New Sidewalk - New ideas

This fall we decided to do something about our front walk. It was the original walk that was poured when the house was built 30 odd years ago. It was typical three foot wide straight shot from the driveway to the front  porch/door.

As you might be able to see the old sidewalk had sunk into the ground and was lower than the drive. That meant that when it rained if you entered our front door you had to wade through water to get there, NOT good.

That little side walk was big trouble when they started to rip it out. Sledge hammer and a jack hammer wouldn't hardly budge it. They had to call in the big guns so to speak. This little machine came in and made mincemeat out of all that concrete. 

After ripping out the old walk the fellow that ran the machine turned it around and started digging out for the walk. It didn't take him long at all. 

You can see how we changed the layout of the sidewalk. It went from a skinny straight shot to... 

a 5'wide sweep up to the front porch. This eliminated a tall step up to the porch too. Now there is a very moderate step.

We were having the coldest snap so far this fall while they were working wouldn't you know. They had to wheel 3 yards of concrete in the cold. 

After the concrete was in place. They smoothed, made relief cuts and then rolled a nice pattern onto the concrete. 

It was so cold that they had to put big thermal tarps over the concrete so it wouldn't freeze. 

In the picture below you can see how it looks. Those white spots are little piles of salt that haven't melted off. We have had such an awful winter weather-wise. I have used salt on our new walk. So far so good. It is holding up. 

Now for the new ideas. You can see the open area to the left. I am chomping at the bit wanting to plant it up. I have had so many ideas as to what I want there. I can hardly wait for spring. This will be one of my first projects. Do you have any new ideas for your garden this spring? Try to stay warm.