Hi Digin, Without actually being in the space, this is what I would do. First, we need to change the hallway effect. It is uncomfortable to most people, makes them walk faster instead of leisurely enjoying the space. I would definitely bring the walkway up to the garage as well as the width of the porch. I probably would turn it towards the drive almost as is but would also have another section going a little down the drive. A walk for you and one for visitors. I would put a small, 4 seasons of interest tree to soften and connect human scale to the hard lines of the tall house. And I would under plant the tree with just one groundcover and carry that groundcover through out the entire area. I can't tell what it looks like under your large window but I do know if it needs hiding, putting 4 round or square shrubs that have to be trimmed is going to look like you are hiding something and does nothing to soften the hard lines of the structure. It is the same feeling that the shrubs along the garage gives. The purpose of foundation planting is to soften the hard lines of a building in an attempt to have it blend in with nature. Why some people plant things that are the same shape as the lines they are trying to soften has always baffled me. That type of designing, of course does have it place but it is dictated by the style of the house and for the most part doesnt work in most situations. I am not sure what exposure you have, nor what the rest of the space is like so again I am winging it. Will you be paving over the porch? If I could do what ever I wanted, I might try to make the step have a much wider tread and try to make it look like an half moon. I might also, not directly in the middle of the garage wall have an arched cutout small enough that it doesnÂt wreck the flow of 2 people walking side by side and possibly espalier or grow something on an interesting trellis with maybe an uplight shining on the wall. All these types of things should be consider in advance for placing PVC pipes under the walk for wires or drip irrigation. There are so many little things that can be done to make great changes. Simple things like, we painted some of our exposed foundation gray because it blended in with the siding better then concrete color. Another simple thing that lots of folks donÂt think about it putting shutters on their windows in the back of the house. It really dresses things up and doesnÂt break the bank. IMO, with your style home it is important to not use a bunch of different types plants, keep it simple and elegant. You want to create a comfortable, not busy approach to your house and that is how your guests will feel when you open the door. The backyard is the living area where you put al the fun, things that are you, like how you decorate the inside of the house. We inherited a builders concrete 2' wide walkway, also have brick and gray siding and pretty much removed all the round and square shrubs that lined poth sides of the walk. It was tough on our clothes when the shrubs were wet. One of my passions is gardening/design, so I plant for me and for what I see, consequently, starting a small bed at the street and adding alittle when ever I could on each side with the plan that the two sides would eventually meet. Good luck, more importantly have fun. My rule is that plants should bring me pleasure and if it is getting on my nerves it then becomes a weed and it is removed. Sorry this post is so long, as I said landscaping is one of my passions and if I can steal a moment to myself, I love to talk design. Ally

Old walkway was made of grass and tapered. I agree, I like it to be uniform width and yes, curved. Our plan is to replace the brick with concrete in the spring so we don't want want to use brick for this pathway - maybe flagstone as it was suggested? Do you use landscape edging with flagstone if I use grass or another ground cover as the "filler?" What about if we used decomposed granite? I like this look - http://www.greenerimagelandscaping.net/flagstonewalk.html Think it suits this space? How about this - http://www.flickr.com/photos/sinnickel/4544138134/ Wonder which is easier to lay out and then to keep up... And you are correct - relationships are far more important than landscaping which is why I'm struggling with the pros/cons of the situation. Steps are crumbling behind containers on steps which is why these containers are there. I didn't want anyone to walk on the crumbling parts anymore - steps to be replaced in the spring and containers removed at that time! (maybe nice/more plants in them would help until then though?) Yes - trellis/arbor posts are the gate posts and not changeable - even adding 2 more posts is out of the question. (I originally wanted 4 but they nixed that idea...) Karin - I'm intrigued with the string idea. So you are saying to put string from the other posts on the ends to the tip of both sides of the trellis/arbor? (note there will eventually be caps on the post next to the house and the one on the corner - just an fyi). Do you think cutting the crossbar so it isn't 12 inches wide would help? And then maybe putting it up not as high up above the gate? Another idea many have suggested is altering the gate but I'm not sure how hard that is for the guys to fix so I'd have to look more into that. There are 2 strap hinges but they covered part of the top one w/ the board across the top. We don't have a handle or latch on it yet but it will be on there soon - maybe that will help? deviant-deziner - as mentioned above, I agree it is too wide - the bars across the top are 2x4's so maybe 6" is more proportional vs. the 12" it currently is? Would you take off the end stacks? Where did you get yours premade? We looked around but didn't have much luck hence me having him make it... I'd love to see your entire fence - it looks beautiful!

Looking at the landscape and the plantings(Chinese Weeping Elm tree), it would appear that you are in California. So we can assume that occasional torrential downpours are not common where you live. The extreme flatness of the site and the evident porous nature of the old concrete patio with redwood 2 x 4 dividers were probably sufficient to allow for drainage even without a good swale to the street. So, if your new patio layout is using concrete pavers over a sand base, or brick, or has joints that will allow for some permeability, you may in fact be a real simple job to install, and it would just be a matter of sloping away from the house at minimum 1.5% slope and meeting existing grades wherever you meet existing paving to remain. I would assume that any concrete contractors who looked at this would have told you much the same, or expressed some concerns about how the drainage would be handled with such a flat site and a masonary wall that would also contain water onsite without allowing runoff. It may be possible to design a french drain that needn't connect to the street, but instead could drain to a larger sump, but it would be necessary to know whether your roof dumps water into this back yard as well, or whether that is already taken to the street. It would also help to know your soil type, and whether you have fast or slow drainage with standing water. The main issue looks to be drainage and permeability, not any difficulty in executing a concrete patio in such a flat backyard. There are also newer concrete mixes especially formulated for better permeability and to allow recharging the water table without run-off, but they are more expensive than a standard pour. As mentioned previously, it may also simply be easier to do concrete pavers butted tight over a sand base, and this would likely not require any addtional drainage. Any concrete contractor that is licensed and comes with referrals should have been able to articulate the parameters of your patio pour, and helped you determine what your project would require. Didn't any of them mention potential lack of drainage due to the flatness, and then question you as to how you intended it to drain?

I posted this on Home Decorating - didn't realize so many other forums are available. Someone there suggested Home Repair and I also thought I would try here as I would think pools could have stamped concrete surrounding them. My front walkway is stamped concrete. I never sealed it, which is probably the problem. Now it is faded and looks awful. The color was put on while the concrete was still wet. I remember they put a powder on. I have been searching for days - even bought a product from HD, which is really a paint, not a stain. Lowe's has a similar product, but after reading reviews, it is similar to a paint as well. It looks awful and I just don't know what to do. If anyone has had a similar situation --- or can point me in the direction to find help, I would really appreciate. It needs to be a DIY. I can't imagine I could find someone to spend the time here doing just a little walkway. Thank you.