I would suggest that you do not use the cheap patio blocks. Those are not actually pavers in that they will not interlock. You will have lippage and they will shift a lot. But, if you use them, they should be layed over a bed of either 1/8" chipped stone or sand (the gravel base you already have, but it looks like washed gravel so you would need a geotextile over it), then you mallet them level just as you would install a large format tile floor inside your house.

I also recognize that being on Houzz you appreciate design a bit. So no offense, but I think you can do a little better than the triangle. You are keeping the concrete sidewalk, so do something that plays with that, not competes just as an add-on. So as inspiration, a couple sketches - the first is if you stick with the patio blocks, creating some pattern working with a landscape bed that softens the hardscape. The second, and what I would do, is use bricks to match the porch as a 2-wide soldier course along the perimeter (and other side of driveway). Not as much functional space, but IMO would look better with all the different materials, colors, and decor you have in your landscape.

Then powerwash the concrete, buff the scratch out of the hood from the shovel, and you're good to go!

Thank you for these pictures! I like the look of the rectangular bricks however my driveway is pretty long. Would I need to extend the bricks all the way down the side of the driveway? Then the other side of the driveway wouldn't have the bricks. I'm not sure how that would look. Or could I just stop abruptly as in your sketch? Do you think I could put a potted plant or some decor in the small area I still have rocks in?
Because I am leaning towards not carrying the bricks all the way down the driveway, I'm leaning towards the first drawing with the pavers. Question-in your vision, would the pavers extend up to the green curved line that you drew? Also, I'm not sure they can wrap all around the sidewalk because I have that retaining wall there.
Thank you so much for all the help and advice!

My vision is brick all the way down the drive, and no more triangle at all. But that's my vision and pretend wallet, not yours which is the one that counts. If you do use brick part way, it probably would be fine, you could even introduce a little down by the mailbox where you have something going on. It matches the porch which is key, so there can be leeway because there is 1 consistent material to tie everything together.

But the patio blocks, I drew the extent of what was in my head, jogged outline like that and stopping short of the retaining blocks next to the porch. The rest would be mulch/rock and plantings up to a softly curved landscape bed edge (the corner sticking through the landscape bed is my signature move). Just my thoughts from a quick out-of-scale sketch to hopefully open your mind to other possibilities.

big city location.. so we understand winter issues is imperative ...

is there any reason you dont go with real pavers.. and not patio blocks ??

are the 3 there.. original??? ... we dont want to replicate such ??? ...

any option of removing those and going all paver???

pavers require a proper substrate .. and that is usually about 95% of the job.. setting down the brick and sanding it.. is the easy part ...

stone alone is usually not the best.. especially in my ground freeze MI .. so again... where are you??

is there any reason that spot has to be the hard to work with triangle ... there will be a lot less bricks to cut.. if you went rectangular ...

so many questions.. so little time.. lol .. at least you have a walkway to use.. while you puzzle this all out ...

everything is so 90 degrees on your house and drive.. im not sure you have the space to go all swoopy lines without it looking weird in such a small application ... perhaps a pic of the whole front of the house will help with that ...

ken

Hi Ken,

I am in North Carolina, zone 7B. I'm not sure between the difference of patio blocks versus pavers. I thought they meant the same thing. At any rate, I want to go with a thick paver. The ones in my pictures were just left over from another project. The reason I was going triangular originally is to try to soften the lines a bit so it's not so blocky. I would put plants along the longest triangular side to soften the appearance. It doesn't have to be a triangle though. I have a pretty long driveway that is relatively flat. I'll attach a picture of the house when I am able to.