"Where do you come up with ideas for all the things you write about?" my friend Chuck asked last Tuesday evening over ribs and his wife Maggie's fabulous, secret-recipe potato salad.
 |
| The French House, Wilmington, NC |
Well,
huh, I thought as we chatted. There’s a post.
Tim and
I do a bit of paver and wall-block work in our business. Almost all
our projects are dry-laid, meaning we use no mortar. The ground in southeastern
North Carolina never freezes; ergo, it never heaves. I enjoy the work, as it requires precision. (Although Nature abhors a straight line, those of us afflicted by anal-retentive tendencies
secretly adore them.) We’ve installed circular decorative medallions, angular
sidewalks, flat patios, patios incorporating steps, seating walls, low
retaining walls and, once, a grand surround for a fountain. We’ve also run
about a mile of standing-paver edging.
Yep, I’d
say we know our pavers.
 |
| Some paver colors & styles |
Pavers
come in various sizes, shapes and colors, and, for the purposes of this
discussion, include concrete stepping stones, or “steppers.” There are even
paver “systems,” sets of blocks in differing shapes that fit together to form
patterns. A visit to the home improvement emporium or—better yet—your local
brickyard can leave you reeling with ideas for embellishing and enhancing your
garden. Prices range from very affordable do-it-yourself to moderately
expensive hire-someone-else-to-do-the-heavy-lifting projects, to over-the-top master
mason-created objets d’art.
Just below on the left is an
example of Belgian block plopped on the ground to serve as edging. I love Belgian
block, with its rough-hewn surfaces, unique cubed forms and considerable heft.
The downside? It’s pricey. I dream of one day having a dry-laid Belgian-block
driveway: stately, textured, pervious, and great traction. But for now, 12 feet
of single-wide edging represents the extent of my budget. (I blew the bulk of
it on what Tim indulgently calls my $700 potato.)
 |
A proper Belgian block sidewalk
at The Stone Garden,
Wilmington's premier stoneyard
|
 |
| Rudimentary Belgian block edging |
Here are two toss-it-on-the-ground projects utilizing square steppers. I wanted a
level place behind our screened porch to put pots on and to quell a stubborn crop of fleabane; our friend Cornelia needed a hard surface on which to
drag her garbage cans to the curb. Lest you be misled by my literary insouciance,
“toss it on the ground” doesn’t really describe the installation. Level is the operative word here, and
will pop up many, many times in the next few posts.
 |
Steppers make it easier to get
your garbage to the curb
|
 |
| Steppers make a base for pots |
Next we
undertook a sidewalk, also at Cornelia’s, that presented new challenges and
educational opportunities. First, part of the space was really narrow; second,
the walkway took two 45-degree turns; and lastly, we wanted to maintain the
integrity of the pattern, a kind of modified basketweave. All three required
sawn-to-shape pavers. To make precision cuts with minimum effort, you need a
special chop-saw with special, heavy-duty blades. Unfortunately, Tim muscled through using a
masonry blade on his regular chop-saw. Live and learn, right? Still, the
project turned out very acceptably.
 |
| Challenge # 1 |
 |
| Challenge # 2 |
 |
| Notice how evenly the water's dripping down |
When our
friends Charlotte and Tom bought a graceful, three-tiered fountain for their
back yard, they asked us to install it. Level
is paramount when dealing with water features: nothing reveals
the tiniest tilt to port or starboard, fore or aft as glaringly as water. Other aesthetics
to consider when constructing a base are shape, color, and dominance. The
fountain was grey and circular, so we built the base to match in order to showcase the fountain rather than its surround. (It can also be done
the other way ’round, and we’ll get there shortly.) For now, suffice it to say
Charlotte’s fountain introduced us to The Circle Kit, one of those paver "systems" mentioned above.
 |
| This is what you call an irregular shape |
Charlotte
and Tom loved our fountain job so much they asked us to continue the paver motif
by building a patio off the back steps. Bordered by an
extruded-concrete edging, the challenge here was the area’s irregular shape. Another learning opportunity!
 |
| Circular medallion in the center |
A semi-circular medallion at the
bottom step echoed the full circle at the geographical center of the space. We
filled in with a gently curving running bond. Having by now obtained the
special chop-saw and special heavy-duty blades, all necessary cutting went
smoothly.
 |
| The step the mason forgot |
The original brick
mason paid meticulous attention to the job specifications: the plans called for three steps, so three steps are what he built, regardless of the fact that there
were 13 inches between the bottom step's tread and the ground instead of the seven-inch
height of the rest of the risers. I pointed
out this little lawsuit waiting to happen to Charlotte. “So fix it,” she said. We did, and quite elegantly, too, if I say so myself. Tim insisted
we mortar the upright bricks for sturdiness. I insisted the same uprights be a
different color for visibility. (Scarred by 12 years spent in lawyer-land, I
see potential liability suits everywhere.)
Remember me saying fountain surrounds can be subtle or not? Here’s our “or not.” An enormously fun
project to design and execute, this paver / seating-wall / entrance column
construction took eight weeks on the ground to complete. It ended
up costing 35 times as much as the putative centerpiece, a rococo Italianate-style
fountain. Apparently, the angels were as pleased with the outcome as the
homeowners, because we have photographic evidence.
 |
| A heavenly blessing |
 |
| The grand fountain surround |
Next time, a bit about
wall-blocks, standing-brick edgings, and a primer on laying pavers.
Thanks for dropping by.
Kathy
 |
| Add caption |
P.S.—Gracie, this is for you: grow-bags galore!
