I should mention that all of our home improvements are DIY. Because of this, my dad has become my #1 go to helper with all my projects. There are may reasons why: he is awesome, he knows everything about tools, building and home improvements, he has all the necessary tools for home improvements, and he is recently retired (congrats, dad)so has extra time and likes to keep himself busy. I secretly hope that my dad will rub off on my husband who is good at quick fixes when the plumbing acts up, but is the farthest thing from being a handyman as possible.
When we went to the drawing board for what to do with the sidewalk strip, we had lots of ideas:
Pave the whole thing with an attractive stamped, stained concrete? No, I still need something green so your eye can land on something soft and green. Do flagstone and grow moss between the stones? No, it gets too dry and weeds would just grow. Do sections of stamped, stained cement and then two planter boxes to add the green? OK, the plants will have to be drought resistant, and we can keep weeds down with mulch....wait stamps and stain cost $1,000, never mind.
Finally I/we decided to do pavers and drought resistant plants and got to work. It took just about a month and a half to complete from the moment we started planning, but I am pleased with the result.
Notice the patch of dirt on the lawn where the bushes used to be :)
The pattern we used for the brick pavers was herringbone. It went in easily, but our sidewalk was not straight, so my dad had to cut many bricks to fit in the spaces with his tile cutter. In each box I planted a Spanish lavender, two ornamental grasses named Elisha's Blue, and a spreading sedum.
With these boxes I tried to establish the color scheme for the front yard. Because the house is red, I decided all the plants will have yellow or purple flowers, with hints of red and white to tie it into the house (I hope to paint the trim on the house white).
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