My opinion assumes that the width of the pavers right at the steps are the width of the steps. It looks that way in the first picture on the left - can't tell on the right.

I'd keep the same width of the basic walk and I'd keep the same width right at the steps. However, where the pavers start to curve out, I"d made that a larger curve...almost a 1/2 circle there and then keep it straight from that to the steps.

Whoever laid that path did a great job.

I'd like wider curves at the end, where you could put planters, perhaps. But if it were me, I am afraid I would not disrupt that pretty walk after it had been successfully put down!

Not real sure what you are asking. Can we see a shot from the walk to the steps?

Is the intent shown in the current pics to have the walk make a gradual widening as it reaches the steps? Or are you trying to create a wider curved "platform" at the base of the steps?

Either of those would be fine. What you have done looks really good... but I'm holding back a finale opinion until I see the base of the steps where it meets the walk.

I suspect you're over-thinking this. I know because I do it all the time. The installation is beautifully done. I'd hate to mess with it and since you can't find the materials, I think the universe is sending you a message.

If I were going to rework the walk with what I had, I would start the curve closer to the end and make it curvier. Make sense?

Once the walkway is flanked by plantings, this "glaring problem" will fade away. Landscape solves many, if not all, problems!

I would leave it like it is.

Thanks for the comments and help so far! It is *quite* possible I'm over thinking this, I'll admit I can work myself in to quite a lather over the details, it's who I am. Yes, a larger more sweeping curve up to the steps is what I was talking about.

If you promise to over look the mud, then I'll post the stairs. ;) I even walked outside in the rain to get them. We've been all but mud wrestling out there this weekend. It's been pouring lately, we worked from 8 am to 8 pm to get this done on Saturady since Sunday was supposed to pour, it's been non stop from there.

Dirty stairs .. it looks like we need to run the tamper a tiny bit more on the right side when it stops raining .. right by the stairs.

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Long shot :

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Now I see and understand! What you have is JUST FINE! Unless you WANT to undo and redo to get a deeper, wider curve, what you have done is wonderful.

I would suggest you bring the foundation beds further out to make them deeper and create a deep curve where the walk widens. It looks like all your plants are too close to the foundation and need to be moved out for better growing conditions anyway. Use a garden hose to lay out the curve making sure that it is navigational by the lawn mower (meaning not too tight).

Thank you for making the walk wide all the way down!! :) It is (one of many!) bug-a-boo's of mine that a lot of walks are created just too narrow. Yours is very welcoming!

Seeing all the pix, I have to agree that I would leave them alone. I assume you want the focal point to be the stairs and the front door, not the walkway.

Once you get the planting beds on either side redone, and all the edging along the walkway fine-tuned, the walkway will be lovely. Curve the front beds out to meet the curve in the walkway, and it will give you the wider visual curve that you want.

Save your thinking for really important things ;-) it looks good.

Just an FYI on the muriatic acid, though - it's really not going to dull down your brick colors. On new brick I'm not sure it's going to do much at all but if it does anything it will probably make whatever color they are pop a bit more - it cleans off minerals and things that make stone look dull and dirty and I think that's really the look you're after, right?

Seeing the long view shot, I'd keep it as is.

I agree about the changes to the planting beds.

I wouldn't bother with muriatic acid. Let normal aging do it's thing. They'll look older before you know it.

I'll join the crowd here and say leave 'em! In the greater context, it looks just fine. I agree with Les....put the curve in with the plantings. Lovely porch, btw!

Thanks for the help everyone! Since we still have the tamper and half a pallet of brick left, I wanted to fix it now rather than later. The foundation plants and front beds are next on the list, so I'll take your suggestions and curve the front beds out to make the walk curve to appear wider and more in scale. I was hoping to have room to put a planter on each side in front of the stairs, maybe if I find something with a narrow base, like a not too fussy urn, I still can.

Syllabus, thanks we were hoping by keeping the walk wider it would look better with the wide steps. The 'narrower' part of the walk is around 6' .. the steps are just a tad over 8'.

