after…..
Laying paving stones is a fairly simple process……..
It’s important to lay a ground cover, such as a semi permeable cloth, to keep weeds at bay and provide for easy maintenance.
After the ground cover is laid and secured, we add a layer of road fill (some use decayed granite) and then a layer of sand.
To be quite honest, we forgot to lay the road fill and just went with the sand in this area. It is important to apply the road fill if you are paving an area that you will be driving on as the road fill helps to secure and keep the paving stones in place. With walking paths, this is not as important but we shall see if there is any difference between this and our other spaces come next summer as the stones “settle”.
After laying and leveling the sand, the process of laying your paving stones (in the pattern you decide) begins……….
…….place the paving stones and pound them in place with a mallet until they feel secure.
It is a rather tedious endeavor that just takes time and patience……
And a brew…….or two! Did I mention we did this during July, in Texas…..triple digit temps (yeah, I know we’re crazy)!!
After all the paving stones are in place, a fine layer (or two, or three) of sand is swept into the cracks followed by a light misting of water to settle the sand and secure the stones in place.
Every couple years, depending on where you live, you should apply another layer of sand to help secure the paving stones and clean up your area.
I absolutely love the finished product!
It reminds me of cobblestone streets and brings a sense of leisure and relaxation to the space!
Next up, our pallet swing we built to enhance our space and enjoy the tranquility of the pond.
Until next time……….
Sharing with these lovely blogs:
A Southern Daydreamer-Outdoor Wednesday
Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop-Katherines Corner
Angela, that looks fantastic! You two have been working hard. I’m jealous and need to light the fire under my husband to get a pond going in our backyard. BTW, he’d totally be out there with the beer.
We set up a trail cam in our yard and have been recording raccoons.
Your stone garden was just to pretty NOT to share haha!! That pond looks so lovely!
We too are working with pavers in our near future. The beau doesn’t like to do as much research as I, and now it looks like we’ve already missed two steps- the weed block and road fill. Yikes!! Looks like we’ll have more maintenance if I can’t convince him otherwise…
wow!!!! it looks amazing. I hope you will share this post at my blog hop today xo P.S. don’t forget to enter my latest giveaway too
Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop xo
So lovely you guys…a very inviting part of the yard now…
Your pond area and patio are gorgeous…I showed this to my hubby and he is inspired!…bookmarked for him!…Your hard work certainly paid off….truly beautiful!
It looks wonderful! You patio and pond area looks gorgeous. You guys really did an amazing job, specially when it is so very hot outside. Great work!
It looks stunning!! I love paving stones and can’t wait for our back to be finished. We have been so lucky to have much cooler weather than what you guys have had to work in. I feel for your husband in that heat. But, all the hard work paid off…. Big hugs my sweet friend!!
That is just amazing, Ang. I love how it looks-what a wonderful addition to your back yard. It’s like stepping into a different world back there- xo Diana
It would be so lovely to have a pond in your back yard. Thanks for the nice comments you left on my blog about my waterfall pictures. Your paved addition looks like an outdoor oasis!.
Absolutely gorgeous!