Tired of the "same old same old"? Sometimes we underestimate what a few small changes can do for a yard. We come home every night to the same stretch of lawn and cold cement with the routineness of robots, only occasionally even glancing at our yards. Sure, the entryway is narrow as all heck. Wrestling the new washing machine inside the house last Summer was nearly impossible on the narrow little pathway the builders left us with. It fell off the edge of the sidewalk and the dent still shows. Three foot wide paths are for the truly skinny who have no reason to move things. A side by side couple would both fall of either side of my door approach.

So what can we do?

For one thing we can follow one of landscaping's simplest premises: Curves are best and they are sexy. We get saddled with all these straight lines with our driveways and our cement walkways because they are easier to install, by far. The dudes love pulling a string and not having to think a lot. It goes fast and is easy to do. So builders follow the same premise - make stuff straight. Oh, and they also like scrimping on size and marterials. What results are small little sidewalks with tiny porches and patios, all squared off like the blocks pre-schoolers play with.

It doesn't take a lot to change all that. In fact, it can be done with a little effort by a homeowner who has some gumption and some strong friends. Brick paving means the surface gets delivered to a house, premade and intact. They are ready to go.They also happen to look about 50 times better. Add that the are about 4 times more durable and you have a virtual upgrade of a value-packed dimension. Appraisers and real estate people love them and almost always include anything containing pavers in their sales rap. It is a value-added fact.

It can be extremely simple, reconstructing the lines you actually feel good about. A can of orange paint can detail the lines desired. Then excavating out the grass or beds, adding base rock material, tamp it down, add an inch or so of sand and "get laying" your new bricks.

The pictures below begin with a finished product, a small adjustment we made in a squared-off approach to a home in Reno, Nevada.

The pictures following that show another place where we really changed things over, dealing with the exact same factors. That one I show here step-by-step, including the "orange paint". You can do this.

As can be seen in the first picture, the concrete edging we supplied for the other project is completely optional. It is nice but expensive and totally unecessary. Sure, it looks great and it does keep the grass from invading but a great effect is still possible without it. Picture yourself doing this without the cement.

The answer is yes. Following some simple guidelines allows a homeowner to get to this result extremely easily.The excavations, adding base materials, compacting them and then laying in pavers is hard work - granted - but one can save about 50% by doing it oneself and look at the result! These are indeed labor-intensive, thus the savings. The paver-cutting may be the most challenging part of all, but a few early mistakes can yield the greatest results, in the end. All the machinery is imminently rentable and surprisingly simple to operate.

I have advocated this before - to various friends. Naturally, I required copious quantities of beer to lend my expertise, but it was always worth it! And they sure enjoyed the result.