Our lot is marked for general use and doesn't have any restrictions other than minor easements which we have already met (value of the house and setbacks). Therefore the current plan is to have pavement all the way to the north side of the lot. (The neighbor has a 12 foot patch of grass behind it.) We live in Fairbanks, AK where in the winter we can have as little as 3 hours and 45 minutes of light during the day and thus southern exposure is highly desirable. In addition we are building a really well insulated house (walls will be R-41 or R-37 after considering thermal bridging) with the idea to capture as much heat gain from the sun as much as possible. As far as RV (or a boat), if I ever buy one, I would park it at the back of the lot, right along the north side of the lot. We haven�t done much planning on the layout of the backyard as all of our free time and effort was spent on choosing a house plan and finding an affordable lot in town. (Our budget will also be fully exhausted after building the house, paving the driveway, and small patio in the back.) The entire process started in the middle of May this year so this process is extremely rushed. I appreciate everyone�s honesty and agree with trying to "pound a square peg into a round hole" �. but I�m sure something like this is do able. For example have the square small enough to fit into the hole or the other way around. ;) What I am looking for is a way to use this orientation to our "advantage", if possible. In other words is it possible to turn this weakness into strength? If it�s not possible, then we will rotate the house slightly to the north. PS � We are rushing with the construction of our house b/c right now we are paying $2,000 for renting a 1,300 sq. ft. duplex built in 1980s. With the current rates, for the same amount of money I can afford to own a 2,300 sq. ft. house if I build it myself. Thus, for the same monthly payment I can own my own place. With 14,000 heating degree days in my area whenever the fuel cost go up my rent follows. Owners of 1980�s construction often pay 5-6K (sometimes more) for heating their homes. While, really well insulated homes are around $2,000 to heat for the entire year.

I think any Miscanthus sinensis cultivar would work. Just read up on the sizing and site accordingly. And rake back the shells to plant directly into the soil, then you can ease them back up to the base of the plants for a cohesive look......no other mulch required :-)

Alas, those pavers with grass never really work out. Grass just doesn't like being near sun-heated brick, in restricted conditions like that, with a car atop it for potentially days on end blocking the sun... Polymeric sand is a grand thing, but you're still going to get weeds (because we use it as the lock in our pavers here as well, and my mother, and so many other people I know). At the least, it's less than you had. A few recommendations--if you can dig out a bit of soil from between the pavers and fill in with said sand, that will help a little. A little. Still, plan on weeds. I spray my patio with pre-emergent yearly (I use Prodiamine) and it does cut about 90% of the weeds without using excess herbicides. On the balance, pre-emergents decay faster, and have less environmental impact than herbicides do, so I feel it's a good trade--and I'd rather avoid the heavier-duty stuff where possible. Even so, plan on keeping an herbicide on-hand for the ones that show up. They're inevitable. Glyphosate is my go-to simply for its wide spectrum, ease of use, and fact that I can cut back to just the lightest spray on most small plants.

We used BaseCore geocell and like some others here, started with one project and man.. ended up installing it all over. We started with a horse paddock to stop the mud, then moved over to the arena, then did a base for a shed, then a driveway and well.. this summer I think we are going to tackle a horse bridal path. Highly recommend BaseCore HD product line as their material, service and quality has been absolutely incredible. Oh and we planted grass in the paddock . We used the 3" BaseCOre HD product there. Used their 2" BaseCore HD for the shed and bridal path. Ended up using the taller BaseCore 4" for the driveway as we have some 18 wheelers come through. I certainly wouldnt use pea gravel like some said. You want an angular rock with some fines in it. For a visual reference, here is a video of the driveway install https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d0_PQT6poc and I ordered ours through Performance Footing and I think they are the manufacturer or related to the manufacturer of BaseCore