Hardscaping 101: Concrete Pavers by Janet Hall

Whether they're the standard-issue variety from a home improvement store or an architect's custom creation, concrete pavers offer instant gratification. A patio? A path? An outdoor entertaining space? Concrete pavers make it (almost) instantly possible.

Above: For more of this garden, see Architect Visit: The Medieval Mist and Mystery of Big Sur.

What is a concrete paver?

Pavers are created from molded concrete formed into tiles to either resemble stone or brick, or proudly look like what they are: concrete. Concrete pavers generally fall into two types. The first is the thick durable interlocking paver. Resembling bricks in density, interlocking pavers are often used for driveways as they can handle the weight of a vehicle. The other variety is the thinner, and more visually pleasing, architectural paver.  Architectural pavers are commonly used for paths or patios where aesthetics are more important.

Above: In a Brooklyn backyard, concrete pavers are set in sand and bordered by a wide strip of white stones. For more of this garden, see Before & After: A Modern Backyard on a Budget by Ishka Designs.

Why use pavers instead of poured concrete?

Pavers trump poured concrete in a number of ways. Specifically they:

• Are less susceptible to cracking. Tree roots, shifting soil, freezing, and thawing can cause cracks to form in large slabs of poured concrete. Because pavers are smaller, and move independently, the same conditions won't cause cracking (but may cause the pavers to shift position).
• Help eliminate runoff. The spacing between pavers enables water to permeate the area rather than run off a larger field of concrete. And, no puddles will form.
• Offer better traction. The joints between pavers provide a built-in device for better footing.
• Can be more visually pleasing. Pavers can offer a geometry that poured concrete can't. And, that's not even taking into account the myriad options for the plants or other organic materials that fill the spaces between pavers.

Above: Concrete pavers for a path; for more, see Architect Visit: At Home with Bruce Bolander in a Malibu Canyon.

Above: Oversized concrete pavers play tricks with the eye to visually widen a narrow, 16-foot-wide garden behind a townhouse. For more, see Rehab Diary: An Artist's NYC Kitchen Renovation on Remodelista.

What are the best uses for concrete pavers?

Concrete pavers can be used anywhere that demands outdoor flooring. Patios, garden paths, driveways, stepping stones, and even rooftop flooring. Heat absorbing dark pavers are not recommended in hot climates where they may come into contact with bare feet.

Above: Hand cast concrete pavers of varied sizes are set in gravel to create a loose naturalistic look. For more, see Subdividing a Small City Backyard to Make it Bigger.

Above: LA-based landscape designer Naomi Sanders replaced flagstone pavers with concrete to match an existing concrete stoop. For more, see Before & After: A Grande Dame in LA's Hancock Park.

Above: Concrete pavers lead to the island deck of this urban garden set in the heart of San Francisco's Mission District. Created by Arterra Landscape Architects, this project includes underground rainwater collecting cisterns that supply the water for the fountain. Photograph by Thomas J. Story via Sunset Publishing.

What colors and textures of concrete pavers are available?

The blessing and curse of concrete pavers is the range of options. While color variations stick to natural earth tones, the shapes and textures are virtually unlimited. Pre-cast pavers available through home improvement stores range from simple modern square tiles to stones that look like they have been plucked from a Roman street to travertine look-alikes. Custom made tiles can be colored to complement your home siding or another garden feature. The options are practically limitless, if not overwhelming.

Above: In an Atherton, California project, custom designed pavers are acid etched, making them slip resistant. Monterey sand was added as an aggregate to create a non-shimmery appearance.

Above, L: The Cobblestone Tumbled Concrete Paver in charcoal measures 7 by 9 inches; $1.31. Above, R: A modern Pewter Concrete Step Stone measures 16 inches square and has a beveled edge; $4.62. Both at Home Depot.

Above: Wet cast concrete Barn Plank Pavers by Silver Creek Stoneworks are molded to look like, you guessed it, barn planks.

How do you install concrete pavers?

Installation is somewhat dependent on the use. A driveway differs from a simple garden path. Accordingly, we recommend consulting with a professional, especially for installations with structural imperatives, such as holding a vehicle upright or flanking a swimming pool. In general, installations of pavers require a sub-base which can range from concrete to crushed stone. There are requirements that most installations have in common. The ground beneath pavers needs to be compacted as much as possible. Then a base layer, usually of crushed rock, is covered with a top layer of sand onto which the pavers are placed. Gaps are left between pavers, the size of which depends on aesthetics, structure, and what is being placed in the joints. Is it grass? Plantings? Gravel?

