How Can Pavers be used in a Front Yard? – By Kathy Van Mullekom

I’m passionate about pavers.

Pavers, as in stone walkways, patios and driveways. I would love nothing more than to pave any lawn I have left over after creating giant plantings of shrubs and perennials.

I confess, I really dislike turf grass, so pavers suit me just fine.

Two years ago, we did away with a dinky concrete sidewalk and created a larger paver entry with vertical pavers for a curbing effect. We duplicated the look on the other side of the driveway.

Unfortunately, our two SUVs sit in the driveway, leaving little room to exit and enter our vehicles safely or easily. The vertical pavers became a tripping zone. We wanted more pavers to give us room to vacuum, wash and move around our vehicles.

So, we had the old pavers at the front entrance removed, and the adjacent mulched area incorporated into a larger paver entryway – with no curbing to trip anyone. An arborvitae was removed on the other side of the driveway, and that mulched area paved, too.

The look is clean and classic, and the functionality is considerably better and safer.

If we ever have to replace our driveway, we will trend toward pavers because they have a 50-year life expectancy, don’t crack and are three times stronger than poured concrete, according to paver specialists. FYI, pavers are 8,000 psi (pounds per square inch), compared to the typical 3,000 psi in concrete. When we built in Seaford in 2006, we had the driveway poured at 4,000 psi and there were no cracks when we sold 10 years later.

Our current home also has 1,200 square feet in pavers that form a walkway around the side of the house and a patio along the entire width of the back of the house. This year, we are having the six-year-old pavers soft power washed and new polymeric sand swept in as needed. After the sand is swept in, it’s moistened with a hose and left to harden. Weeds are seldom a problem in the sand.

The pavers are far easier to maintain and clean than the stained, stamped concrete we had at our previous house. You can have the pavers sealed but that’s a routine maintenance I don’t want. The pavers age to a nice patina, a look that’s natural and nice.

Before. Pavers with a vertical border turned out to be a tripping hazard that was not safe when you were getting into and out of vehicles in the driveway. The overgrown arborvitae was also too close to the vehicles and driveway. Photos courtesy Kathy Van Mullekom

Redo. The old paver walkway to the front door was removed; the old pavers were used to fill in the space where the arborvitae used to be.

After. A large sweeping paver entry to the Van Mullekom home creates a welcoming and safe addition to the landscape. A landing of pavers with no arborvitae makes it easy and safe to exit a vehicle. Photos courtesy Kathy Van Mullekom