Shadow Dance Stoneworks

The picture below is the patio from the other side. A patio has to slope away from the house foundation, and sometimes making sure the slope is perfect takes more time then you would imagine.

I built this small retaining wall out of Chilton wallstone. This is a very sunny spot, and I think that the mass of the stone will only add warmth to this planting bed. As backfill, I used excess topsoil mixed with organic compost, and the client was going to do the planting. I think the little wall adds a lot of character to the patio.

Last year I built this beautiful patio with the help of my coworkers at Local Roots Landscapers. It was built from the colorful Chilton limestone that is quarried in this region.

This is the beginning  of the project, the usual excavation scene: shovels, wheelbarrows, and coffee. The client lived in a pretty rural area on a hill, so we had the luxury of dumping all the soil off the side of the hill, creating a pretty nice embankment in the process. Usually I dig a 6 inch base and fill it with tamped gravel, but this client wanted extra stability so we dug out an 8 inch crater and tamped down a firm base for the flagstone.

These are the pallets I hand selected. Since it was going to be a big patio, I wanted flagstone that was pretty wide and a good 2 inches thick at least for stability. I also selected colorful pieces and tried to avoid too many warped flagstones, because they are difficult to level well. There is about 5 to 6 tons of stone on these pallets.

This is the view of the patio as you go down the steps of the client’s deck. I always try to create interesting lines between the flagging that draw the eyes.