seems well thought out ..go for it!

A couple of questions...why is the picket fence located where it is now? And, how much of the property in front of the picket fence is truly yours and not easement etc.? The fence looks appropriate to the house and provides some sense of enclosure, but the area enclosed by the fence seems kind of skimpy and the placement seems arbitrary in relation to the location of the large tree in the foreground. All things being favorable, you might get the most bang for your buck by moving the fence to enclose an area that is more suitable in size and shape for the patio. Also, I'd make sure that the enclosed area is sufficient in size for not only the patio but a generous planting bed inside and outside the fence--the fence would then be a backbone for plantings that would add to the enclosed feel. You can start with an inexpensive patio made of crushed rock which could then be used as a base for your bluestone pavers or brick as the budget allows for improvement. A mixed media patio with both the bluestone and brick might suit your budget. Check out the frugal gardening forum--they have lots of ideas about finding free/inexpensive building materials.

My amateur .02

Paige,
Freecycle can be a great source for used bricks or stone. If you are not already a member, find your local freecycle email group at freecycle.org.

I have only been a member for about a year but I have gotten plants and other things, as well as had folks take away unwanted, but useful, items such as a bread maker, kitchen stools, books, and videos.

It's FREE.

Patty

Be careful doing this, because it can get very expensive very quickly if you blow out the car suspension, but are they doing any road regrading near you? We live where stone grows wild, and often when they do the blasting to widen a road, they'll be a pile of split rock. The flagstone from the front walk may be better, but take a look around and see what is there. We run to poor quality bluestone. Further south there seems to be some slate.

millrace, thanks for the vote of confidence!

sammie, the yard as pictured above is pretty much the whole thing. I was standing on the sidewalk when taking the picture. Thanks for the suggestion, but I wouldn't want to move the fence. I'm the only one on the whole street with a fence in the front yard, and the yards all run together (as do the kids). So if i moved the fence forward it would break up the feeling of neighborhood unity.

There is room for a planting bed on the outside of the left side of the fence, and there are already some black-eyed susans there. I will likely expand the area at some point and plant more wildflowers. There are new peonies planted in front of the fence, and I will be adding a clematis I just purchased to the corner as well.

Patty, thanks for the tip about freecycle. I had forgotten about them!

mad gallica, my suspension is alread tired! I do have a friend with a truck, but I have been testing the limits of her generosity lately I'm afraid.

OK, so I checked freecycle and there is nothing available. I figure if I want to get this done over the weekend, I can either buy some brick or use the flagstone from the front walk. I'm leaning toward using the flagstone.

I sketched it out on graph paper and it looks a little funny with a thin flagstone border all around. So now I'm thinking I will put the straight rectangular stone right up against the beds in a large rectangle shape, and mirror the beds on the opposite side with an "L" of the irregular flagstone all along the fence. I sketched that out and it looked great, sort of like I could have done it that way on purpose rather than running out of materials. And I will put planters of some kind over in that area to make if feel more garden-like - - maybe even plant herbs for cooking. What do you think?

Of course, I will have to put something else in the walkway but I could just mulch it for this year.

You can run the flagstone through the bluestone as a path, or mix it randomly within the bluestone if you are amenable to having some gaps that you fill in with groundcover or pebbles. You can also stretch the material if you leave openings within the patio that are actual planting holes for bigger plants - but it limits use of the space more. And don't count out buying or finding more rectangular pieces in the future.

I agree about adding concrete pavers to the mix with the steps - that's a no go.

karin, I love the idea of the path, but I should have told you what I will be using the space for. mea culpa. I will be putting a table that seats 4 comfortably and 6 in a pinch, with smallish chairs. I'll probably try to find something round and with a wrought iron look to it - - I think that will fit in well. I might store my fire bowl under the table, so when dinner is over we can just move the table and lounge around the fire. Thus my plan to use the flat stone in the center, so that the table and chairs will sit level. I do know this is a tiny space for dining, but we're used to that in our neighborhood. The houses are all small (+-1300 sq. ft.) and my dining room itself is only 9x9, so this will be even bigger!

I used a mix of old granite slabs, used brick, and new bluestone for my patio. Here's a picture to show how they look together. You could do something similar with brick. Note: They're uneven because the photo was taken during construction.

{{gwi:28020}}

saypoint, that looks great. Thanks for posting it. I love the beds behind the patio, too.

What did you use to build the patio up at the bottom of the picture?

That's a stone wall, and the patio area was filled with crushed stone under the sand base. Professional installation, not DIY.

Hi Paige,

Where do you live in CT? I'm in North Branford and will be replacing a 30 year old collapsing brick patio with natural stone. The bricks are in great shape, and I'm giving them away. A friend of mine has claimed a good amount, but there is more than enough to go around. I have about 900 square feet! The clincher is that you have to remove them. It doesn't seem like you'd need tons and since the patio is already falling apart, they shouldn't be too difficult to lift. If you're interested, contact me via email and we'll make arrangements for you to check them out.

dccnm (from kitchens)

hi dccnm,
Thanks so much for the offer! I'm in central CT. Branford is about an hour away. If it turns out to be too much of a hassle to move the stone I have, I will definitely get in touch with you via email. I'm starting the digging tomorrow, stone dust should be here in the afternoon. I'll keep you posted!

dccnm, I moved the stone up from my backyard and had just enough. Thanks so much for your offer. I'm not finished yet, and I'm going away next weekend, but hopefully I can finish the weekend after that and then I'll post a picture.

Im a DIY gal also. Im on a budget too so Im doing mine out of 8x16 concrete stepping stones.

Just a thought but how about using the flag stones to circle a firepit in the center of the patio. Forget about the single table and do seating around the fire pit with shared side tables. Like eating in the living room instead of in the dining room.LOL

Im using old sewing machine bases with wood tops for my tables and wooden kitchen chairs painted wild colors. And some painted rocking chairs. I think "found" stuff has more character than the plastic stuff.

Another idea would be to build some antique looking wooden benches and place them around by the fence. They could be used for extra seating or as buffets. Or people could place them around the fire pit for dining. I have some and I find lots of uses for mine. Right now the cats are lounging on them.

Great job Paige--I'm happy it worked out that you did have enough materials. Can't wait to see it. I'm taking the easy way out and having it done for me. It's a pretty large area and since we live near a pond and there's a lot of wetland-type conditions in my backyard I don't want to take any chances that it's not done properly. At my old home I did a slate walkway over Memorial Day weekend once--must be the time for those projects!

Just posting an update, several months later. I finally finished my patio project and redid the flagstone front walkway while I was at it. I also planted a bed along the side of the patio with a Japanese Snowbell tree, a Limelight Hydrangea and a Mohawk Viburnum. Here are some pictures:

{{gwi:32755}}

{{gwi:32756}}

As you can see, I am using my copper fire bowl as a table. A friend found the black marble table top on the side of the road on trash day. I will be replacing the plastic chairs with wrought iron when/if I can find some second hand.

Here is a view of the walkway:
{{gwi:32757}}

Since taking the picture above I have also planted along the foundation to the right of the steps in a fashion to mirror the plantings in the patio bed. In other words, knockout roses and Chameacyparis pisifera 'Cream Ball', along with one Juniperus 'Gold Cone' at the end for height.

Interesting anecdote: while digging the stones out of the walkway, I found that several were actually pieces of a grave stone from 1846. I did not reuse those stones and we are currently searching for the cemetery from which they were stolen.

Thanks to all who posted their advice and encouragement.