If you search around I am sure you will find lots of pictures on the Internet. I will pass along a link to a local supplier that I thought had some nice pictures.

- Brent

Here is a link that might be useful: Sislers - Job Pictures

Here are some photos of my own patio project, completed last fall. It's made of old recycled granite slabs from the garage floor (the basement is paved with granite too) and brick from a partition wall in the garage that was removed. The rest is new granite for the dry-laid walls and bluestone for additional paths and to edge the patio. These were taken before they were quite finished, so the brick is not levelled yet.
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Saypoint - your patio and landscaping is beautiful. I really like the Arborvitae as a privacy screen. Did you put the stone in concrete/mortar or use sand?

The stone is laid over 6-8" of compacted crushed stone. The brick has an added sand base under it. The Arborvitae hedge was just planted last spring, it should fill in before too long to make a solid hedge, and I'll keep it at about the height it is now.
Thanks for the compliment.
Jo

Here's a great site for you to look at.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pergola, Arbor and Trellis Structures

Here's a raised paver patio with a boulder wall and dense yews as a hedge. Let me know if you have any questions.

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We added our patio last fall. We used Techo-Bloc Elena pavers in sandlewood, see www.techo-bloc.com. Here are some shots:
Before:
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During:
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After, view from house:
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After, view towards house:
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Closeup:
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Next year, we plan to side the house with a taupe/beige. Meanwhile, I keep buying plants!

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

wow, that is really something else!! awesome project!

Here are a few pics of our patio/ramp (we have friends whose children are in wheelchairs) project:
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We didn't do the pavers ourselves, though I helped build the stone walls. It was a BIG project, but I am (mostly) pleased with the results. There are a few things I'd change...but they are related to the low wall you can see in the middle picture. I wish we'd had the mason include an opening with a threshold in that wall--for sweeping debris through--AND for bringing the lawnmower that lives in the shed down the hill through. Wheelbarrow too...both the mower and the wheelbarrow get hauled up and over that wall. Live and learn!

melanie

So dominogold, how's the ole hernia after lifting those boulders into place? ;)

I felt bad for the crew working on my patio. Every single boulder required a forklift and 3 guys to maneuver. Tough work!

No stone paver patio, but I can show you the pergola on the north side of our home.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pergola

Work in progress. We have lived here 5 years and are just now getting all this done. I recommend living there a while (maybe not 5 years) and getting a feel for what you might want to do.

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Chelone, your pergola is gorgeous. Wish I could have one like it. (Blew the budget on the stonework. LOL)

Saypoint, is your bluestone mortored or just sitting on a base of compacted crushed stone? (Trying to decide what to do with mine).

Spunky, yes, the patio and walks are set on compacted processed stone. The only things that are mortared are the very top layer of stone on the otherwise dry-laid walls, the brick stair risers and bluestone treads, and the outermost row of bluestone on the patio, which also sits on top of a low retaining wall on two sides.
I have a lot of pictures of the construction process, if you are interested, email me, and I'll put them back up on photobucket and send you a link.
Jo

Say, thanks for the compliment (your patio is handsome, worth every dime you spent on it!). We designed and built the pergola ourselves in two weekends, hiring a local landscaper to dig out the planting beds so we could set the footings easily. Roughcut hemlock was relatively inexpensive (forget, but $200 sticks in my mind). It is 30' long with a 12' projection. I stained it myself over the course of a Patriot's Day weekend (50/50 bleaching oil and silver grey stain).

We added it to visually "tie" the house to the raised septic system and soften the tall aspect of the home on a low lot. Trompe l'oeil, I guess. It spans the continuation of the driveway to the back of the house. It is tall enough to accomodate a full size pick up truck/SUV, but NOT with a roof rack. The bay window in the bedroom dictated the height at the mid-point. We spent a lot of time working on proportion, so it would have enough mass to work with the proportions of the house; and not look too "spindly" or "cheap".

Planting it has proven more problematic. It is a partial shade garden throughout the growing season here in Maine. I have Sweet Autumn clematis on the first (eastern) post, another clematis on the second (which I don't think will remain there throughout this season), and a lovely clematis (Triternata rubromarginata) on the third. I had an Akebia on the western post, but lost it to a brutally cold winter with no snow cover in 2003-4. I love Aristolochia durior and am thinking of adding it to either that post or the second one. But what I thought would be an easy planting exercise has been tougher than I expected, funny how that works, huh?

Don't know if this is what you're looking for as far as a pergola, but here's something we had put in to provide shade by our pool in the hot Texas sun...some of these were taken this year, some a few years ago.

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I'll bet it made all the difference in the world, too. Very pretty; I'd give my eye teeth for a nice, long lap pool. But it doesn't make a lot of sense here in Maine. sigh.

rkley, the pergola is beautiful. I'm looking to build one this summer but I'm unsure how big to make it. What dimensions did you use? It looks like a good size.
Thanks.

Here's ours. Simple design. Cost a couple of hundred $s in lumber.

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here's our new pavers/arbor/pergola:

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Didn't want another side of posts with the plumbing under the pavers so it's very skinny and we will use 4 large square cobalt blue pots to grow grapes & vines up the posts.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pavers/Pergola

Three tons of lilac Pennsylvania bluestone ($600) set over screenings ($90). Joints filled with tan polymeric sand ($60). Our archaeologist son excavated and I worked with him to get the level and slope for drainage. I laid and hid a drainage pipe in the lower corner since I built up my garden beds to help provide an enclosed space. Our other son, DH and I spread and tamped the screenings. They handled the stone. I filled the joints with the polymeric.

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