Pathways, solar light, landscaping

[Winchester]

Spring is a few months away yet, but I've started to think about a nice path from the top of the driveway over to the shed. And how to light the path. And what I want to do for landscaping around the shed and around the path.

I talked to Rick about it and he told me to do what I want, that he'll be around for the "grunt" work.

We have to go around roots from our silver maple. Silver maples are very shallow-rooted trees and we have a ton of roots that we don't want to disturb. Rick wants to be able to easily mow from the front side yard, to the shed, and to the back yard without a lot of trouble. I asked him if he thought he might be able to get from the front yard to the back, maybe by going behind the shed. He sighed and said, "Whatever". So we'll see.

I've been perusing Pinterest and other sites, looking for a nice path that I might be able to copy.

As for the deck, I will stain that grey, preferably to match as closely to the shed color as I can. With black railings. I'm going to start looking for some outdoor furniture, although I don't want anything exotic. Maybe some Adirondack chairs (painted in Sonic Plum?) and a few benches. And some nice planters for deck flowers. A small table.

So I've started looking. I want to be ready to go when the weather warms up. Stay tuned!

 

[Jem]

Not sure if you came across this or not. But have you seen solar brick pavers before?
Solar Brick Paver | Garden, Home, garden, Outdoor lighting
Something like that would make mowing the lawn much easier for Rick, as they don't need to be in the grass or sticking up at the edges of the path, which means less of a pain in the butt for mowing.
Then you can simply place a few flower beds or rock gardens to make things pretty but in a way that they won't interfere too much with the lawn maintenance.

 

[susanm9006]

I have had both electric landscape lights and solar. The solar lights are easy to put in but they have less light than electrics, their lighting time is variable especially when you have a long period of cloudy days, their batteries are only good for a couple years, replacements are expensive and even with replacing the battery if you get five years out of a solar you are lucky. The electric lights take a little longer to install and of course you have the nuisance of plugging them in and running the lighting, but long term is much more maintenance free. Just occasional lightbulb replacements and they will last a long time.

 

[JamesCalifornia]

The electric lights take a little longer to installand of course you have the nuisance of plugging them in and running the lighting but long term is much more maintenance free. Just occasional lightbulb replacements and they will last a long time.

~ I find the new LED bulbs are very nice for landscape lighting. Many are less than 5 watts ! Use a timer or photo-electric sensor and you are all set .

 

[AbbysMom]

If you can afford it, the electric route is probably better. I accent my gardens with solar lights and they don't last all that long, plus as the length of the days gets shorter they don't stay lit as long.