DLM and Paster, thanks for the tip about the muriatic acid. I had asked someone that works for a local landscaper and that's what he suggested. Either he didn't understand my question or quite possibly he didn't know what to tell me so he guessed. ;) When the bricks are dry the color variations are much less pronounced, so I'll just let nature take it's course.

Great paver path! Count me in as one who would leave it alone and use the landscaping bed to circle around to meet it. That would be really pretty!

I agree with what has already been said above, jsut wanted to add that our experience with muriatic acid is that it cleans the brick and makes the colors look more vivid so will have the opposity effect to what you would like. When we did our patio (flagstone and brick),t he last thing they did was to clean with muriatic acid and seal. I tried out several different sealers before finally setting on one to get the look I wanted. It's going to look very pretty once all the plants are in.

Great walkway!

Yes -- dig out and curve the planting beds -- and if possible -- bring them down the length of the walkway. We did that here -- and it made a HUGE difference!

To blend in the red brick color -- simply add red accents in the colors of the flowers or plants. Plus a couple of red adirondack chairs under the shade tree! Just teasing!

Jan

Your walkway looks very nice - such hard work! If you have enough brick, perhaps you can use them to outline the outside border of the beds from the outside edge of the house to where you wanted to extend the curve, ending like 1/3 of the way down the walk - on both sides. this would give you the illusion of a large curve and a place to put large planters and a great defined space to landscape.
I like the colors in the brick.

put a big planter on either side of the stairs and call it a day!

Still TLI... but are you saying you'd like to... hard to explain... lay a hula hoop on there and trace the curve for instance... and make the walk conform to that gentle curve rather than being a straight line gain?

After you re-do the planting beds, you may find that you don't want or need planters. I can understand why you would like them and there are several options to think about.

If you want an urn w/ a small base, you could create a landing pad w/ leftover bricks inside the planting bed itself. The smaller base will need the firmness of a solid foundation. If you go w/ large tub type planters, you can make a pad or not as it isn't as needed for their wider base.

You can also create towers from stacked bricks to make columns for the pots to sit on. I can explain more about this later if you want. I teach classes in creative planters and planter basics for Extension and have tons of ideas. :)

Another idea for the leftover bricks is to edge the beds w/ the bricks laid flat, side by side, flaring in and out at the inside/outside curves. This creates a mowing strip for the wheels of the lawn mower to travel over. Google "mowing strip" and you will see a lot of images.

I wouldn't bring the beds down along the walkway. Instead, I would take some of your leftover brick and outline the front beds with a line of bricks placed soldier style (standing up), perhaps two deep. You can come out from the walkway at the point at which your sidewalk begins to flare.

Thanks so much on the continued help and advice with this!

Oceanna, I did a search since I'm kind of a visual person and it's easier for me to show you guys, that describe it. :) This walk ends with ( to me any ways ) a much more 'purposeful' curve at least on the one side away from the planting bed. It looks like the person intended to curve the walk out and it leaves a nice landing place for pots too. Our walk in a way ( to me ) looks like the person said oops .. hey this walk way isn't wide enough for the steps, oh shoot! Here I'll just gain a couple rows at the end on each side .. there all fixed! *LOL* My DH doesn't see it that way though and he prefers the lesser curve. He has offered to help me change it if it really bugs me, he knows I'm picky and things do nick at me. I'm trying to see his point though and not be a fuss budget, I'll admit it's not easy for me. *LOL*

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Syllabus, I'd love to incorporate some containers in my beds for interest, I've seen some great pictures of gardens like that. Your ideas sound wonderful and I'd love any info/ideas you have to offer. I'm a very novice gardener, but I am trying to learn. I've spent the last month reading the Landscaping, Cottage garden, Carolina and Shade gardening forums trying to teach myself. I'll admit I'm very over my head trying to figure out my beds out front. If you have any book or reading recommendations that would be great too.

I like everyone ideas of using the brick to outline the beds, I'll have to look into that and see if we still have enough brick. I think beds down the sides of the walk would look great, I don't think they'd work though because all of the children we have playing here constantly. All the kids are good and will stay out of my beds, but I need to leave them enough room to avoid them too.