Above: Pavers set in gravel (see our earlier feature on the Merits of Pea Gravel) in a garden path by Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture.

Above: Large, cast-in-place concrete pavers set in the lawn make a graphic composition and lead to a built-in bench that faces a favorite view in a project by Elysian Landscapes.

How much do concrete pavers cost?

Concrete pavers vary in price depending on whether they are off-the-shelf or custom-made architects' designs. A good rule of thumb is from $5 to $10 per square foot. One thing is certain: concrete pavers are a much more affordable option than stone.

Above: With a goal to create high style on a limited budget, landscape architect Russ Cletta included poured-in-place concrete stepping stones set in affordable gravel in this Venice Beach, CA bungalow garden.

Concrete Paver Recap

Pros:

• Affordable
• More durable than poured concrete
• Easy to install (and replace)
• Can be custom made to fit size, style, and color requirements
• Pre-cast pavers available in a wide variety of textures and colors

Cons: 

• Porous and will stain
• Despite best attempts, doesn't quite match the look of natural stone
• Can crack in extreme temperature fluctuations (freezing and thawing) 

Above: Concrete pavers lead to the entry of a Hollywood bungalow by Los Angeles-based design firm Walker Workshop. Photograph by Nicholas Alan Cope.
We could be accused of being concrete obsessed. Michelle rounded up Indestructible Concrete Furniture; Meredith is coveting an Open Air Outdoor Concrete Bath; Dalilah made $30 Mini Concrete Planters; and, I fantasize about a polished Concrete Garage Floor.
See all of our Hardscaping 101 Features. 

EXPLORE MORE: Issue 50: Painterly Landscapes, Hardscapes & Furnishings, Landscaping, Hardscaping 101, Concrete, Pavers, Patios, Paths

Credit:: http://www.gardenista.com/posts/hardscaping-101-concrete-pavers-pros-and-cons

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Outbuilding of the Week: A Prairie Loom House for Weaver Elizabeth Eakins by Michelle Slatalla

Outbuilding of the Week: A Prairie Loom House for Weaver Elizabeth Eakins by Michelle Slatalla

Issue 50 · Painterly Landscapes · November 20, 2015

Home

When rug weaver and textile designer Elizabeth Eakins and her lawyer husband, Jerry Wigglesworth, bought a farm on the Kansas prairie, he went back to school to learn to be a sheep farmer and she wanted a weaving studio.
Brooklyn-based architects Vrinda Khanna and Robert Schultz of Khanna Schultz designed a loom house for Eakins,  a lofty studio that doubles as guest space and complements rather than competes with the property's main building, a limestone farmhouse built in the 1870s.
A mix of old materials and new ideas, the loom house has passive solar panels, recycled floor planks, and reclaimed bricks on the front stoop. With its steeply pitched roof and architectural details typical of the Tallgrass Prairie, the weaving studio looks as at home on the property as the sheep.
Photography via Khanna Schultz.

Above: The loom house is 50 feet away from main house. "Choosing a site was a big part of the process," says Schultz. "Both the winters and summer are very harsh in that part of Kansas, so we wanted it to be not too far from the main house."

Above: Inside the loom house Eakins has a spacious weaving studio and a view of gently rolling meadows in a shallow valley that drops away from the building.

Above: Eakins and Wigglesworth have 100 long-wooled Border Leicester sheep.

Above: The view from the main house is of the outbuilding's front porch and entryway. The loom house is covered in painted white clapboards and has a zinc-coated aluminum roof.

Above: The large limestone step was found on the property. The bricks came from a local salvage yard. "We wanted the building to reflect the small-town vernacular in Kansas, so the first time I visited, we looked around a lot of little towns," says Schultz. "This is in an unspoiled part of Kansas and we saw a lot of interesting buildings."

Above: A wood-burning stove is the studio's heat source in winter.
The ceiling beams are recycled, as well. "There was an old barn on the property, but it blew down around the time the clients bought it," says Schultz. "They salvaged its exposed beams for the weaving studio."

Above: Behind a sliding barn door is an alcove with a Murphy bed, enabling the studio to do double duty as a guesthouse.

Above: Throughout the house are double-hung, two-over-two Marvin windows. "The same window, in the same size, is used everywhere but in the bathroom because we wanted to keep a very controlled design vocabulary," says Schultz.

Above: Wood boards in the entry and bathroom are from the old barn that blew down.

Above: A limestone foundation, made of local stone, also references the design of the main house (visible in the distance).

