When upgrading an entrance to a home, a very important part of the job almost always includes the front, or main, entry. This can be especially true when the home is located on a corner lot with more than one way to get to the front door.

I designed this project it so that both entries attract your attention to the front door. The longer entry (which comes from the driveway on the other side of the house), needed to be more pleasing, making the “journey” to the front door a pleasant one. The front walk needed more character and a lot of softening up. (see photo at right) The first thing I did was eliminate all the sharp angles and long straight lines and switched the concrete sidewalks to pavers, which softened the look.

I added a small entry patio and installed a seat stone in it ,which helps draw attention to the front door, and also helps separate the two walkways. (see photo at left)

This picture was taken from the
street. Notice how the curved paver
walkway took the place of the old
straight walkway, which will create
a more relaxed and interesting
approach tothe front door

Last Summer we finished a challenging project designed by Spencer Jones, and which we have been taking you in through the last two blogs. The finished product was a great success, which accomplished what designer Spencer Jones wanted, part of which was to expand the “hidden” front entry. By the time we were done, there were a very interesting combination of elements involved in the project. Among these were: a limestone seat wall, bluestone walkway, Arizona flagstone ( which was incorporated in to an exposed aggregate walkway, see photo at right), fieldstone accent boulders, a new driveway, an irrigation system for the new lawn, and of course landscaping with perennials, shrubs, and trees.

I’m really proud of the crew for the quality job they did. It took a lot of patience, not to mention the skill and craftsmanship that goes in to a project of this nature. Jason Larson did a great of running the project. Jon Larsen showed his knack for detail, especially in integrating the flagstone seat wall with the landscape boulder(see photo at left).

Matt Grove and Jordan Dokken were irreplaceable in the work that they did, showing their crew experience by taking over the support work that allowed John and Jason to stay focused on the bluestone patio and the seat wall.

Written and posted by Doug Grove, Grove Landscaping, Northfield, MN

I would never believe it if I hadn’t seen it (or should I say “If we wouldn’t have done it with our own two hands!”) The picture you are looking at is from the project in southern Northfield that I started to describe to you last week, and yes, that is shredded bark covering the brand spanking new driveway with (from left) Matt, Jon, Jason, and Jordan wondering what the heck it is that they’ve just done!

The new driveway to the garage was big and bright because it was new concrete and had not aged. Because the rest of the project was in brown or earth tones (see photo at right), it just was too much of an attention grabber. How could it be toned down?

Spencer came up with a novel idea.If you have ever raked wet leaves off your walk or driveway in the spring after the snow has been on it all winter, you’ve probably noticed the stain it leaves behind. If we covered it with shredded bark, and watered it it down for a week or two, maybe the natural tannins in the bark would wash out of the shredded bark and stain the new concrete. Why not give it a try?

After the owners “watered” their driveway for a week or so, we had the unveiling. The concrete was definitely darker , and had that “aged” look. So, if you’re okay with drivers slowing down to stare and have who-knows-what go through their minds, you might want to think about it, if you ever want that “mature” look on your new driveway!!

Written and posted by Doug Grove, Grove Landscaping, Northfield, MN