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PAVERS AS A DESIGN ELEMENT - ENVISION A NEW OUTDOOR GARDEN |
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Livermore, Calif.-based landscape designer, Carol Vander Muelen, wanted to create a distinctive entry to her home while cutting back on the amount of water needed for lawn upkeep. To begin the transformation, she took out her perennials and shrubs and moved the rose bushes to the backyard. Then the grass was stripped away and replaced with a welcoming garden accentuated with an interlocking paving stone walkway leading to the front door.
To soften the appearance of the hardscape walkways, she mounded soil in piles on each side of the path, creating free-form raised beds. She planted drought-resistant native and Mediterranean-style plants including Ceanothus (California lilac), penstemon, salvia and festuca. Vander Muelen selected these for their softer purple and gray foliage in order to contrast the pavers’ hardscape. She was also able to preserve the yard’s mature plants, such as escalonia and photina and trees, because the pavers fit seamlessly into the landscape without disrupting root or soil health.
Pavers lead the way to outdoor rooms, expanding your living space
Vander Muelen also incorporates interlocking paving stones when consulting with clients on their landscape designs. She helps them envision various “rooms” serving a variety of purposes – rest, entertainment, child’s play or vegetable garden. She uses pavers to make a series of paths or walkways to each exterior room. One walkway may guide visitors to the play space with a sandbox or play structure – in sight of the parent’s watchful eye yet far away enough to keep noise at bay. Another walkway may lead guests to a sitting area with a calming water feature and chaise lounges; a bench, or a bistro set on a cordoned-off patio. Walkways can also be constructed to show the way to the homeowner’s vegetable, herb or rose garden.
Pavers can also be used to carve a path to a single dominant design element within a homeowner’s garden or lawn. Tastefully arranged interlocking paving stones can lead up to a birdbath, fountain, sculpture, Japanese maple or wisteria, a floral arbor, vine hoop, dry creek bed, or rock sculpture. These focal points serve as contrast to expanses of lawn, plants or fence, that left unobstructed create a visually devoid area.
The wide variety of shapes, sizes and colors of paving stones add contrast and allow for creativity in designing a backyard area. The hardscape of interlocking paving stones can provide a foil to an arbor draped with honeysuckle vines, a perennial flower garden or a koi pond. Best of all, the interlocking paving stones come with a lifetime product guaranty against cracking and breaking, yet the cost for paving stones is comparable to decorative or stamped concrete which will crack and break over time.
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