Junque Yard - freshening up the walkway

It's a warm/cool morning, as I sit outside with my laptop and cup of coffee. I'm really enjoying the spring/summer like weather. After all my rantings that spring was too cold and rainy, I'm taking advantage of all the good weather I can!

DaMan started on a project that I've been chomping at the bit to have done for awhile. We held off due to financial and the aforementioned rainy weather, but the stars have aligned, and we can now (hopefully) go forth!

There is a paver-lined walkway that goes up to the back of our yard. It's in sort of a strange area, about 2 feet out from our garage, leaving a space that has become our berry patch, with strawberries, raspberries, and one lone blueberry that's hanging in there, but isn't happy, because it needs a girlfriend blueberry bush in order for it to be happy and produce blueberries (hoping that will be rectified soon, I hate to see anyone/thing lonely).

As nature is prone to do, the grass and weeds have come up through the cracks between the pavers, and it's pretty unattractive. Grass has also permeated my strawberry patch, and is making it difficult to weed in there. So it is time for a re-do.

DaMan pulled up about 50 concrete pavers last night. Today we are going to head to the local hardware store where they are having a sale on pea gravel. We will pick up some landscaper's cloth, too (and maybe another blueberry bush for the lonely guy that can't get a date).

The pea gravel is essential. Once all the pavers are up and the unwanted sod is pulled, we will level the dirt underneath as much as possible, lay down the landscaper's cloth, and spread the pea gravel. The bags are $1.75 for 3 cubic feet.. We estimate that we will need about 20 bags of gravel. Then the pavers will be laid down again on top of the gravel. Everything we've read about this says that a good 2 inches of gravel will help with frost heave during the winter. If you are unfamiliar with that lovely trick of Mother Nature's, it's where the ground buckles and heaves up during the winter due to cold and frost. Concrete and cold do not like each other, and they fight in the winter time, especially in cold climates, such as ours. If you see cracks in a  sidewalk where one corner is higher than the other it's likely, more often than not, due to frost heave.

Landscaper's cloth is just a little more insurance that the grass and weeds don't come back for a few more years. It will eventually degrade, and you can buy the stuff based on how many years it is estimated that it will stem back the tide. 7 years, 10 years, etc. it sells for about $8.00 per 20 feet.

We are hoping to do this project for around $45. Here's hoping that we keep our budget, and I'll have a nice looking walkway again! I will update the results as we finish the project.

Isn't this ugly? Strawberry patch to the left, lawn to the right

The pavers DaMan pulled, to be used again, once the ground is ready for them.