Landscaping and Concrete!
Transplanted from Zion. Existing fence in the back-yard Transplanted raspberries, no thorns!
Russ didn't even come close to hurting them!
Instead of hand digging the 4 foot deep footing for the front steps, Russ
chose to rent a back-hoe.
Gee, what a surprise! It was a lot of fun!
The finished mess in the front entry area.
Russ digs the trench in the backyard
for the garage electric! Lots of
large roots to avoid. We are trying
to protect the Tulip Tree.
A friend, Mike Frane, and his son, Jake, came over and helped with
Russ filling in the trench in the back
the concrete foundation for the front entry. They also will be
after laying the Schedule 40 pipe
pouring the steps after Mike forms them, prepping the back patio
for the garage electric.
as well as the back entry steps for both doors!
No making fun of my bald head !
Thanks to Mike, Jake and Darci, as well as Whitney and April for
helping with this!
We couldn't have done it without them all!
Cleaning the front step prior to applying the concrete sealer to change protect and change the appearance!
Mike and Jake Frane prepping the back patio. The pour begins on the back patio!
The 4 boys, Mike and Jake Frane, George Trunek (a neighbor several doors to the north) and me.
The team of Jake and Mike stamp the patio.
We literally finished stamping and
It's amazing how different the patio looks when done.
the rain started!
And here's the final result from our labor! Only thing left to do are the stairs, and that will have to wait...
Jake with his kid sister, April, doing the hand prints and writing on the
ramp tradition.
Mom, Darci, came up with the idea.
Presenting, the final masterpiece!
The front steps after sealer. They look better under less than direct
Russ breaking up the old sidewalk.
sunlight with the camera.
A shed in the back-yard.
Yes, it needs a little work.
The flowers from the Tulip Tree in our Back Yard!
Little Leaf Linden
http://www.arborday.org/treeguide/treeDetail.cfm?id=119
Chinese Chestnut
http://www.arborday.org/Trees/TreeGuide/TreeDetail.cfm?ID=105
Last Fall, Cindy decided she wanted a raised bed garden. In the interest of never having to do this a second time, we made one MUCH LARGER than she originally wanted.
Below are some photos of the process. Honestly, this is NOT the 'easy' project you see on television unless you have access to heavy equipment.
Here's the location and They sat
there ALL winter. Spring, we start to
some of the landscape blocks.
re-lay-out the perimeter.
Trench is dug and gravel laid down for the lower first
Cindy's truck gets a workout.
course of brick, which is completely below grade/ground.
I used a chisel and mallet for chopping the corner bricks. I would
recommend using a chop saw and mason blade is available and possible.
The grade change over the 25 foot long garden is about 2 feet, so there were
many courses of staggered brick. This means it gets even more difficult to
end up close on the last corner. While it looks a bit odd and out of level
due to the grade change, it is actually VERY level according to my trusty 4 foot
level.
We filled the garden with about 20 cubic yards of pulverized black dirt.
Luckily, a friend had a front-end loader he let me borrow or we'd still be
hauling the stuff! My neighbors stopped by one afternoon just to observe,
and like they always do, ended up helping load, drop and spread the dirt.
We chose to fill the garden bed, and then lay/glue the cap on top. This
was in case I accidentally bumped or dropped anything on the cap, they're only 2
inches thick.
Now, it's planted for the first season and we're waiting for the reward!