After a garage had been refurbished/rebuilt the backyard space was a patch of bare dirt. We had a nearly blank slate to put any new additions to the yard, but with any rain making a muddy mess we needed to act quickly.
The homeowners had a small concrete slab patio which held their dining set, but they were hoping for a larger space to place a firepit and use for entertaining. A ninety square foot expansion was built using reclaimed flagstone to meet this goal. Low maintenance moss will be planted in the gaps.
A mulched play area where the swing set would be situated was sectioned off with an alternating double brick border. The existing shrubs and hostas were to be mulched to reduce weeds and retain moisture using a natural edge cut in. Eventually the yard would be sodded.
They were already off to a great start with a small vegetable garden, dual compost tumblers and a rain barrel, but were really interested in perennial crops such as raspberries and strawberries. Although the yard was heavily shaded by mature trees, there was an area along the property line that had good sun exposure. This area would provide a planting area for the berry plants that was out of traffic's way but allowed easy access to the fruit. Since it was on a slope, terraced raised beds were installed.