Landscape Newsletter Issue 7 |
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A Designer's Dream |
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| When homeowners Phil and Shannon Wondra bought their home in the Denver area several years ago,
they dreamed of great things for their property. Avid gardeners and outdoor lovers, they envisioned
turning their backyard into a beautiful garden oasis. Inspired by their years of working for the National Park Service, they wanted to create a natural setting with the beautiful stonework and character they’d seen throughout the national parks from Maine to Washington. The carriage roads and bridges in Acadia, the stone lodge in Yosemite and the rock walls along roadways in Glacier and Shenandoah all created a feeling of heritage and durability they wanted for their home. They explored the different product options at a local Home & Garden show, and discovered Allan Block. |
"Absolutely great design flexibility" Phil Wondra, homeowner |
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Shannon liked the natural look of the antiqued AB Europa Collection. Phil saw the “absolutely great
design flexibility” of the matching AB Courtyard Collection. Together the two products gave them everything
needed to create planters, posts, seating benches and a low courtyard wall around their patio in a color
that complimented their home’s exterior. Phil explained some additional design criteria. “Due to several years of drought, one of our goals was to substantially reduce the size of our yard and the grass we had to water. We replaced it with raised planters and installed a drip sprinkler systems to efficiently keep moisture in the flowerbeds. Lighting was also important to us. Allan Block’s hollow core design made it easy to have accent and walkway lighting installed throughout the patio”. |
| Working with a landscape architect for the overall site plan, and Slaton Bros., who did the hardscape plan and construction, they created a stunning design. The project included 50 lineal ft (15 m) of 5 ft (1.5 m) wide raised planter beds using AB Europa, an 800 sq ft (74 m2) paver patio with 48 ft (14.5 m) of seating wall using the AB Courtyard Collection, an overhead pergola and a “grand staircase” leading from the patio to the backyard gardens. | 
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| Phil commented on the installation process, “considering the huge quantity of block, crushed stone,
sand and dirt that was staged in our cul-de-sac, I was surprised and delighted to have installation completed
within two months. There were a couple of enhancements to the design once we got started, but with such a
flexible system, it was no problem.” The end result for Phil and Shannon is a dream come true. “Our backyard gardens are designed to re-create the natural beauty and stonework you’ll see in the national parks. Allan Block brought that home to us. We love being out there just enjoying the surroundings. The smooth curves and rockwork patterns; its so amazingly natural and everything we dreamed of”. |
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Introducing the AB Courtyard Collection by Allan Block |
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| Simpler and Easier Than Hand-Laid Stone The AB Courtyard Collection combines the beauty of traditional stone walls with the strength and versatility of modular concrete block. This patented system has the look and feel of natural stone but doesn't require the expertise needed for mortared stone. Design Versatility The AB Courtyard Collection is a flexible system for creating both residential and commercial projects. You can build a variety of walls, posts and other landscape features such as patio enclosures, seating walls, fountains, light posts, and entry monuments using just five block shapes. Designs can easily incorporate curves, corners, step-downs, lighting and patterned walls. The AB Courtyard Collection compliments our other Allan Block Collections to create complete hardscape environments. |
Click here for block specifications |
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Simple Construction Building with the AB Courtyard Collection is easy. No concrete footings are required and the interlocking blocks fit together without mortar or pins. The system includes both AB York and AB Dublin blocks with splitting notches that allow you to easily create smaller pieces for wall details. Individual blocks weigh between 20 to 42 lbs each (9 kg to 19 kg), so they are easy to handle and stack up quickly. Color, Texture and Finishing Details The AB Courtyard Collection includes both wall and post caps for an attractive finish. Combine AB Dublin and AB York blocks for unique patterns and textures. Cap your wall with an accent color for a dramatic effect. The possibilities are endless. |
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Courtyard For the classic look of cut stone.
Old Country Courtyard For an aged, old-world appearance.
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The AB Courtyard Collection - A Modular System With Unlimited Design Options |
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The AB Courtyard Collection gives you tremendous design flexibility. The modular blocks and the ability to easily split blocks, provide capabilities unlike any other vertical wall system. | |
| Create Curved and Serpentine Walls Curved walls can be easily created using pre-set radiuses built into the block design. See How-To sheet #200. Custom designed curves can also be created - with some cutting and fitting of blocks. Combine Straight and Curved Walls Transistioning from a straight wall into a curved wall requires splitting a Dublin Center-Split block on every other course. See How-To sheet #130. Build Circles Building with circles and curves is easy - just stack two courses at a time for the best alignment. See How-To sheet #130. Build Corners Building corners requires one corner block and one split block on every course. See How-To sheet #180. |
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Combine Wall Panels and Posts The AB Courtyard Collection makes it easy to combine wall panels and posts. Create great architectural affects using either straight lines or curves. See How-To sheet #190. |
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The AB Courtyard Collection - A Modular System With Unlimited Design Options |
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| Added Stability for Taller Panels For added stability on taller panel sections, we recommend tying the panel into the post. See How-To sheet #230. |
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Build Patterned Walls The versatile AB Courtyard Collection can be used to build walls with one block shape or a combination of both the AB Dublin and AB York blocks. Create your own patterns or use the ones shown here. If you have larger curves in your design use both blocks. For smaller curves use all AB York blocks. |
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Finish with Wall and Post Caps Wall caps create an attractive finish to your project. The versatile wall caps are designed to easily finish straight or curved walls with no cutting. Two post caps complete each post, and modify easily to accomodate lighting. |
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Ending Walls The AB Courtyard Collection lets you end or step down walls in a couple different ways. End the wall with a post for a dramatic effect or use step-downs to compliment your wall design. See How-To sheet #160.  |
Spliting Blocks |
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| The AB Courtyard Collection includes both AB Dublin and AB York Blocks with
splitting notches that allow you to easily create smaller pieces for wall details.
A masonry hammer and chisel is all you need to split blocks. For projects that
require many cuts, a masonry saw is recommended. See How-To sheet # 210 for detailed instructions. |
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