Two River Rock Beds for a St. Louis Front Walkway Entrance
The concrete walkway at this St. Louis home now has finished beds at both ends. At the sidewalk we built two block-bordered river rock beds, each with an evergreen shrub. At the front door we edged the beds along the house, planted new shrubs and added decorative stone. The job took one working day.
A Long Front Walk With Nothing Marking Where It Starts
The front walkway at this St. Louis house is a long, curved concrete walk that crosses a wide front lawn from the public sidewalk to the door. Where the walk met the sidewalk, it ran into a sloped lawn with bare patches of soil on both sides. The lamp post stood on its own in the grass, and nothing marked where the walk began. Up at the house, the beds beside the front door had no edging.
The homeowners already had plans for the front walk and asked us to help fix them. They also wanted edging that would make the walkway look better. Joe worked out a small front yard landscaping plan with them before the crew came out.
Two Ends of the Walk That Needed Finishing
This is a wide ranch house set well back from the street, so the walk is long. The near end at the sidewalk is where visitors actually turn in, and nothing marked it. The far end at the front door had beds with no clean line between the soil and the lawn.
The ground at the sidewalk end is on a slope, so new beds there would need a compacted base before any block went down. Working on both ends would make the walk look finished from the street to the door without a whole new front yard.
River Rock Beds at the Sidewalk, Decorative Stone at the Door
We built two rectangular beds, one on each side of the walkway where it meets the sidewalk. Because of the slope, we compacted the base first, then set a gray tumbled block border around each bed and filled the beds with river rock. Everything in them is new: the block, the stone and the plants.
We planted one small evergreen shrub in each bed. The lamp post on the right side of the walk was already there, and it now sits inside the right-hand bed.
At the house, we edged the beds on both sides of the front door with gray block, planted new shrubs and filled the beds with light decorative stone. The whole landscape design job took one working day.
The completed project included:
- Two new rectangular beds, one on each side of the walkway at the sidewalk
- Compacted base under both beds for the sloped ground
- New gray tumbled block border around each bed
- New river rock fill
- One new evergreen shrub planted in each bed
- Gray block edging along the beds on both sides of the front door
- New shrubs and decorative stone in the front door beds
- Installation in one working day
A Front Walk That Looks Finished From the Street to the Door
The front walkway at this St. Louis home now has a clear starting point at the sidewalk, where two gray block borders frame the first few feet of concrete. At the other end, the block edging and light decorative stone give the beds by the front door a clean line.
The crew finished all of it in one working day, which the homeowners pointed out in their review.
Does Your Front Walk Disappear Into the Lawn?
Stand across the street and look at both ends of your walkway. If the walk just runs into the grass at the sidewalk, or the beds by the door have no edge, it’s easy to miss, especially on a wide lot. Small bordered beds at the sidewalk and a clean edge with decorative stone at the door finish it without touching the walkway itself.