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Landscape Construction - Retaining Walls
In this article we are going to provide all the information that is needed to know about retaining walls, from its definition to tips on the basics on how to build one.

What is a Retaining Wall?

To put in general terms, a retaining wall is a wall that blocks or holds back the materials behind it, in short, gravity fighters. This is used to prevent the ground from sliding down. Retaining walls are usually put in slopes or in areas with different elevation. The structure is designed to defy the downward pressure of soil as well as be able to carry the whole pressure of the wall material itself. One good example of a retaining wall is a basement wall. Since basement walls are dug under the ground, a retaining wall must be put in order to block the soil from flowing into the flat area of the basement. Retaining walls are usually constructed in a certain angle or as others call it, cantilever retaining wall. This type will be able to hold back loose soil and even water pressure. The strength of the wall will depend on the angle of one end. The pull of gravity is a factor when it comes to planning the construction of these types of walls.

Lighting

Adding light to your path adds functional properties to your walkways. A brighter landscape protects your home against burglars and helps you find your footing at night. Walkway lighting comes in different types. Things to consider are maintenance, power saving, visual, range of light and ease of installation. The most common walkway lightings are the following:

Solar Powered

• Perfect for green living, this walkway path harnesses its power from the sun and stores it on its battery to be used at night. Solar powered lights automatically turn on at the absence of sunlight. No need for electricity and yet reliable. This lighting is the best option yet.

Hanging Lights

• These light the area around your landscape because they hang higher. You can adjust the count of your lanterns but just easily hanging more or you can place them higher to light up a wider range of area outside your home.

Foot Lights

• These types of lighting are sophisticated since they are embedded on the ground. It takes work to install these lights but all that work pays off if you see them in action. The light on the ground lights up the house at night making it stand out from the neighborhood if you are the only one using foot lights on your landscape.

Glow-in-the-Dark

• This lighting only helps you find your way through the dark. Some glow-in-the-dark lighting also come with reflectors or cat’s eyes to reflect any available light around the area. Using no power at all, this only helps you find your way or distinguish which to step on at night.

Uses and Importance of Landscape Walkways and Paths
Walkways and paths add elegance to your home’s landscape architecture. Allowing you to walk through your garden landscape without disturbing your plants, your walkway also adds a touch of class as well. It’s a wonderful way to enhance a unique feel of the yard ranging from a wide array of materials and designs. It complements the focal points of your house while it connects you from point A to point B.

Walkways and paths on your landscape add a functional addition by keeping the soft parts of your landscapes untouched. A neat and unique pathway is a great addition to your high-end designed landscape.

Easy Installation on Different Types of Walkways and Path
Landscape walkways come in different shapes and styles. These could range from flagstones and cobblestones or molded and stamped cement with decorated gravels. Depending on the materials and designs used like a fresh country feel with stone walkways or a complemented formal landscape with bricks, the walkway should fit your aspiration to a beautiful home.

Stone path
Stone paths use natural flat stones giving it a more natural look. Like a Stone Age jigsaw puzzle, installation requires heavy lifting depending on the materials to be used. This project is a very simple one overall for enhancing your yard. Working with at least one partner would help you get through.

1. Start by choosing which path it should take and mark the chosen route. The most common is a 3-foot wide path which is enough for two people to stroll side by side. When working with a straight path, mark the edges with strings tied on stakes to form a straight line. Use a garden hose with curved or wavy paths.

2. Try testing your path and make a few adjustments until you are comfortable with it. Mark the lines with bright colored paint and allow the paint to dry.

3. Dig 5 inches deep along the course you have plotted using a spade. Make the base as even as you can and moisten the soil in the excavated area with water and tamp it down using a tamping tool.

4. To prevent weeds in the future, place a landscape fabric down over the base of the excavated area and shovel two inches of sand over it. Tamp down the sand firmly.

5. Begin setting down some of the larger rocks on the sand base and keep gaps between them as small as possible. Continue lying them down along the center and try to walk on them with your normal gait and check if you are landing between the rocks. Make a few adjustments if needed.

6. Now that you feel comfortable with your placements, plug the gaps with smaller pieces. Use a carpenter’s level to check the levels of each side. Make adjustments by either adding or removing sands underneath the stone.

7. Finally, fill in the remaining gaps by applying layers of sand and tap it in well. Clean the stone surfaces with a brush or sweep and moisten the path with water to add firmness to the sand.

