Fire Pit Patio

I’ve put off doing the backyard for a couple of years now.  It’s never been much to look at.  The first year I moved here I was pleasantly surprised to find raspberry bushes in the yard. Three years later those nice raspberry bushes took over that entire side.. and were steadily creeping into the center of the yard.  As much as I hated to do it, I pulled them out, (anyone who has had raspberry bushes KNOWS what I mean when I say this wasn’t easy). 

So we were left with an empty pile of dirt, weeds and a tree, which really doesn’t belong there, but I’m NOT moving it now.  Please ignore the broken lattice, that is a project for another day.

We started by cutting out a circle.

(Mr. Charming,  out standing in his field)

After the circle was cut and the grass removed, we laid down some landscapers cloth. The cloth was then covered in limestone screening.

We used an edging stone to keep everything contained then filled in with more screening.  If you can get a tamper, tamper the limestone down.  The stones we were laying were not interlocked, so it was also easy to level each one. 

Coco of course, was in her glory during this process. She’s only allowed in the yard when we’re out there so she had an eventful week… so much to explore.

Once the screening was at the right level and packed down, it was time to lay the stones.  We also planted a few boxwood and euonymus shrubs that I found on sale at the time.

Any opportunity to take the embarrassing backside picture of Mr. Charming, (yet again)

Working ourselves into a beautiful sunset. 

The spaces around the stones were filled with Pea Stone and packed down. The planting has begun.

Coco, still enjoying herself.After a little adjusting here and there, and a little more planting, (insert old fire pit)… and we have our new fire pit patio.

This time as sun sets, we’ll be out enjoying our new fire pit patio.

The fire pit diameter is 12 feet.   We used 58 paver stones for that size.