Please indulge me for a few minutes. I'm landscape dreaming.
We are growing to love our new house, but it has its challenges. A big one is the amount of concrete and asphalt on our property. I'm not really sure why concrete was the material of choice; maybe because it is cheaper than other options? long lasting? There are multiple walkways, the front stoop, the back patio, two sets of stairs, a driveway, and the ponds, which are lined with, and surrounded by, concrete. That's a lot of impermeable surface for people who live on a hill. And don't forget the bowing brick retaining wall that is going to need to be repaired or replaced sometime in the next 5-10 years. Oy!
We have been thinking and dreaming this winter of what we would do with our yard if we were starting from scratch. There are so many ways to make a landscape more beautiful:
Natural swimming pools
Cobblestone walkways
Flagstone walkways
Dry streams, rain gardens, downspout alternatives
Steps
Natural stone retaining walls
And maybe going down to the driveway, something like this, which would make a great stage/amphitheater ;-)
Stacked stone retaining wall
Natural playgound
Driveways
And one indoor folly: I'm dying to put floor to ceiling bookshelves on either side of the front window in the living room. And a window seat underneath.