If your planned stone path would cut through the lawn, level the path with the lawn. This would help you with mowing your lawn so you could mow right across your path. Digging deeper to add layers of crushed stones or pebbles helps in drainage with wet yards. Avoid tree roots damaging your stone path by keeping your stone path away from trees. Some trees are also easily damaged by stone paths running under them so keep away.

Brick Path
Coming in a large variety of colors, brick is sturdy and durable even in harsh weather. This adds simplicity and formality in your landscape design.
1. Mark the right and left edges of your path with your property paint and create smooth parallel lines about 18 inches apart. Including a few curves to mimic a winding trail looks best.

2. Using a sod roller, peel the sod from the top of the soil by pushing the blades on one end of the path and push the roller following the path lines.

3. Create a flat, shallow dirt path using a flat end spade by pushing the edge into the ground and then pushing it forward. Keep excavating until you it is 1 ½ inches deep.

4. Start placing the bricks on the excavated area for the path. Start working on one end spacing the bricks by ¼ inch. Work your way to the end of the path.

5. Finish the path by pouring masonry sand over the bricks at about a pound per 3 square feet and sweep the sand so it fills the gaps between the bricks.

Concrete Path
Concrete paths are easy projects to work on. You can directly connect these paths with the sidewalk, doorway, or any part of your home. Landscaping around it makes it look more casual and complements the doorway it leads to. Pouring concrete for this project is not that difficult at all.

1. Using either a garden hose or spray paint, mark the form of your path. Curve or straight, make sure your lines are parallel to each other.

2. Remove 3 inches of sod to allow a wooden form for your frame to make the edges of your path.

3. Using a shovel, dig a trench approximately 6 to 8 inches deep. Make sure the depth is uniform on both the width and the length of the project.

4. Make your frame by screwing wooden garden edgings of approximately 3 inches and secure it with stakes. Place the frame on your project path’s edges.

5. Level the wooden garden edging by pounding stakes into the soil until all sides are of equal height. 6. Using a plate compactor, compress the soil of your path and pour gravel within the path. Spread the gravel evenly across the path and keep the gravel’s depth level at 4 inches.

7. Lay out a concrete mesh across the path and cut any excesses. Keep a 3-inch distance on each side.

8. Working 3 to 4 foot sections at a time, pour concrete onto the gravel. With a metal rake, spread the concrete. Keep going until you have completed the whole path.

9. Smooth the surface of the concrete by placing a 2x4-inch board over the concrete. And in a sawing motion, pull the board back and forth to smooth out the surface. Go over the whole path with the 2x4-inch board again and fill in low areas as necessary. 10. Place a mag float over the surface after letting the excess water on the concrete dry up. Using long sweeping motions with the mag float, smooth the surface. Lift the mag floats leading edge to avoid ripples.

11. Create chamfers on the outside corners on all the edges.

12. Determine where to put your segment cuts by measuring your path. Place segments at every 5 to 6 feet.

13. Across the first cut site, lay a straight edge such as a 2x4 and make your segment cuts using the edge of a groover. Repeat until you have completed your segment cuts.

14. With a push broom, stand at the side of the path and rest the push broom on the opposite side of the path, then slowly pull the broom towards where you are standing. Continue down the length of your path. With each stroke, overlap the broom strokes approximately inches each time.

15. Place a 4 mm plastic cover over the concrete after allowing it to harden. Hold the plastic in place with large rocks or bricks. Leave the plastic over the concrete for 24 hours.

16. Remove the plastic and you are ready to remove the frame off the path you have created. Carefully remove the frame using a shovel as leverage and pulling it away from the new concrete path.

Grass Path

The grass path is the simplest landscape path and easiest to make. A grass path is perfect if you are planning for a plain grass lawn. With some landscapes filled with too much hardscapes, a grass path would be perfect. Same as installing concrete, brick or stone paths, grass paths go the opposite. Instead of excavating to place stones, planting grass to create a grass path is how grass path is all about. Sometimes mowing the lawn to create a path is also done.

