View Full Version : Well, the flagstone wall is done...
Maverick2272
03-31-2009, 07:27 PM
The first of the spring projects is done. The flagstone wall has been completed! Still plenty of stuff to do yet!
TexasGirl
03-31-2009, 07:28 PM
Love it and the walk!! Looks good Buddy!!
Maverick2272
03-31-2009, 07:33 PM
Thanks! Still have the top part of the walkway to re-do, and everything between the walks and the wall is being removed and replaced with purple flowered ground cover... this way the wall doesn't get 'covered' by the plants and lost to view.
buzzard767
03-31-2009, 07:33 PM
How did you find the time, Mav? Nice work and looking good.
Maverick2272
03-31-2009, 07:34 PM
During the day when I am not logged on, LOL!
I have a young blond girl that does our landscaping here and she does great work. Needless to say when she is working all the old leches are hanging around including me, especially when she wares her thong to work in or invites some of her girlfriends over to help. :brows:
Maverick2272
03-31-2009, 07:35 PM
Yea DW isn't allowed to dress like that at work, LOL!
lilylove
03-31-2009, 07:36 PM
Beautiful Mav!!! Great work!!!
Nice Job Mav! That looks really good. Did you do the walk too?
Maverick2272
03-31-2009, 08:50 PM
Yup, three times now! LOL! I am never happy with them but they are getting there! Then I need new lighting, have to re-do my side garden, just finished the small rectangular beds on the side of the house and have to plant them, move the Clematis under the trellis, and then re-do the front parkway....
Oh and and there is some trim repainting to do plus the little 'garden fencing' has to be painted from black to almond to match the trim...
Then there is the entire back yard...:glare:
Calicolady
03-31-2009, 09:08 PM
Beautiful Mav. Looks very level. And the soil looks like good, fryable stuff. Is it composted soil?
(Hope you weren't giving your neighbors the butt crack show! LOL!)
Maverick2272
03-31-2009, 09:16 PM
The soil was bad when we moved in 10 years ago. We took out all the bushes and grass and covered it all with prairie plants native to the area. Now that they have turned the soil rich and black, we are cutting back on them and going to smaller prairie plants as well as some more traditional European plants that people are used to seeing.
The garden will still maintain a 75% prairie plant ratio with only about 25% being traditional plants. This will make it sustainable in that it never needs to be replanted, re-mulched, watered, or have any compost added to it.
It just tends itself and you just prune back on occasion!
Calicolady
03-31-2009, 09:23 PM
I agree. Native horticulture is best and lowest maintenance.
Introduction of exotics never seems to work out. Either it takes over, or it's high maintenance, draining nutrients or requires excessive water/fertilizer etc. I see it here all the time. A losing battle for A season of pride.
Here are a couple shots of my backyard. The fountain is a whiskey barrel cut in half with a liner and a pitcher pump I put together a couple of years ago. It will be back up next week.
PanchoHambre
03-31-2009, 09:25 PM
Nice job Mav... you have me lapped I got two stinking vines planted last weekend
Hope to be back at it if the weather is nice this weekend
Love the wall.
Maverick2272
03-31-2009, 09:49 PM
Love the water feature Joe! DW and I did a couple of those for clients the year before last, they can add a lot to your area!
Yes I love the sound of running water, but like most it makes me want to pee. :mellow: Oh and the other half of the barrel is in the front yard used as a planter.
Calicolady
03-31-2009, 10:10 PM
Nice feature Joe.
They are fairly easy to build and not real expensive. The pitcher pump is about $30 same as the half barrel and liner. A simple fountain pump about 30 gal. per hour rating can run under that with some clear tubing and a couple of fittings you can have one for about $100. Fill it and let it run and fill it as the water evaporates.
Miniman
04-01-2009, 01:23 AM
Good work Mav
Derek
04-01-2009, 02:11 AM
Nice setup!
Adillo303
04-01-2009, 06:38 AM
Great looking yards. I will try to get some pix up of ours. Three years ago, DW and I went for hanging planters and came back with stuff for a fish pond. We have a 3 X 5 pond that goes from 1 1/2 feet deep to 3 1/2 feet deep. We also have a falls that spills nto the pond and some fish in the pond.
Mav - Love the walk, DW is asking for a better pix of it, if possible.
JoeC - Great yard.
Andy
Good work Mav. Love the rock. Can't let DW see this thread, she's been wanting something much like whatyou did. Like others said, with work and fun here where do you get the time? :D
Joe, very nice work. I have a broken hot tub sitting around that I'm looking for the inspiration to make into a pond or something. Last weekend I put a toothbar on my tractor so it's ready for some major digging projects. :D I'm sure glad the weather is getting better where we can do our outside projects. :thumb:
PanchoHambre
04-01-2009, 07:38 AM
projects. I'm sure glad the weather is getting better where we can do our outside projects. :thumb:
Agreed... I am tired of this teaser weather though... last year I jumped the gun and spent a month bringing plants in and out and stunted a bunch.... trying not to repeat this year but every time it warms up I want to get started.
