Gordon and Pam Drews have a beautiful sprawling garden of vegetables and flowers behind their secluded home in rural North Carolina, all connected with a brick paver garden path that seems to never end. Along the winding path, there are patios, a water feature with fountain and lots of outdoor rooms for rest and reflection. And there’s a crystal-clear swimming pool surrounded by an ever-growing basketweave pattern paver patio.

Gordon Drews, in his mid-70s, has done all the hardscaping himself using a shovel and wheelbarrow over the past six years. He’s been a regular at the annual Pine Hall Brick Paver Days events, nearby in Madison. Each year he and Pam load up their truck with their choice of pavers. They don’t mind mixing and matching colors, but they always select thin pavers.

“They go further!” says Gordon Drews. “And they’re lighter and easier to handle.”

Thin pavers ARE fine for non-vehicular applications. And for meandering garden paths, like those of the Drews, they’re an excellent choice.

Gordon Drews and his son did most of the initial heavy digging and terrace construction to create multiple levels on a sloping backyard. At the bottom of the terraces, Drews keeps beehives and his composting area.

Heading back up the steps toward the house, you walk past neatly tended vegetables of all kinds. Closer to the house is fragrant space of peonies, lilies and other annuals.

Above all the terraces is the final plateau: the Drews’ raised patio.

Most of patio spaces on the property use basketweave patterns, while the pathways keep it simple with running bond patterns.

Gardening isn’t always clean. The paver paths aren’t always clean of dirt, but after a rain, a walk in the garden doesn’t turn into a tramp through a swamp.

The roomy patio by the pool—reached via a pretty curved paver path in the shade of the house—shows how beautifully clay pavers present themselves when it counts. The sparkling pool sets off the Pathway Full Range rich shades of reds.

You don’t have to wander very far to find pallet loads of pavers waiting for Gordon to dig another path or widen a patio.

After a hot day of gardening or hardscaping, it’s nice to have a swimming pool close at hand.

The Drews moved south from Wisconsin after Gordon took a job at the Miller Brewing plant in Eden. Pam has been a teacher. Both are retired now and the ever-evolving and utterly amazing garden space expand a bit every few months. That’s one of the great things about brick pavers, they’re easy to add to and change and you can get as creative and whimsical as you please.

But you don't have to make your paver project this expansive. Start with a 100-square-foot backyard patio. But be careful. As Gordon Drews can attest, the paver bug might bite you!

Other blog stories of Interest:

Great Wall of Granddad—Ricky and James make Mom’s garden beautiful