I could use some ideas for my backyard. Our wood deck was falling apart, so we had it torn out last fall. We decided not to replace it since it was so difficult to maintain. I'm starting to think that we made a mistake. We hired a landscape company to design a plan for the area and do the work. Things didn't go well. They installed the wrong flagstone on our walkway, cut out the wrong sized base for a patio and firepit area and didn't prepare the base correctly. All of their work has to be torn out. Our yard is a mess and the landscaper decided not to correct and complete the job or return our deposit.

So far I have only been able to successfully resolve one issue. Our walkway was installed 10 years ago so trying to match the paver stone color was impossible. Fortunately, I found some used paver stones that were close in color. I decided to install an 8" step the width of the walkway to make the difference in paver stones less noticeable. Our walkway and patio pavers are covered with construction dust in the attached photo.

Now I'm working on the rest of the backyard that the old deck covered. The landscaper planned to install a fire pit area on the right side of this photo, using flagstone. I have since learned that disturbing the tree roots of Sugar Maples, and White Pine trees is a bad idea, sparks from a wood burning fire could be an issue under pine trees, the base for the fire pit was supposed to have been 16 feet instead of 14 feet, the base was incorrectly installed for paver stones, pine tree sap is difficult to remove from paver stones and the wind blowing against top heavy pine trees, lifts the tree roots causing the paver stones to lift. A tree company told me that since the area has already been cutout for a fire pit, the damage to the tree roots has already been done, so he suggested that we use a fine decorative type gravel over the base, install the fire ring and just make sure to use a screen over the fire pit to contain the sparks.

On the left side of the wooded area, instead of a 16' circular area cut out for a patio, we have another 14' base. Pine sap isn't an issue in this area. I have looked for flagstone that would blend well with our paver stone patio and with the flagstone stepping stones in the wooded area, but failed to find anything that would blend well. I might have enough paver stones left over from the walkway to use for this area. If not, I found some Holland pavers that I think would mix well.

I originally thought that I should use the same material for both areas of the backyard along with pathways to connect our existing patio to fire pit and the patio in the wooded area. I could always remove what has been installed and just plant some ground cover.

Any advice would be welcomed.