Maverick2272
04-01-2009, 08:38 PM
Great looking yards. I will try to get some pix up of ours. Three years ago, DW and I went for hanging planters and came back with stuff for a fish pond. We have a 3 X 5 pond that goes from 1 1/2 feet deep to 3 1/2 feet deep. We also have a falls that spills nto the pond and some fish in the pond.
Mav - Love the walk, DW is asking for a better pix of it, if possible.
JoeC - Great yard.
Andy
Tomorrow I am re-working the top part of the walk, near the wall. I just installed the lighting tonight, then tried to put up the new light fixture over the door but it didn't fit. And then spent several hours trying to painstakingly put the lamp posts 'socket' back together in hopes of getting it to work.. I don't think it will though which means another $100 to $150 for a new one....
Anyway, tomorrow DW is removing everything from between the wall to the flagstone path and then I will re-lay that part of the flagstone path. We are thinking instead of ground cover there we will put in a strawberry patch. If it takes, great, if not she has plenty of ground cover around to fix it!
You can have a picture after I get that done, LOL! (the path part of it anyway... so maybe a day or two).
Maverick2272
04-01-2009, 08:54 PM
Here is a pic from '06 of the path and wall. As you can see the wall just curved around which was not a good shape for it. Then, the garden behind the wall and the garden in front of the wall blended together, and the wall gets lost.
As for the path, you can see the far side she has let plants creep into the path and disrupt it. I am fixing that. The top part near the wall doesn't look quite right anymore, and has 'drifted apart' some as well as get overgrown with ground cover. I am fixing all that as well.
It will be neat to compare before and after pics!
lilylove
04-01-2009, 08:57 PM
Mav..that is beautiful! People must just stop and look all the time!
Maverick2272
04-01-2009, 10:00 PM
At the time, most neighbors did like it. The town and our meanie neighbor, however, hated it. Took a lot of flack and some court dates but we won out.
Funny thing is the meanie neighbor love his lawn and was always telling us with kids we were supposed to have kept plenty of lawn for them to play on. I asked him if his grand kids were allowed on his lawn.. nope. He also apparently doesn't know which type of grass he has. It is Kentucky Bluegrass. Green in spring, brown and dormant in summer, green in fall. He spends all summer shallow watering it to death to try and get it to come out of it's dormant stage and turn green.
Plus he has grubs, his roots go down about an inch. We checked, LOL!
lilylove
04-01-2009, 10:02 PM
I can't believe anyone would complain about such a nicely done place!
Maverick2272
04-01-2009, 10:06 PM
Well the new administration here just put in a huge prairie garden and park in what was once a parking lot just down the street.
They claim they took inspiration from Chicago for their prairie installations on medians and our garden!
At the time, most neighbors did like it. The town and our meanie neighbor, however, hated it. Took a lot of flack and some court dates but we won out.
Funny thing is the meanie neighbor love his lawn and was always telling us with kids we were supposed to have kept plenty of lawn for them to play on. I asked him if his grand kids were allowed on his lawn.. nope. He also apparently doesn't know which type of grass he has. It is Kentucky Bluegrass. Green in spring, brown and dormant in summer, green in fall. He spends all summer shallow watering it to death to try and get it to come out of it's dormant stage and turn green.
Plus he has grubs, his roots go down about an inch. We checked, LOL!
You know we have Kentucky Blue grass also and it stays green even under a foot of snow. From spring to summer it has to be mowed weekly or it will grow a foot tall in two weeks other than that it is the hardiest grass I've ever seen as well as the softest to the touch. Really a great grass. If it turns brown then your neck of the woods doesn't suit it very well.
Maverick2272
04-01-2009, 10:41 PM
You know we have Kentucky Blue grass also and it stays green even under a foot of snow. From spring to summer it has to be mowed weekly or it will grow a foot tall in two weeks other than that it is the hardiest grass I've ever seen as well as the softest to the touch. Really a great grass. If it turns brown then your neck of the woods doesn't suit it very well.
That is exactly it, wrong zone!! And his does stay kinda green when it first starts to snow, and again just when the snow is clearing it looks greenish. But all summer... brown and crispy!
That is exactly it, wrong zone!! And his does stay kinda green when it first starts to snow, and again just when the snow is clearing it looks greenish. But all summer... brown and crispy!
