From 2008 – 2009, a brick patio was designed.   In the design, river rocks, stepping stones, wood beams, and bricks were used.  The lumber was recycled, but after 9 years of sitting in the ground, it sunk and rotted.  It was time for a makeover.

Original design with lumber outlying the pattern all the way around square.

The wood looked good at the time, but it decayed with termites and ants.

I was monitoring craigslist for a few weeks for bricks when a local neighbor was selling beautiful clay bricks for 60 cents each. I bought 100 bricks, she has 900 in case I need more.

In this picture, on the right side, the wood has not yet been removed and the river rock border is sunken and covered with wood chips.  After the new bricks were added, the river rocks were  pulled out and the path widened.

Three sides done, and one more to go:

After the bricks are added, then I plan to power wash the patio and add polymeric sand.

After years of walking the property, it’s fun to redesign spaces by moving a walkway and changing the flow.  In this case, we moved a walkway of river rock stones and wood chips because a maple started to grow in the walkway.  Also, after currents and quince overtook the area, we decided to block walkways with new planter beds, like in the picture above.  The plants and trees take priority, we can move paths.  I designed the brick patio to have terra cotta pots in each of the four corners for vines to grow up the canopy.  The pots were blocking the walkways so they were moved.  Being flexible with semi-permanent features are important for long term care and maintenance.