Evolution of a courtyard

Recently I shared some inspiration photos for a courtyard I am helping to design for friends in Placitas, New Mexico.  You can re-visit that post here.  Based on a sketch I did, we have made a little progress.

I had not placed the existing Desert Willow in its actual location, so we will not have room for the small patio table to the right of the gate.  First design change!

 

Before

Before

My second site visit- you can see the gate is leaning on its side having sagged to the point of no longer closing.  Ralph has now re-hung it.

Establishing the curve of the new pathway with the old concrete pavers.  A friend of Ralph's gifted him with a potted cactus which we have placed temporarily in front of that ugly power pole. The artist that lived here previously left some artwork, the "Enchiladas" sign on the front porch, the metal sun lantern you see below and an interesting (somewhat disturbing with horns) clay sculpture not pictured.  The sculpture may be moved to another spot if we can figure out how to pick it up without breaking it.

Just in the nick of time, before we added too many rocks, Francesca and I realized we needed another design change.  We really did not like the pavers as edging and decided to go with large rocks instead.  We will lay the pavers instead as stepping stones through the center of the path somewhat like this...

Drop by tomorrow to see more photos of the "after"