Our back Garden - Stone Path

I started designing our back garden before I even knew I was moving out here. I am from Vancouver, have lived there all of my life and love it there. I am an avid gardener and let me tell you central Alberta just doesn't do it for me. The choice of plant materials is very limited compared to what I am used to and I must say it has provided me with quite a challenge.

West fence which has since been replaced by neighbour.

It was rather intimidating. A garden designer I am not I just put things in empty spaces left by other gardeners and hope it works out, if not they get moved. I have also spent a lot of my time gardening in containers. A whole back yard as small as it was, was a whole new ball game. So since it wasn't my yard I was working with the wishes of the man. This was also totally new for me.

East fence, still needs replacing.

Designing for someone else and not for me. It was fun to totally remove my ideas from the scenario. He requested a path from sidewalk to garage, a swing(I thought that was really sweet), lawn, fire pit and low maintenance perennials.
So I got out paper and pencil and put my ideas, or his, down. The path was to be brick from the gate to the garage door, along the front and side of the garage to the back gate. To the left of the path a garden area with shrubs and hostas as this area gets little sun. To the right of the path which is the largest part of the yard a grassy area with a firepit and swing backing onto the fence.

View from front gate to garage.

The back yard was a mess. Dirt, weeds and a Beagle named Rodney running all over wreaking havoc. Every time it rained it turned into a mud pit. There was nothing good about it except perhaps that it was a clean slate. I had never had a clean slate before.
Well, nothing got done. Two months later I moved out from Vancouver and two years later we started on the back yard. Procrastination is our hobby. We think a lot, plan a lot, change our minds a lot and try and find less expensive alternatives. Finally we get it done or start at least.
Previous to starting the yard we did get a new door for the garage and I painted it blue. Actually I painted it twice because the first colour was way off. More like baby blue. But I love the final colour. It is a blue I have always wanted in my garden.

Path, dug and ready for stone.

New path after all of our hard work.

 One weekend last June I was off to visit my family and the man was going to do some yard work so he had me spray paint where I would like the path to go. He then dug it up while I was away. We decided to go with a Rundle Stone path instead of brick as the brick was going to cost way to much money. The digging was all done when I returned. Yay!! We purchased a small crushed stone and packed it down with a compactor that we borrowed from a friend. That was a huge life  and cost saver. Then covered that with landscape fabric to prevent weeds from coming up as well as keep the Rundle stone from sinking into the crushed stone. We then lined the edges with brick to keep all the stone in place and added the Rundle stone. And one last compacting. Let me tell you, that was a lot of work. It was all worth it. It's very casual and I love the look. In the picture above the fence is different than the other pictures. The neighbour asked if they could replace the fence. We said yes. I'm kind of regretting that decision. I really liked the old fence. It had character and I have a thing for horizontal fencing. This one is not built as well and the wood is no where near as good. But it's done now. 
 Life is better shared
Brenda

This is much harder than I thought.

So I haven't even started yet and I'm already behind. Trying to figure out how to organize and where to get going are difficult in themselves. To add to that neither one of us have been very motivated. A twelve hour work day including commute isn't helpful. And hey, it's playoff season. How's that for a lame excuse?

I'll tell you a little counter top story. I have been tossing around the idea of Granite, Quartz, laminate and Eco (recycled glass)  www.ecobycosentino.com. I had been leaning toward the Eco or Quartz depending on the prices and the pattern available. We had taken some samples home and I had settled on a light gray Quartz which looked a lot like concrete but had a lot of white highlights to it.
We spoke with a few vendors at the Home Show in February and received different opinions from all of them. Some liked Granite, some liked Quartz, the only recycled glass recommended was the Eco as it is in a corn based resin. I believe the others are either glass based or concrete based. And of course no one likes laminate except the guy selling it. The things which seemed to be common amongst all of the proffesionals were that the quartz requires no maintenance but is not indestructabe which you are sort of led to believe and is very hard to repair. The granite is easier to repair but requires maintenance with special products.

I started looking a little closer at the laminate. We went to a countertop place in town that wanted somewhere around $85.00 a linear foot installed for there laminate. A little steep since there is some granite you can pick up for $50.00 a square foot, although at what quality and looks I don't know. I did however find a very nice sample similar to the quartz I had originally chosen. I really loved the idea of the Eco but I am thinking it is very expensive for our 1970's half duplex in Smalltown that we may not stay in for long. Perhaps I will put that in our next home. Besides if I get tired of the laminate I could change it and still be better off (just kiddin').

Off to Lowes I went to get a price. They quoted approximately 39.00 a linear foot. I'm thinking Wow! cheap. One thing I did learn from the laminate guy at the home show was that it looks great in a thicker height so I ask the salesperson if they can supply it thicker than standard and without the little piece that runs up the backsplash. We are tiling the backsplash and I want a cleaner line. He tells me he will have to put a call in to his supplier and get back to me. Should know by the end or the day and will call me. Great! off I go.
So no call. I wait a week or two, I can't recall. The next time I was in the store I dropped by and reminded him of our conversation as I had thought perhaps he had misplaced my number. He tells me he hasn't yet heard from his supplier. He will call as soon as he does. Dissapointed off I go. About 5 or 6 weeks later off I go to Lowes and ask what is happening. The salesman is not very nice at all. They have not gotten an answer, he is waiting for other quotes as well. Does not appolize. Says there is some issue that is being dealt with and basically I will get a call when they have an answer.
Well, I am sorry but if this is any indication of the service we will receive I think we'll stop before we start.

Off to Home Depot. They have the same product. It is 21.00 a square foot installed standard height. I am now waiting for the cost of the higher countertop without the backsplash piece. Two weeks and counting.

Good thing we haven't started the kitchen yet.

Off to procrastinate in the garden.
Hmmm....maybe I'll write about that.
Brenda

I am not a writer.

Hello!!
I don`t keep a journal, never have. Tend not to write things down on the off chance someone sometime might just read it. But I`ve been reading the worlds Blogs and it does appear that the whole world has a Blog so I thought what the hell. Just jump right in. So this is for me because I think it may be fun to keep track of our renovations. The process we go through to make decisions and how we carry those out. I don`t know how people actually find these things but if anyone does and gets anything out of it then I guess that would be a bonus. I am starting this a little into the work and decision making so I will catch you up as I go along.
I will try to take a lot of pictures because pictures are the best part. Bare with me as I try and figure out how to use this blog and make it pretty for you, and me, I like pretty.

We are currently working on the spare bedroom, livingroom, hall and diningroom. I have before and during pics of each and will add those during the explanation of the work being done in each room.

I guess that`s it for now. I`m going to try my hand at the pretty. Thanks for joining me.
Goodnight
Brenda