Patio – The Garden of Paradise Patios are areas used for outdoor lounging that are usually paved adjoining a house. Patio may refer to a roofless inner courtyard between a residence and a garden often found in Spanish-styled dwellings. This outdoor space is generally used for dining or recreation. Sometimes, the patios are placed outside a pub or restaurant as an outdoor furnished drinking compound. Often paved and provided with some kind of shade, the patio often represents the Garden of Paradise as imagined by Muslim architects. They are typically made of durable materials such as bricks, tile, or natural paving stones and provide a small, quiet, and private yard whose main purpose is for relaxation. The number of people wanting to extend their entertaining outdoors grew that the trend of outdoor furniture continues to this day.
Compared to the Italian cortile, the patio is a Spanish development of the Roman atrium. In medieval Spanish architecture, the patio is the major element which was a transitional work displaying Gothic, Renaissance and Moorish architectural features. Famous architectural landmarks like the Sevilla Cathedral and the Ducal Palace feature patios with medieval architectural designs. It became a standard element in houses during the Spanish Renaissance. It came to be richly decorated and arcades surrounding patios took on a unique importance as shelters from the hot climate of Spain. Decorating houses and palaces with areas full of life has been customary and the patio offers the element of ecclesiastic and secular structures.
The patio is an extension of the house that takes relaxation, entertainment, socialization and recreation out to an open area of the property.

Design and Style
Patios come in a large array of materials and designs that include real stone, stone veneer, plain concrete, bricks, tiles and stamped or colored concrete. Outdoor patio furniture constructed from high-tech materials adds strength, durability and ease of care to the patio’s structure. With added concepts like outdoor kitchens and rooms, people are spending more time outdoors. A demand on adding hot tubs, swimming pools and certain outdoor toys could get simple patios to evolve into stylish pieces that homeowners can use daily. Considering the sun position, the patio is placed at a secluded area of the property to provide the needed shade on most occasions. Most patios are exposed to the morning sunlight which makes it a perfect place to enjoy a session of sunbathing. An important feature of the patio is the flooring. Being located outside, the patio’s flooring should be paved from the patio up to the adjoining house itself. Natural stone is expensive but is hard to beat for both beauty and durability. Depending on the effects that you want to achieve with natural stone, materials for patio flooring could range from large flagstones and paving stones to smaller setts and cobbles. Mixtures of concrete and ground up natural stone cast are extremely convenient that it allows you to create different patterns like circles or waves easily. Bricks could also be used to create attractive and sympathetic surfaces. Cheaper than stone, bricks are available in a range of colors and textures.

Adding a Patio to Your Landscape
Before considering adding a patio to your landscape, it is important to consider the materials to be used based on long-term practicality and maintenance. The patio complements the landscape of your home, so materials that complement the surrounding landscape and the materials already used on your house are needed to make that perfect patio. Mortars that could last for decades are the best choice to minimize maintenance and to add durability. Don’t forget to include patio lights, patio plants, fountains and benches.

Your patio should also provide shade. Considering the position of the sun would help you find the right location for your patio. Some contractors would ask if you would like your patio to be exposed to the morning sunlight and be shaded in the afternoon or a patio that is always shaded from the sun. Listing the outdoor furniture you plan to add to your patio determines the size of your patio. Size does matter if you plan to add more features to it like a cooking area or a hot tub.

Depending on the size and shape of your planned patio, you should consider these following questions before going on with your plan.
Do you like throwing large parties?
How much sunlight is your yard getting?
How does sunlight travel through your yard?
What’s the number of people do you typically entertain?
What outdoor furniture will you be using?
What is your budget?

The cost of your patio would depend on the materials you will be using. Common materials like bricks, tiles and cement will be cheaper from natural stones and reconstituted stones. Stones are heavy to work with making its delivery and installation costs very high. Bricks are common; making it easy to find, and they are easy to install. But no matter what type of material you use as long as you have incorporated it to your design, the outcome would depend on how much time you spent with the planning. A quick inquiry from professional landscapers could help you.

You could also make your patio look bigger using vertical blockages or fences that surround it like:

Using mirrors to make it seem bigger.
Hanging up a painting of a vast landscape picture to create a feeling of being in a gigantic space.
Using lighter wall colors to make it seem bigger than it really is.
Based on your heart’s desire, your patio should provide you the entertainment and recreation you and your family need in an outdoor setting. Your patio design should be based on the purpose the structure will serve.
Big or small, your patio should be the heart of your landscape. Being out and enjoying a laugh with friends and family while surrounded with ornamental plants is definitely a garden of paradise right at your backyard or front yard.