This client had a terrible problem with water running off her steep yard and driveway onto her front walk.  The grade of the walkway was actually below the asphalt driveway.

Her budget was tight, so after a lot of discussion and visiting the site in a heavy rain, my crew and I decided to create a landing on level with the driveway.  The diamond shaped brick medallion was a nice touch, I thought.

The stop down off the landing got us back to the original grade of the old walkway.  We cut the cement to install a long drain that spanned the 36”.  Any water coming down the sidewalk, off the driveway and across the new landing went into a drain.  We mortared an extra course of brick on the hillside of the landing so the water hit the brick and traveled to either side of the landing toward the drain or asphalt.

After all this, we edged the original cement walkway with bricks to hold the mulch, tie in the brick accent of the landing, and make the sidewalk look wider.

The plantings came in last, as usual.  We planted the hillside with long blooming abelia and hydrangeas, then lay landscape fabric on the steepest slope with ajuga as a ground cover to hold the hill.

Voila!  Pretty and functional!

Christie lives in Manakin Sabot , Virginia where she manages a 3 acre garden. Her blogs are written from her 35 years as a personal and professional gardener.