Above: The loom house sits in a grove of deciduous trees. In summer, their leaves provide shade and in winter, after the leaves fall, they allow a lot of sunlight into the building to warm up the space.
For more of our favorite farm buildings, see:

• Outbuilding of the Week: A Cookhouse on Vashon Island.
• Bringing Up Baby: A Bavarian Barn for Pygmy Goats.
• DIY Natural Remedy: Calendula Oil from Obercreek Farm.

http://www.gardenista.com/posts/outbuilding-of-the-week-a-prairie-loom-house-for-weaver-elizabeth-eakins

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นาซ่า!! เตือนภายใน 48 ชั่วโมง ดาวเคราะห์น้อย ขนาดใหญ่เท่า 1/4 ของภูเขาเอเวอเรส ..จะพุ่งผ่านโลกด้วยความเร็วกว่า 40,000 ไมล์/ชั่วโมง

เมื่อนาซ่ายืนยันว่าดาวเคราะห์นอยที่มีขนาดใหญ่ดวงหนึ่งกำลังวิ่งผ่านโลกด้วยความเร็วกว่า 40,000 ไมล์ต่อชั่วโมง โดยรายงานข่าวจากนาซ่าแจ้งว่า จริงมันควรผ่านโลกในวันเสาร์นี้ แต่นักดาราศาสตร์ได้มองเห็นว่าดาว 86666 ซึ่งนาซ่าติดตามอยู่นั้นจะเป็นดาวเคราะห์น้อยที่ใหญ่ที่สุดที่ผ่านมาใกล้โลก ของเรา

ดาวเคราะห์ดวงนี้เป็นเหมือนก้อนหินขนาดยักษ์ พุ่งผ่านโลกด้วย ความเร็วกว่า 40,000 ไมล์ต่อชั่วโมง ขนาดที่แน่นอนของดาวเคราะห์น้อยก็ยังไม่ชัดเจนว่ามันเป็นที่คาดว่าจะอยู่ ระหว่าง 0.7miles เมตรและกว้าง 1.6 ไมล์ – มากกว่า 15 ครั้งใหญ่กว่าดาวเคราะห์น้อยอื่น ๆ ขณะนี้บนจอเรดาร์ของนาซาคิดว่าดาวเคราะห์ดวงนี้จะอยู่ที่ประมาณหนึ่งในสี่ ของขนาดของภูเขาเอเวอร์เรส


นาซ่าได้ออกฉายภาพเคลื่อนไหวของเส้นทางของดาวเคราะห์น้อยซึ่งคุณสามารถดู ดาว 86,666 ปรากฏออกมาจากด้านบนซ้ายของหน้าจอในขณะที่มันใกล้วงโคจรของโลก

ที่มา express

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4 dead 7 hurt in public minivan wreck

4 dead 7 hurt in public minivan wreck 2 Nov 2015 at 22:15 971 viewed2 comments WRITER: ONLINE REPORTERS Photo from กู้ภัย444 (Rescue 444) Four people were killed and seven injured when...

Read More http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/transport/751980/4-dead-7-hurt-in-public-minivan-wreck

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Domestic Dispatches: 7 Secrets to Make a Perfect Bed by Michelle Slatalla

Issue 38 · Harvest Moon · September 25, 2014

If you count all the hours we allot to plumping pillows, smoothing sheets, straightening shams, and fussing over how the whole thing looks, we spend as much time on our beds as in them. Yet the results never look as good as pictures in magazines. Enough already. I am a busy person and so are you. Here's a foolproof system to make a bed inviting enough to make it hard to say goodbye each morning:
For tips on bed-making (and a philosophical discussion about what the state of your bed says about you), I turned to Tricia Rose, a bedding expert who owns Rough Linen and has given a lot of thought to the topic.
"Virtually any bed looks beautiful if it has a woman lying naked in it, on her side, seen from behind, with a sheet carelessly draped across her bottom," Tricia said.
"I could try that, I suppose, but I don't know if it's sustainable," I said. "What about on days I have to go into the office? How can I make it look good then?"
"Easy," she said. "You have to get to the heart of it—what is your bedroom for?"

