Cluttered CorkBoard

I have basically been on a major overhaul mission of our yard.
I have done a lot of changes to our yard here and there over the years,
but I think I got a lot more serious about changing things up
about 2 years ago when our daughter went off to college and I just
really needed to stay busy.
Ya know, to keep from packing up and moving right along with her to be closer
to my kids. lol. 😉

The fact that I love projects was certainly a factor as well and it has become
one of my favorite things to do in my spare time.   I love the outdoors, working
in the yard, and thinking about what I want to do.  Design idea's, researching plants,
and then searching for the ones that I want and just all of it.  
Okay, all of it except the weeds.. not a fan of that part of it. 

In thinking about different spaces in our garden, I had been debating on this one.
We have sort of an awkward space in the back yard.. years ago it had an above ground
pool for the kids so we put up a partial fence for privacy but that pool has been gone for
quite some time.  There was a fire pit area in this space as well, which has also changed.
I have added flowerbeds along the fence as well near the house,
and they have been a fun 'work in progress' as I decide what to plant and where,
but I wanted to do something "more" in this area and decided to
add a paver patio.

I am just going to start off with the before and after shot..




I am not sure how obvious it is in the before picture,
but I had removed the fire pit from this space and basically had been mapping out my
design idea so the before picture is a bit of a mess to say the least.





Since I had my design figured out and knew where I wanted my patio,
I went ahead and dug out a new area for a
flowerbed and I worked on leveling the future patio site.



A trip to the store for pavers, and quite a bit of work later..  😉

I have my new paver patio.

I went with a smaller patio for this space as I don't want to get rid of all the green
space.  Not right now anyway. 

It is 8 x 10 in size, using 80 of the 12x12 sized pavers.
I am thinking about changing it up to 8 x 12 eventually but for now I am happy
with how it has turned out and how this space in my garden has been evolving.

It is becoming such a pretty space, especially as plants start to mature.
Check out the clematis by my fence.. I am sooo looking forward to the pretty purple
blooms.  It has grown so big this year that it is trailing over the back of the fence and I am working
on seeing if I can get it to trail along the top somehow.



If you are wondering what the little picket fence section is for, I recently planted new grass seed in a bare spot that was there, as well as on the other side of my new patio so I am using the little fence as
a reminder of where I planted it so we do not accidentally mow it down or use the weedeater in that space for a little while until the new grass is rooted in well and can handle it.



I am still working on the flowerbed in this space, it is definitely in the very beginning
stage of things and I still have to complete the shape at the end of the patio.
We have just had so much rain that I haven't been able to work on it.
(somewhere around 18 inches of rain within the last month, which is just crazy)

However, so far I do have a black lace elderberry, sedum, and a row of lavender planted.
(hoping they all survive all the rain we've had)




I have several idea's going forward and working on a project for this space that I will be sharing
shortly.   I am looking forward to sharing it with you.

I am also deciding what planters and flowers that I want to add,
and what kind of path or walkway to add to this space or if I really want one.
 I am leaning towards a flagstone type of walkway to lead to it, what do you think.. would you add
a path or no path.. flagstone, more pavers or?
Give me some idea's.

Blessings,
- TinaH