Danielle Wiggins and her family set out to put in a patio, walkway and clean up their flower beds with a budget of $400.
CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio —
With the extra time indoors and budgets tight, “Do It Yourself” projects can be a great way to pass time, upgrade your home and distract you from the stress associated with a changed way of life due to COVID-19.
With all this in mind, my family decided to tackle a backyard DIY landscaping project — and lucky for us, our neighbor, Isaiah Brazytis, is a professional landscaper.
“This is a great time to work on your yard,” Brazytis says. “You’re at home anyhow.”
BIGGEST DIY LANDSCAPING MISTAKES
Brazytis is a maintenance supervisor at LeafStone Landscapes out of Walton Hills. He says the biggest DIY lawn mistakes Northeast Ohioans make are planting things that deer like to eat and taking on a project too big to handle.
Here are before-and-after photos of their landscaping project:
PROFESSIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR WIGGINS FAMILY
After looking over our lawn with my husband, Chris, Brazytis recommended we clean up our flower beds, lay down mulch and put in a path from the side of the garage to the driveway. The path would give us a spot for our grill that’s not so close to the garage.
Our budget for the project was $400.
My kids and I are not good at landscaping, so Chris did most of the work through hail, snow and rain during this week-long April project.
Even though we did go over budget (spending a little more than $500), the entire family was proud of how the patio, walkway and landscaping turned out.
“Daddy, didn’t do a good job,” said my 9-year-old, Christen. “He did amazing!”
Although we made the mistake of making upgrades that we didn’t budget for, Brazytis told us that if we had hired a professional to complete the same project, our cost would have doubled. Needless to say, we didn’t mind spending the extra $100 to get what we wanted.
LANDSCAPING MATERIALS AND PROCESS
RakeShovelEdgerRocksMulchStone bricks( various sizes)SandPaver setWeed screeningLava rocksPick mattockTamper shovel2x4 wood block (to level the sand )
Clean flower beds of old mulch and dead leavesPull out rocks that serve to line the flowerbedLay mulch and spread evenly with a rake and handsReset the border of the flower bed with stones after the mulch is evenly spread
Patio and Walkway Process
Measure out dimensions of the patio, walkway and flower bed.Dig the patio and pull up grass,Dig about 3 inches deep for the walkway and patio,Take off the top layer of grass for the flower bed.Level out ground with a tamper and remove any tree roots so the stones for the patio will lay flat,Lay down weed barrier in flower bed, patio and walkway to help prevent weeds ,Add sand to patio and walkway holes,Smooth out and level sand to help stone bricks lay flat,Lay bricks for patio and walkway,After stones for the walkway are laid, place black Lava rocks in between stones for decoration. Lay mulch in newly formed flower bed along the walkway.Place paver set on stone bricks in the patio. Brush paver set in cracks between stones and wet. This help stones stay together and not shift.Clean up and enjoy!
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