It seems to us as if it’s taking forever, but then who knew it would be such a big job? The plans for the landscaping job looked fine, but they didn’t fully anticipate the degree of slope they had to work with, so a curbstone step-down became a large boulder wall, and so it went. What do I mean by “large boulder”? Take a look at these following photos.
Also, the raised planters are being hand laid with smaller stone, each chipped to fit by the stone masons. It’s beautiful work, but it takes a great deal of time. A retaining wall and some steps have been added because the area is also steeper than expected.
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- these boulders are 30-40 inches across
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- building the large retaining walls
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- raised beds under construction
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- more retaining walls and cheek walls for the steps
The flagstone has arrived and we’ve been told it’s unsatisfactory: too rough to be safe for walking without a tripping hazard. It was just what we wanted, but we’ve had to switch to a different, darker stone that will hopefully be delivered next week. There’s no cost to us in the change, but it’s a delay.
It’s looking now as if we’ll get the basic landscape plantings in and that’s about all. There’s about another month of Summer-Fall that’s good for planting and getting things somewhat established before it starts to cool off. By the end of October, what’s going in needs to be in, and we’re way past time to plant roses and any summer-blooming perennials. Oh we’ll stick some things in just to not have bare dirt for a month or two, but it will be Spring before we’ll be able to do much, or see much in the new landscape. Meanwhile, we’ll just have to enjoy the stonework and terrain.
I admire your landscaping skills! Whenever we need yard work done, we just hire some high-school drop-outs to do the Heavy Lifting and Toting.
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Its looking good so far though. Sorry there are delays, but then again is there ever a project that doesn’t have them? Will look forward to more pics, especially next year when you get a chance to do more planting.
George, I doubt those HS drop-outs could manage this job, too much engineering involved.
Carl, they told us 4-5 weeks, which we thought was really a long time, but they’re up against it now, and there is still a ton of work to do.
Looking forward to seeing some pics when all is done
Me too, Charles, me too.
So, until next time, I’m Bob Napier…
…and I’m Norm Abrams…
…for This Old House.
Yeah, Bob, that’s how it feels lately, except I’m not the one doing the work, just footing the (ouch!) bill.
Looking good guys. Can’t wait to see the finished work I know it will be great. Miss and love you tons. The Trevino’s
Yo, thanks, it’s a lot of work and taking longer than we expected, but it will be nice when it’s done and we have a real space for plants and us instead of a very steep slope we practically had to repel to get down.
Can’t wait to see how it’s going to look finished. I have a suspicion it’s going to be absolutely beautiful. Wow, what a nice vista you have. I love all that greenery.
Yvette, the picture at the top of the blog is the view from our living room window, on a foggy winter morning.