. . . ROCK SCREENING

Here are the steps down into the secret garden. I am going to leave the blocks a little scattered because in my mind I see one day there will be ground cover between the blocks and the steps and some crawling, vine-like flowers flowing over the blocks. Then the blocks will just kind of poke out between the leaves and flowers. Hey, its my vision. You don't have to see it now. You can see it in a post a year or two down the road.

In the little secret garden area, I have my little system going. On the right you can see where I am digging terraces for the planting beds. The large flat rock in the bottom right of this picture actually is the marker for where the water will flow over the edge from the water fall. Yeah, a waterfall. I am putting a waterfall in the secret garden. There is also going to be a secret path and a few little secret statues hidden in the foliage. Am I still the only one who sees this without laughing? Just wait!

Ethan and I built the rock screen on the right. I didn't measure one board! It is just perfect. The little red wagon slides under the screen and catches almost all of the fine soil that falls through. It is at just the right angle to get all of the fine soil separeted from the rocks. The rocks slide down to the bottom. I haul the rocks away to use for an underground drain at the side of the house. The fine soil gets shoveled into the wheel barrow Where it is mixed with some spagnam peat moss. This mixture is then shoveled right back into the bed ready for planting when the walls go in. The larger rocks that I find under the ground are being set aside for the water fall and the wall.

I just love it when a plan comes together. This is about an hour and a halfs worth of work on the beds and steps. Just perfect for a weekday evening after work.

. . . LANDSCAPING

My first adventures in landscaping were on my second house.

I did the worst sprinkler job imaginable. All of the sprinklers were in the center of the lawn. Okay, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I was planning on having a lawn with rounded corners. When the money ran out, I settled on the traditional lawn and the corners kept drying out. Imagine that.

My next sprinkler job was done for a neighbor and that one was done right. I am hoping that I can use what I've learned for my current challenge.

The Current Challenge:

The previous owners of this house apparently had the front yard sprinklers done by a friend (not a bad job). The problem is that they filled the yard with the extra sod from several neighborhood jobs and did not prepare with top soil. The result is a bumpy, patchy lawn with bare spots from shallow rocks. The back yard is unfinished and in my opinion will be easier than trying to fix the front.

This will be the subject of subsequent posts on this blog as it will take a while to complete.

Here are some "before" pictures of the project.