Backyard Projects: Stepping Stone Walkway

We continue to make slow progress in our backyard.  It started with removing the old garden boxes and moving the fence that closed it in.  We cleared out the two-year old start to a patio and decided to build a pond with a small stream instead.  We dug out new planter beds around the new pond and eventually created a stone pad for a future hot-tub and shaded seating area and planted privacy shrubs to eventually screen us from our very close neighbors.

It’s been a never ending list of to-dos in our backyard but seeing it go from an overgrown blank slate to looking like a real yard has been fun.  B doesn’t always love working outside in the heat but I’ve really come to enjoy the work and I find myself relaxing in our blue Adirondack chairs watching the birds and sneaking a quick peek at the fish many evenings throughout the week.

The most recent piece of the puzzle is the walkway we added from the old sidewalk to the rear gate.  We added concrete blocks for stepping stones and then placed river rock in between. We completed the corner with mulched planter beds and I planted a couple plants to soften things up. 

We used flexible yard edging between the stone and the mulch bed to keep the materials separated.    This stuff was super easy to shape into the exact form we wanted and it’s not too tall that it sticks up too far.  

We then mulched around the back of the pond and around the fence where the stone seating area is.  We also mulched around the top of the stream where the waterfall is.  

The next phase of the project should be finishing up the stone along the stream and installing the pavers for the firepit area.

BACKYARD PROJECT LIST

1. Take out the garden and move it to the back corner as a smaller area in beds. 
2. Plant some privacy trees / shrubs along both sides of the fence to add a little privacy from the neighbors.
3. Add pond and water feature (Details on how we built our pond coming soon!)
4. Add some landscaping to “pretty” the yard.  (This task is partially complete but there is still more to do.)
5. Finish the patio area with fire pit.  (You can read about how we started this project here.) 
6. Add stone area with Adirondack chairs on the other side of the pond
7. Add some fun lighting to the landscaping
8. Install new siding on back of house and paint
9. Build door for garden shed and paint entire shed
10. Add Trim to corners and around openings on shed
11. Add walkway from sidewalk to rear gate.
12. + more…