I found a picture of a bed coming out from the foundation planting to 'meet' the walk. Is this kind of waht you all have in mind ?

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Yes, that is kind of the idea, but the foundation planting beds would meet at the point where the sidewalk curve begins, and kind of follow that line, so that it would create a much wider sense of flare.

Great,thanks Les! I just wanted to make sure I was grasping what you had in mind. Thanks for the idea, I do think it will help give and illustion of a wider curve.

Zip: Both pics you just posted are great.

One way to create the 1st look would be to narrow down the walk thereby creating more of the flair up by the steps. I really don't want you to narrow down the walk, so you would have to enlarge the flair you have made to be wider than the steps. Not sure you would be happy w/ that, although it could be made to work. My fear is that it could make it look more like you mis-judged the width of the steps and were left w/ an "oops!".

One way to get you that look would be to take the bricks and start the curve on both sides of the steps, starting at the foundation itself. Go out at least 3 ft and gently curve out and around the steps out into the yard, ending the curve about where you currently have it. This will give you the firm base needed for a large urn or pot on either side of the steps, plus a larger "chat area" at the base of the steps.

The foundation plantings would then come out from the house as more of a deep border that would follow the curve of the bricks.

I would rather see a really deep foundation bed at the house than runways down the walk. The large tree you have there should not be any further disturbed by even shallow plantings. And as you said... it will also leave more open play area for the kiddos.

As far as educating yourself, since you are in the Carolinas, check out the older Southern Living Garden Annuals for lots of good plant selections and how-to's. These books are in the bookstores and may be at the library. I have several older ones (2000-04) that I reference and use as demos to my clients. SL also has a good Landscape Book and a great Garden Guide that are good research tools to have on hand.

Three great sources for border ideas are Better Homes & Gardens Magazine Beds & Borders, Garden Gate Magazine Beds and Borders and Fine Gardening Creating Beds and Borders. BH&G and GG are special issues that are limited time magazine on stands now. The FG one is a book you can find at the bookstore.
Zip: Both pics you just posted are great.

One way to create the 1st look would be to narrow down the walk thereby creating more of the flair up by the steps. I really don't want you to narrow down the walk, so you would have to enlarge the flair you have made to be wider than the steps. Not sure you would be happy w/ that, although it could be made to work. My fear is that it could make it look more like you mis-judged the width of the steps and were left w/ an "oops!".

One way to get you that look would be to take the bricks and start the curve on both sides of the steps, starting at the foundation itself. Go out at least 3 ft and gently curve out and around the steps out into the yard, ending the curve about where you currently have it. This will give you the firm base needed for a large urn or pot on either side of the steps, plus a larger "chat area" at the base of the steps.

The foundation plantings would then come out from the house as more of a deep border that would follow the curve of the bricks.

I would rather see a really deep foundation bed at the house than runways down the walk. The large tree you have there should not be any further disturbed by even shallow plantings. And as you said... it will also leave more open play area for the kiddos.

As far as educating yourself, since you are in the Carolinas, check out the older Southern Living Garden Annuals for lots of good plant selections and how-to's. These books are in the bookstores and may be at the library. I have several older ones (2000-04) that I reference and use as demos to my clients. SL also has a good Landscape Book and a great Garden Guide that are good research tools to have on hand.

Three great sources for border ideas are:
Better Homes & Gardens Magazine Beds & Borders
Garden Gate Magazine Beds and Borders
Fine Gardening Creating Beds and Borders.

BH&G and GG are special issues that are limited time magazine on stands now. The FG one is a book you can find at the bookstore.

Get out there w/ a garden hose and play around w/ different configurations. Study and think about them. Take some pics and post for comments!

If it were me I would either leave it as is or actually at the point where it begins to flare I would make walks that went across the front of the house basically a T shape.

Sorry I'm just getting back to this, we've been busy trying to get my middle daughter set to go to camp with her AIG class.

Thanks again for all of the advice and help!

Syllabus, thanks so much for all of the great info and reading recommendations! As soon as things settle here a bit I'll start looking into them. :)