There are many ways to make your landscaping more earth-friendly—use native plants to reduce water consumption, choose natural fertilizers such as peat moss, mulch, or manure for your planting beds, and consider lawn alternatives such as clover. For a recent landscape design for a client of Carex Design Group partner Anchored Construction and Restoration, the Carex Design Group team got creative with a backyard renovation so the client could reuse their existing concrete pavers.

“The homeowner liked their existing patio but knew it needed a refresh,” said Bob Graves, Carex Design Group owner and landscape architect. “Because the pavers were in good shape and the homeowner was on board with making the earth-friendly choice of reusing materials, we decided to salvage the existing pavers for a new patio design.”

Graves and his team mapped out a new patio that would reuse the existing pavers in a quilt-like pattern that incorporated new border pavers around each original paver. The aesthetic gave the patio a refined feel that focused the attention on the center of the space, anchoring the pergola-covered dining area, quaint swing and planting areas to pull everything together.

“This project was a great reminder about being more intentional in reducing one’s environmental impact,” said Graves.

“Reusing the old pavers kept several tons of concrete out of the landfill” said Travis Bullington, founder of Anchored Construction and Restoration.

In addition to a win for the environment, reusing the old pavers saved the client money on materials and gave them a unique final product since the existing pavers are different from anything we could go out and buy right now. Although there is a cost savings on materials, reusing pavers does take more time and comes with some additional labor costs.

“We had to be careful during the removal process to not break anything, which added to our timeline,” said Bullington. “In addition, all the old pavers had to be pressure washed and cleaned to remove decades of dirt and leaf stains prior to being used.”

There was also a height difference between the old pavers and the new pavers, which made leveling the patio challenging for the Bullington and his construction team. They experimented with a few different construction methods and settled on using a combination of crusher and #10 stone to install a base layer that made up for the height differential.

In the end, both Bullington and his client loved the outcome.

Contact Us

If you’re ready to reduce, reuse and recycle materials in your landscaping to create a beautiful new look, fill out our contact form or call Bob at 865-765-5550 for a consultation.