Finally, the reveal. Pictures of our side yard path

It’s taken all winter, but I finally have pictures of our side yard project.

One of the reasons the reveal has taken so long is because I think our side yard path looks very homemade. I’m glad we did it, and to have the project done. Eventually, I will stop noticing the many flaws but I don’t think it looks fabulous.

Things started off well. Five pavers fit just right, taking up the entire path. My eyeballing of spacing was okay.

After those six rows, the house jutted out the tiniest bit and suddenly there was a problem. Four pavers were too few, but five pavers wouldn’t fit. I knew from reading the various how-to books, that I was supposed to cut the pavers down to size. But that was beyond my capabilities, so I tried making big spaces between the pavers. And I tried to make them even, but it didn’t exactly work.

By the time I got to the gate, I remembered that I should be using guides to place the stones in just the right spot. I didn’t go back and fix what had gone wrong (forever marching forward is one of my best and worst features) but made some plans for what would happen just past the gate.

On the other side of the gate, I started using spacers to better arrange the pavers. My spacers were two of the stakes we used to mark the edges of the project. I also started filling in the extra space with the bricks we used for the edging, but placed sideways. This allowed for some play when things didn’t fit just right.

And I learned that properly leveling things is very important, as is establishing some straight guidelines.

This was very much a beginners project and we made a lot of mistakes, but all this winter I walked on that very solid path without getting my feet muddy, and this summer I will not be striding through weeds. So ultimately, this is a win.

Next up: a redo of the backyard. And I’ll finally sweep that extra sand off of the path.