When we bought our current (one acre) property, there was one partial badly laid down path going from the main back yard to the side yard. The path was made of old red bricks, and my guess is that some previous owner had laid it down. For a variety of reasons we needed to do a major landscape job on the place, and our landscape contractor was going to toss out all of these old bricks, but I liked them, I wanted them, and so we saved them.

One of the many things we needed to do was to level the dirt and put down some hardscape in the area behind our sheds. (At the time we bought the property, it was all bumpy hilly dirt and mud out there, plus some existing shrubs and fruit trees.)

Our contractor put in a (salmon) colored concrete border to separate out the planting areas from the hardscape areas (and to keep the bricks in place), and we recycled the beautiful old brick into this "brick patio" area. (In reality, it is more of a shady plant nursery/hospital/pot ghetto/utility area, but still...) We did not have enough bricks to complete the project (which included making a little raised bed around a fruit tree), so our contractor had to go in search of new bricks which closely matched in color.

We also needed to redo the shed stoops (you step up into the sheds from the pathway in the side yard), so we used the same bricks there, along with the same pavers that we used for the pathway.

Below are some quick pictures I took earlier this month of the "brick patio" area (while a clean up had just gotten started ).

peeking through the gate from the side yard into the brick patio area


incoming daylily pot ghetto between the sheds and the creek bank


Below you can see the stoop to one of the shed doors... the old bricks are the small pieces at the front of the stoop; the interior of the stoop used the same pavers as the walkway. (The daylily is 'Sears Tower'.)

bricks at the front of the shed stoop


What is funny is that during the course of the very long landscaping project, the brick patio acquired moss.... and the contractor kept wanting to power wash it off! We said "NO!".

Karen, great article! It's sad when old buildings have to be torn down but wonderful that you were able to obtain the bricks for reuse; they bring a lot of history and character to your beautiful property. Great job!


@Polymerous, great job on reclaiming that old brick for your pathways and patio!

Thanks for your comments.

Great pics, Poly.

Karen, this is a great article! Your brick looks wonderful and adds so much to your gardens. Recycling is great. There was a 1950's flagstone planter by the front steps of my house when I bought it. I dismantled it years ago when the steps had to be replaced, and the flagstone has been used in different places around the yard over the years.

Thanks Jeanie. I really appreciate your kind comments.

@Karen - belatedly saying (because I was so excited about the topic and wanted to post what we did) - great article!

Your garden paths are one of a kind, with the writing on the bricks. My sister (who lives in Kansas) also has a short garden path made of stamped/engraved bricks. Mine are just plain 'ol bricks...though we love it when the moss grows on them.

I've got to ask, though, why did you make your paths so narrow (i.e. one brick wide)? Did you like them like that? Or did I misunderstand, and are the bricks meant to be more as garden bed dividers?

Thanks, everyone, for your comments.

I wanted to leave as much room as possible for plants. I am just using my iPad for pictures so they don't show things as good as they are. When you see the whole garden, they seem wide enough.