We have a service that comes out and aerates, seeds and sprays the stuff they put on golf courses a couple of times a year. It is hard to keep up but I sure don't have to do more than mow it and thankfully it isn't that much work. I have a 2 sections in front that are about 1800 sq. ft of grass which isn't much.
Mr. Green Jeans
04-02-2009, 12:03 AM
Mav, you need a Cool Splash diervilla in that mix. Colorful AND native.
PieSusan
04-02-2009, 08:54 PM
Mav, you need a Cool Splash diervilla in that mix. Colorful AND native.
I like the variegated ones, myself.
Maverick2272
04-02-2009, 09:25 PM
We have a service that comes out and aerates, seeds and sprays the stuff they put on golf courses a couple of times a year. It is hard to keep up but I sure don't have to do more than mow it and thankfully it isn't that much work. I have a 2 sections in front that are about 1800 sq. ft of grass which isn't much.
We don't water ours, or seed it, or put any chemicals on it, just prune it back about 3 times a year or once a month. Beats me having to mow every week!! :clap:
Also, about once every 2 years we go in and thin some stuff back out. This year we are setting up a water barrel as well to gather water for all the pots on the steps, annuals on the side of the house, pots on the patio, and all her plants for sale that are wait on the shelves until they are sold.
There are a couple of neighbors that use lawn services out here, but it is getting harder and harder for them to use and also more expensive. The chemicals keep turning up in our water run off and drinking water so they are passing stricter laws concerning their use age.
None too soon for me, they should have outlawed that stuff years ago! If you pick plants and grasses native to your zone you don't have to use all those chemicals to try and keep it alive, or use up all that water either!
With the water shortages, they are cutting way back on when you can water your lawn. Now it is down to once a week, which is not enough to keep it from going dormant and turning brown.
Doesn't effect me cause again I don't have to water my garden at all!
Maverick2272
04-02-2009, 09:29 PM
Mav, you need a Cool Splash diervilla in that mix. Colorful AND native.
That is very nice, would make for a nice little shrub maybe up near the house.
You should see the Clematus' we have planted around the property! We have three along the garage, one on the side of the house that we tie to an arbor, and one in the front bed with a trellis to go up!
I will see if I can get DW to pull out some pics of them.
We don't water ours, or seed it, or put any chemicals on it, just prune it back about 3 times a year or once a month. Beats me having to mow every week!! :clap:
Also, about once every 2 years we go in and thin some stuff back out. This year we are setting up a water barrel as well to gather water for all the pots on the steps, annuals on the side of the house, pots on the patio, and all her plants for sale that are wait on the shelves until they are sold.
There are a couple of neighbors that use lawn services out here, but it is getting harder and harder for them to use and also more expensive. The chemicals keep turning up in our water run off and drinking water so they are passing stricter laws concerning their use age.
None too soon for me, they should have outlawed that stuff years ago! If you pick plants and grasses native to your zone you don't have to use all those chemicals to try and keep it alive, or use up all that water either!
With the water shortages, they are cutting way back on when you can water your lawn. Now it is down to once a week, which is not enough to keep it from going dormant and turning brown.
Doesn't effect me cause again I don't have to water my garden at all!
Don't know what the chemicals are or if they are harmful, however our water is city supplied as we are a pretty good clip from it. This is a service the company has had for 20 years and as I said not a big piece of land as most of the 3 acres is concrete or metal buildings.
Maverick2272
04-02-2009, 10:12 PM
Don't know what the chemicals are or if they are harmful, however our water is city supplied as we are a pretty good clip from it. This is a service the company has had for 20 years and as I said not a big piece of land as most of the 3 acres is concrete or metal buildings.
You should post some pictures of that sometime, would be interesting to see. Is this a condo community you are in?
DW herself has an Applicators License as she uses chemicals on occasion, mostly when installing new gardens where she has to clear out the old. I always tell people around here, don't go with those big outfits that 'dump n run' cause most of the time their people don't even necessarily know what they are spraying or how much they are supposed to spray! And that is where the problem is coming in. I think one of the regs this year is that each person that is going to apply them must have an Applicators License showing they know what they are spraying and how to use it.
Better to go with a smaller operation that has the proper certs and training.
No I live in an apartment that is part of a self storage facility. Here is the web site for it with a picture of the front of the property and the building on the right side is the apartment with an office as the front room.
http://home.windstream.net/handiselfstorage/
PieSusan
04-03-2009, 10:02 AM
I love to see my friend Carmela's garden take shape every year. With all the deer around here she needed an electric fence. It is why I have a container garden (mostly flowers) on my porch. I will wait until I am sure we have gotten rid of the cold weather before I get started.
I would like to replace a lilac bush though.