Above: Photograph by Debi Treloar.
Your bedroom is the most private room in the house, and it should be the most personal. Your bed should feel like the ultimate sanctuary and make you happy every time you get into it. "Show-off-y beds are a thing of the past," Tricia said.
So are fussy pillows—remember the era of "my husband has to throw 14 tiny pillows onto the floor so he can get into bed?" It's over. Instead:
Secret No. 1: Get
the right pillows. By all means keep your favorite pillow—the flat, dingy one you've been carting around since childhood because it has just the right squish factor to lull you to sleep—but also invest in a pair of beautiful goose down pillows. On her bed Tricia has a White Goose Down Pillow; available in standard, queen, and king sizes at prices ranging from $104.99 to $172.49 at Warm Things.
Goose down pillows will look plump and make your bed look welcoming no matter whether you lay them flat or prop them against the headboard. "Some people do pillows like a stack of pancakes and others like magazines in a rack that faces forward, and either looks good," said Tricia.

Above: A set of standard size Garment-Dyed Linen Pillowcases is $65 and a Garment-Dyed Linen Flat Sheet is available in 18 colors; from $55 to $109 depending on size at Restoration Hardware.
Secret No. 2: Buy a bolster. Then push it up against the headboard and leave it there. A twill 30-inch-long Bolster Cover is available in eight colors for from $39 to $89 and a 30-inch-long Synthetic Bolster Insert is $26; both from Pottery Barn.
"If you read in bed, having a bolster to fill in that horrible corner where the mattress meets the headboard, feels so much better," said Tricia. "And it's no work at all, because you don't touch it. You don't have to move it to make the bed in the morning. It stays put."

Above: Bed linens made of linen; a  Pure Belgian Linen Sheet ($154 for queen size) and a lightweight Summer Cover ($220 for a queen size) are available from Rough Linen.
Secret No. 3: Instead of cotton sheets and pillow cases, put linen on your bed. (After all, this category of textiles is called bed linens for a reason.) "What I love about linen is you can stand at the end of the bed and with both hands go 'flick," and it looks beautiful, wrinkles and all," Tricia said. "It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth or perfect at all, because linen already is perfect."
Linen linens look good even when mussed. But I have to point out this is not the way I was taught to make a bed. Housekeeping had very strict rules. My mother ironed bed sheets and taught me to make hospital corners before she taught me to read. On each bed: a fitted sheet, a top sheet, a blanket, a quilted bedspread, and two pillows. She folded back the spread, precisely placed pillows on it, then re-folded. Bed making took about 10 minutes, and the result looked like a dead body was lying under the spread at the head of the bed.
How did your mother make the bed? Prepare yourself emotionally for Tricia's next suggestion; my mother (and probably yours) would consider it heresy:

Above: Photograph via High Road House.
Secret No. 4: Ditch the fitted sheet and instead tuck in a flat sheet around the mattress. "Fitted sheets are an excrescence," said Tricia. "Mattresses are all different depths. Fitted sheets never fit properly and they never look good." Instead, she suggests, use a big flat sheet—if necessary, buy one that's a size larger than your mattress—and tuck it tightly around the mattress.
(Fitted sheet or no? Where do you stand on the subject? Tell us in the comments section below.)

Above: A generously sized Flat Sheet big enough to be tucked in all around the mattress is available in five sizes at prices ranging from $140 to $220 from Rough Linen.
Housekeeping is a personal thing. Next to religion, I can't think of a topic on which I have stronger opinions. (Don't get me started on bleach.) Your mother, like mine, knew how to make hospital corners. Perhaps you still employ this technique every time you make a bed. If not, re-learn; eighteen-year-old Army recruits can do it. Here's a Basic Training Video to refresh your memory.
Secret No. 5: You don't need a top sheet. Instead, stuff a comforter inside a duvet cover (preferably a linen one) and let the cover do the job of a sheet. "The only function of a top sheet, if you have a duvet, is to wrap itself around your legs while you sleep and to become untucked," said Tricia.
Bonus: by eliminating a top sheet, you will be able to make the bed faster and more easily in the morning.

Above: A White Goose Down Comforter is from $338 to $568 depending on size and a Down-Alternative Comforter is from $118 to $148 depending on size from Garnet Hill.
Secret No. 6: Buy the right size comforter insert to stuff inside the duvet cover. "The silly thing is there isn’t a standard for the sizes of duvet infills, so you can't just buy 'queen' or 'king' and be done with it; you have to measure your duvet cover," said Tricia. "To fill it up, buy an infill that is at least two or three inches larger. You can even buy one that's six inches larger, and the infill should mush nicely in there." On Tricia's bed is a Down Comforter from Warm Things.
Secret No. 7:
Buy non-slip casters and place them under the feet of your bed to keep it from moving. Then you can lean against the headboard and read without fearing you will slide all over the room. Under her bed's legs, Tricia has placed a set of Non Slip Furniture Cups; they're $16.21 for a set of four from Wayfair.
"This is all I have to do to make my bed look as good as if a naked woman were lying in it on her side?" I asked.
"Well, to make it look nearly as good," Tricia said. For some things, there are no substitution.
See more Domestic Dispatches for a Closet Cleanout: 10 Essential Clothing Pieces and How to Care for a Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree.
http://www.gardenista.com/posts/pillow-talk-7-secrets-to-making-a-perfect-bed

