Landscape Contractor / Design Build Maintain

AUG 2015

LC/DBM provides landscape contractors with Educational, Imaginative and Practical information about their business, their employees, their machines and their projects.

Issue link: https://landscapecontractor.epubxp.com/i/550961

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 25 of 71

The hardscape projects featured in these pages are more often than not in the backyard of a residence. But a property's hardscape usually starts out front – as a driveway, which is the first impression a homeowner can make on guests and passersby. Driveways come in many forms: from the economical yet functional types such as gravel, stone, macadam (also known as tar and chip), and asphalt, to the common and durable concrete drives, to the truly eye-catching ones made of stamped concrete, bricks, pavers or the some- what rare and expensive cobblestone. Paver driveways with their multiple colors and pat- terns are time-consuming endeavors – having to fit each stone by hand, and often having to cut-to-fit before set- ting them - but the results are almost always striking as the following projects demonstrate. A Blended Expanse In LaDue, Mo., a busy family with teens wanted to renovate all their hardscape to maximize their enjoy- ment and minimize maintenance. They contracted with Earth Works of nearby Perryville to pave their parking areas, and to build an outdoor entertainment area with a kitchen, covered patio, and an elegant and solidly con- structed outdoor fireplace made from concrete masonry units with the look of natural stone. The desire for an easy flow between the parking area/ basketball court and the patio presented a design chal- lenge, as did the limited patio placement options due to the need to tie in to the existing roofline. Placing the grill area on the driveway side of the patio, with an ad - ditional buffer of plantings, helped achieve a smooth, user-friendly transition. The homeowners were so impressed with the results that they decided to expand it to include the entire 10,000-square-foot circular drive as well. Earth Works chose Tranquility pavers in Serenity tone from County Materials for the job. The pavers' colors, and the patterns that the masons created, mirror the house's bricks and blocks. Grand Milestone Timeless pavers were used to edge the drive. Now the homeowners have a very handsome hard- Above: A permeable paver project in Gilford, N.H., included a 2,400-square-foot driveway that Natures Elite Landscaping installed using mostly Belgard Subterra permeable pavers. The base is 16" of compacted 2" gravel and 6" of compacted ¾" gravel. The final bedding course is 2" of 3/8" chip stone that was screeded with 2" pipe laid out eight to ten at a time to space the pavers that were then leveled with a 10-ton hydrostatic drive- on roller. Pave Drive By Mike Dahl, LC/DBM 26 LC DBM that

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Landscape Contractor / Design Build Maintain - AUG 2015