The lawn solution ~ the drought is relentless and the back garden lawn is getting browner by the week. My solution was to construct a labyrinth in the center to reduce the lawn and watering area. After a bit of research I decided to order a pre-printed 12' labyrinth template from The Labyrinth Company and do-it-myself. We have a few rather large stacks of used brick on site and I'd been wanting to use them for a project for years, so brick borders seemed like a no brainer. I used a plastic version of the much more expensive steel border material I always see in commercial applications to form a ring and hold the outer bricks in place.
The next step was to place the bricks to outline the pathway. I poured a sand layer as I went, otherwise I'd be covering up the outline on the template! I wanted a barefoot friendly surface to walk on but because of the unbelievable seed drop frrom an awful neighboring elm or walnut tree (not sure which, but it's huge, invasive, and non-native) I deferred to gravel for maintenance purposes. After a layer of cheap "cement-mix gravel," I poured a more expensive top layer of rounded Mexican Beach Pebble mix.
Here's a pic of the finished project!