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Table of Contents: The New Landscape by Gardenista Team

Issue · The New Landscape · November 2, 2015

What's ahead for next year? We're looking at the new landscape, and we like what we see. Join us this week:

Monday

Above: A new kind of kitchen garden: elegant and unruly at the same time. Join us for this week's Landscape Architect Visit.

Tuesday

Above: How can you add Curb Appeal for under $100? Let us count the ways.

Wednesday

Above: Erin makes a dried fruit garland for the holidays in this week's DIY post.

Thursday

Above: Inspired by the transformation of a dark, gloomy garden in central London's Islington neighborhood, we take notes in this week's Garden Visit.
Friday


Above: We collect ideas for surprising new ways to use decomposed granite in a garden in this week's Roundup post.
http://www.gardenista.com/posts/table-of-contents-the-new-landscape

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Top 5 in Garden News RHS Will Plant a Fifth Garden and the World's Driest Place is Covered

Top 5 in Garden News: RHS Will Plant a Fifth Garden and the World's Driest Place is Covered in Blooms by Meredith Swinehart

Issue 12 · Spring Forward · November 1, 2015

This week in the world of gardening, the UK celebrates heritage apples, the Royal Horticultural Society will create a fifth garden, and the world's driest desert has turned pink.

World's Driest Place Covered in Blooms

Above: Photo by Mario Ruiz via Smithsonian.
The Atacama Desert in Northern Chile is known as the driest place in the world; some parts have never received rain in recorded history. But heavy storms of rain and snow in March—which caused catastrophic flooding in the region—have brought unusual fall carpets of pink mallow blooms. Read it at the Smithsonian.

RHS to Create Fifth Garden

Above: RHS Garden Hyde Hall in Essex. Photo via Flickr.
The Royal Horticultural Society has announced that it will create a fifth flagship garden on the grounds of Worsley New Hall in Salford, near Manchester. The RHS will hire a prominent landscape architect to oversee the project, which will be called "RHS Garden Bridgewater" and is slated to open in 2019. Highlights will include a 10-acre kitchen garden and a learning center for schoolchildren. Read it at the Express.

Wisteria Thefts in London

Above: Wisteria in bloom at Sissinghurst. Photo by Jonathan Buckley via the Telegraph.
Over the past two weeks, several wisteria plants have been stolen from residential gardens in North London's Hampstead neighborhood. Mature plants have been taken, as well as potted and hanging plants and small trees. Officials fear that the plants are being stolen to order; mature wisteria plants sell for several hundred pounds each. Read more at Daily Mail.

UK Heritage Apple Revival

Above: Photo via The Ingham Swan.
The "basic three" apples found in UK supermarkets are McIntosh Red from Canada, Granny Smith from Australia, and Golden Delicious from France. The nonprofit Common Ground aims to diversify the offerings via Apple Day, a national UK festival held annually on October 21. Founded in 1990, the occasion promotes apple markets and orchard tours across the country in hope of reviving the more than 2,000 estimated UK heritage apple varieties. Read it in the Independent.

Joshua Trees Threatened by Climate Change

Above: Photo via the Joshua Tree Community.
Environmental groups are petitioning the US government to declare the iconic Joshua tree—which exists mainly in the Mohave and Sonoran deserts of the US Southwest—as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. According to researchers at the University of California, Riverside, climate models suggest that the Joshua tree range could be reduced by up to 90 percent by the end of this century. Says Kierán Suckling of the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson, Arizona, "The Desert Southwest and the Arctic are being ripped apart by climate change faster than anywhere else, because they are North America's most extreme ecosystems.” Read it at National Geographic.
For more from this week, see:

• Gardenista Obsessions: Holidays Ahead
• Trending on Remodelista: Color Stories
• Remodelista Obsessions: Mid-Season Stride
• Trending on Gardenista: Bulb Mania

EXPLORE MORE: Issue 12: Spring Forward, Voices, Garden News

http://www.gardenista.com/posts/top-5-in-garden-news-rhs-will-plant-a-fifth-garden-and-the-worlds-driest-place-is-covered-in-blooms

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