Where better to sit than next to a pond? With the drum of spilling water drowning the drone of man’s machinery. The original plan for the patio included a dark gray breeze (small rock chip) base material next to a dry, white boulder pond. A contrast of dark and light, a modified Taijitu. ☯ Using… Continue reading A patio by the pond
Category: Hardscape
Plant your water for your best harvest yet
Imagine having this much water. And knowing you made it happen. The Cascata Delle Marmore Falls in Italy are manmade, built to solve problems of another manmade water flow. Moving water is a long held skill of humans, though the Romans were immensly expert in moving large amounts long distances. For the arid American West,… Continue reading Plant your water for your best harvest yet
The breeze and strip stone path installation
The path I want to create will be bold where excitement is key and understated where I want calm. How you say? Its all in the matrix. Bold is red breeze and creamy white steps. Under-stated is stone dropped in grass. I went with red breeze on the central axis over the bridge to guide… Continue reading The breeze and strip stone path installation
Ideas for new paths
This is a nice tutorial on how to create a gravel path that stays in place. The big deal is the tamping and a good tamper! A natural low profile path The path found by Pam Penick on an Austin Garden Tour in 2008 has the lines I’m looking for. Here flagstone is upended to… Continue reading Ideas for new paths
A new retaining wall section
Fence guys don’t know retaining walls. The tallest part of the wall needs redone. It may last a year or more so there’s time. Wood lasted nearly 40 years in the same site, so treated wood sounds like the obvious choice. The fence guys didn’t put in any drainage and that may be contributing to… Continue reading A new retaining wall section
For under deck roof
https://www.familyhandyman.com/decks/building-a-deck/under-deck-roof/view-all Plan to space the 2×4 purlins parallel to the house and 3 ft. on center. To provide drainage, the panels should slope toward the outside edge of the deck about 1/4 in. per foot. If the span under your deck is 12 ft., for example, the purlin at the outer end of the deck… Continue reading For under deck roof
New fence, new challenges
Our fence really needed replaced. The old fence though was built so that light could shine through and you could see into each other’s yards. Our neighbor decided he didn’t want that kind of fence again. So now we have more shade . But new challenges mean new gardens! Here is the fence.
The Peach Tree Espalier
Originally posted on 5/15/2016. I will be planting two of my peach seedlings along a back fence. This has been a long forgotten part of the yard. But one that would lend well to small fruit trees. My seedlings are ready for their permanent home and while that part of the yard is not in… Continue reading The Peach Tree Espalier
The new flagstone patio
After many years waiting for the cash to get the patio I knew would never get done by myself, I am quite pleased with the result. Eucevio and his son did a great job, even accommodating a move of the very heavy stone stair. Here is the before and after. Now to plan the shade… Continue reading The new flagstone patio
Garden Design – Creating Depth
Is your garden all fence and no flair? Create depth and interest with these tricks.