Maverick2272
04-03-2009, 01:06 PM
No I live in an apartment that is part of a self storage facility. Here is the web site for it with a picture of the front of the property and the building on the right side is the apartment with an office as the front room.
http://home.windstream.net/handiselfstorage/
Oh that's right, you mentioned that once before, duh!! If I can find DW's camera again I am gonna take another pic today now that she has moved plants around and graded it all out.
It rained last night so I can't move the flagstone walk yet...
buckytom
04-03-2009, 01:11 PM
very nice, mav!!!! wtg!
you can tell professional landscapers/plant people live there. i have a few friends that have businesses, and all of their front yards are beautiful.
rock walls, stone paths, water features, every nook and cranny filled with a different plant that only a botanist would know the name.
i'm going to be doing a small stone wall around my herbs and raspberries next week, i hope.
These will give you a better idea of what the outside looks like taken last May. Top is the private back yard area, Second down is the out side of the office/apartment, 3rd down is the office entrance, second to last is the interior wall including my new garden wall which we put in about 2 years ago now. The last picture is of my back porch with the private yard inside of it. As you can see we really have very little growing room.
Maverick2272
04-03-2009, 02:01 PM
That wall is new, isn't it Joe? I think I am remembering something about that window and installing it as wel as the wall...
It looks real good, I also like the tree and bushes that arc around the tree by the front door. Very cool.
We have two of those trees (Bass Wood) the other is on the other side of the drive way. The flag is large also, 12' x 18' which we replace twice a year as the tend to fall apart due to the weather. The poll is 60' tall and I change the rope every second flag.
We have 455 storage units ranging in size from 5 x 5 to 10 x 30 and one 35 x 40 which is the wall in my back yard. The office/apartment is 28' x 45 so it is smaller than our larges storage space. These pictures where all taken just after the remodeling was done on the office/apartment area hence nothing growing yet in the new area with the wall as that was a mound of grass before. It took longer to mow as I had to use a weed whacker to cut it due to the slope. This year I'm going to be redoing the private backyard are as most of the azaleas died last years due to strange weather but was all we lost so it wasn't too bad though others faired much worse.
no anchovies please
04-03-2009, 03:23 PM
The first of the spring projects is done. The flagstone wall has been completed! Still plenty of stuff to do yet!
That looks great ! Did You use anything for a base under the walkway ? The reason I'm asking is that I have tons of those type stones on My property ,and would like to put them to some use . But,I'm concerned about them heaving and shifting during the winter . Thanks , John
Maverick2272
04-03-2009, 03:46 PM
That looks great ! Did You use anything for a base under the walkway ? The reason I'm asking is that I have tons of those type stones on My property ,and would like to put them to some use . But,I'm concerned about them heaving and shifting during the winter . Thanks , John
At first no, but then they did heave and shift, so we went back and put crushed limestone paver base under them. That is part of the reason we are re-doing the top part of the walkway near the wall, it is the last stretch that doesn't have any paver base under it.
Maverick2272
04-03-2009, 03:48 PM
I swore I put these up, but can't find them now?? Anyway, took a couple of picks today of what it looks like. Soil is graded, plants moved, lighting put in. Just need to re-do the top part of the walkway hopefully starting tomorrow if it doesn't rain again.
Maverick2272
04-05-2009, 03:58 PM
It is rainging now, so won't be getting anything else done out front. We laid out the new top path so once it dries out again we should be able to trench it, lay in the paver base, and then level it out.
You can see how the path is going to look in this pic:
That is some good work and looking forward to seeing the finished results, Mav. :a1:
Miniman
04-05-2009, 04:30 PM
very good work Mav
Maverick2272
04-05-2009, 04:31 PM
Thanks guys! If only the weather would hold and stop raining! LOL!
Miniman
04-05-2009, 04:32 PM
The amount of rain is directly related to the amount of outside work that needs doing.
Maverick2272
04-05-2009, 04:33 PM
The amount of rain is directly related to the amount of outside work that needs doing.
:lol: aint that the truth!!
Or car washing time. :ohmy:
smoke king
04-06-2009, 11:08 AM
Nice job Mav!! Makes me feel a little guilty about all the stuff I need to do!
Miniman
04-06-2009, 11:11 AM
Don't feel guilty, get well, enjoy the company of your lovely wife and work at a steady pace. Besides, we all got outside things to do so we can feel a little guilty together.
lifesaver91958
04-19-2009, 07:34 PM
beautiful work Mav and Joe
Maverick2272
04-21-2009, 01:03 AM
I got it done, need to take a picture of it.
lifesaver91958
07-15-2009, 07:34 PM
Joec, This is just so beautiful!
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