Terry L. Ettinger Horticulture Consulting Services
Meeting The Needs Of Today With A Vision For The Future
Landscape Project Gallery
Simple Patio
After
rebuilding their old deck, my clients wanted to step down onto
something other than wet grass! In addition, the hidden from view by
the stairs in the photo at right, French doors open onto this space
from the basement, too.
Looking toward the deck from the opposite direction,
a set of rotting railroad tie steps can be seen in the lower left
hand corner of the photo at right. While the clients had not
originally considered replacing the stairs prior to our initial
consultation, they quickly realized that it made sense to
incorporate new stairs into the patio project.
Considering the elegant workmanship of the deck
builder, it was decided that the patio would be constructed of
Pennsylvania bluestone laid out in a random pattern. Though
generally the most expensive paving material on a square foot basis
here in Central New York, the clients were very comfortable with
their decision after reviewing other paving options. The end result,
in the photo at right, certainly illustrates that their choice of
bluestone continues the sense of elegance and high quality
workmanship from their deck right onto the ground plane of their
backyard.
Attention to detail in this project included a curved edge to the patio
(see the photo at right). The intent of the curve is to "soften" the
hard lines of the bluestone pavers while simultaneously creating a
bit of contrast between the curved edge and the rigid geometry of
the bluestone slabs.
Finally, as a statement of the extreme skill
of the contractor on this project, note how the natural stone
slab steps (which replaced the rotting railroad ties) are cut right into the bluestone patio (see the photo at
right). The intent here was to again create a sense of contrast
between the hard lines of the bluestone and the irregular shape of
the stone slabs, while also creating a subtle sense of transition
from the formality of the deck and patio toward the very natural
lower portion of this property at the base of the stone slab steps.