Bite Me, Backyard

[aimeekitty]

Day 16
I have some more "new" art, but I'm sitting on it until I finish more. So, instead, something new -to you-. I did this a while back for Dylan of her Bite Me! characters. Bite Me! is a French revolutionary vampire farce... with chickens. You can read it online or buy her printed collection here.

Click for larger ~ ~ ~ FAVE ON DA

Completely unrelated, unless you're considering burying vampires in my backyard... it's well... THE BACKYARD! They're digging holes for irrigation and drainage. The closer orange line marks where the patio will be, the one further away marks the lawn. Everything outside that will be roses and lavendar and other pretties. I'm pretty excited.
EDIT: We decided to go with the concrete, it's lighter, cheaper and will look more natural. <3 (from these three materials for the patio; broken concrete, brick and "used brick" (the whiter bricks). When set in, the concrete would look kinda like stones. The broken concrete would look like this in practice

Comments

[ashbet]

I vote brick or used brick -- I don't think the concrete looks very much like stone at all.

-- A <3

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

it looks a lot better when it's set in:
http://www.bourgetbros.com/site-admin/images_lotus/21102008-1129291_Broken%20Concrete%20stepping%20stones.jpg

[kev.livejournal.com]

I'm gonna throw my support behind a mason's favorite - brick. Straight up red brick. It's classic!

[ladyofdragons.livejournal.com]

I would do the concrete actually, because you can stain it any color you like. I've seen some spectacular results (http://images.google.com/images?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&q=stain+concrete&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=IxopS4qtEI6csgOTtMDDDA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCwQsAQwAw) this way. Granted more work than just laying brick, but something you get to customize yourself.

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

staining would cost too much, I think? but even by itself it looks nice:

http://www.bourgetbros.com/site-admin/images_lotus/21102008-1129291_Broken%20Concrete%20stepping%20stones.jpg

[ladyofdragons.livejournal.com]

Oh that is really pretty! It has a very playful, natural feel. I'm not sure on the cost for the staining as I haven't done it, but I saw it done on HGTV and have been speculating on it for my own boring patio. You could always do some research on the process and see if its feasible to look at doing it after installation?

Between the brick, definitely the used. Course I'm sort of on a reduce-reuse-recycle kick (Yey Freecycle.org!) so of course I like the used brick and concrete options. You should see some of the counter tops they are making now from recycled glass. Gorgeous!

New brick has a certain charm but it's got a very strong color and personality that a lot of people tend to get tired of after a while. I think the more neutral the better, that way the other things in your garden become the focal points and you aren't locked into any color elements. It's too bad you can't find inexpensive neutral bricks, then they'd match your wall too. I love the treatment they did in this garden (http://www.roomzaar.com/rate-my-space/Gardens/A-Little-Bit-of-Paradise/detail.esi?oid=7603339) with sandstone colored bricks.

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

well, it's not REALLY used, it just looks used.

[lilusako.livejournal.com]

If you go ahead with the concrete - I think it's going to give your house a more cottage look. It's going to be easier planting things in between the cracks if you give it enough space. I think it will also be easier to do informal planting around the edge of the patio and is a bit more playful.

On the other hand, I really love the used brick and could totally see what you mean by the charleston look. Ironic enough we have a client right now that has a charleston looking house... and dislikes brick. With brick I bet we can find a way to make it look even more aged than it really is and it will be a lovely contrast against the house.

Too many choices! too many choices! the downfall to being in this industry... everything is too pretty and then having to make decisions is difficult. :(

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

yeah... cause this look is nice:
http://www.bourgetbros.com/site-admin/images_lotus/21102008-1129291_Broken%20Concrete%20stepping%20stones.jpg

but... brick is really cool, too...

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

bb, we're going to go with the concrete. Just called the landscaper, I think it'll turn out nice. :)

[keita-yuki.livejournal.com]

I vote for used brick. Your backyard already has light brick stones so haveing something to match would be better then a darker brick or red brick. The cement ... meh..

[pogo101.livejournal.com]

Well, I'd emailed saying "concrete if we somehow could guarantee that we'd like the particular way it got installed, but, since we can't do that, go with brick."

But the link to the broken concrete, wtih grass inbetween, looks better to me than just solid brick. Hmm. Then again, solid brick (with no grass/ground between) would have a slight advantage in soggy weather, e.g., after a hard rain.

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

I think that the landscaper could do it so that it looked very close to the photo I showed, with thyme or something like that inbetween. we very seldomly have heavy rain, and I doubt we'd be out on the porch after such an occasion anyway.
Also, ,remember that eventually, the plan is to have that be a semi-covered area, too.

I was pretty set on the red brick this morning... but.... the concrete is a lot c heaper, and jocelyn is right that it would have a good cottage garden feel. (the style of the plantings I'm doing is english cottage type of style) also the broken concrete is paler, so would blend nicely with the pale brick wall that's already in place.

I dunno. I'm sure they all would look nice.

[etherealtb.livejournal.com]

Ah, you have a hill behind your property! That's nice.

[minuberry.livejournal.com]

I like the concrete! One vote for concrete here !!

And I cannot wait to see the garden <3

[keita-yuki.livejournal.com]

I came acrost this just now and thought since you cosplay the charas you might have this, or not :) http://www.strapya-world.com/categories/12_30_5149.html

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

thanks! yeah, strapya is cool!

[team-tim.livejournal.com]

For how you described your eventual backyard plan, I agree with your decision to go with broken concrete. If the pieces are done well, it will give it a bit of a flagstone look, and flagstone > brick for patios and gardenscaping.