It doesn't look that bad in the photo, but was quite a mess in person. Those stones at the end of the path were a few I'd already started to lug in for the rehab
Loose pebble removal first. I scrounged flagstones from elsewhere in the garden, because I was unable to buy any to match what is already here.
Hand truck to move the big ones:
One from where I scrounged, in back of the house:
We have moles throughout the garden. They leave tunnels under the flagstones:
Moles
are carnivores. They leave plants alone, though they can disturb soil
around small plants, drying out the roots. I check around small plants for that. Otherwise, moles are
not a problem. Happy to have them around--though sightings are very
rare.
I've
found one or two confused by daylight and concrete and steered them
gently to loose, soft soil where they quickly dug their way back to where they
belonged.
There were only a few buckets of loose pebbles on the "project" path--what happened to the rest? I used the loose pebbles to fill bare spots in the veggie-cutting path:
"Veggie-cutting"--there are plenty of succulents in there, too.
I started digging up the mix of soil and pebbles, sifting out the soil with nursery flats--very handy for sifting soil and compost:
The pathway was so firmly packed down, I decided after some tedious effort to leave it as is--just scrape off enough of the mix to level the path and make it low enough to add a layer of coarse sand the flagstones could snuggle into without cracking.
Sand spread, flagstones scrounged, arrange:
My craftsmanship is not great. The stones are a little too high. Add a bag or two more of sand to fill in between the stones? Or just some soil? Remove the edging? The refresh is very solid to walk on. It feels far better than the pebbles. That's something.
It's hot. Our marine layer giving us grey mornings has vanished. I got up early and took a few photos of the rising light.
The sun's first moment, cracking darkness open like an egg, danced a magical duet with Eucalyptus 'Moon Lagoon':
Good job laying the flagstone. I've done my fair share of sifting gravel from dirt given that I found it all over my garden, a former rock quarry, when we first moved in - I never want to do it again. I was initially alarmed when you said you were underwhelmed by Leucadendron 'Chief' and I'm glad it redeemed itself. I love mine, the only problem being keeping it under control, which it requires at least twice a year. It's miserably hot here too - low 90s yesterday and back there today, still climbing.
ReplyDeleteThanks! The path is "refreshed" if nothing else. It's better than I expected.
DeleteUp until about 3 weeks ago 'Chief' looked really sad. Did a lot of nothing--was it not getting enough sun? Wasn't like it had not gotten some winter rain.
I turn my back for a few weeks and look what happened. In the long run its going to get shaded out by the new 'Springfire's to the southwest of it, but will admire it in the meantime.
Anyone who does hardscaping like this gets my applause. It looks great. It is so much work and so much work that it hidden from view. We have landscape fabric under our pebble paths but it is impossible to keep debris from turning into soil from above. At this point I think we would need to hire someone to do all that sifting and replacing. I keep thinking maybe I could do a yard a week?? And those are some very large stones to move. For my taste, I would add a little sand but not enough to spill over the edging, assuming that is actually possible. My current surprise is an Agapanthus that has retuned for its third year of blooming.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the returning Agapanthus! I hope the flower is pretty and worth the effort. The bees here like them and I've seen the occasional hummer as well.
DeletePath wasn't super bad. Cutting down the big Pittosporum and digging out the big stump was much worse. If nothing else the path is level and easier to walk on now. I got some material to put between the flagstones--must wait until it is cooled off to work again out there.
Now the area where I scrounged some of the flagstones is the new mess! That must also wait until it cools a bit. Our heat spell may last until July 26th. :(
I entered a long comment but I don't think it went through. So I will just say an impressive project and looks good to someone who has assisted on these type of garden hardscape.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind complement (The other comment went through too.)
DeleteBig project, but your planning and effort paid off. It looks great! It's so fun to see projects from beginning to end. And 'Moon Lagoon' is dreamy, for sure!
ReplyDeleteThank you! The refresh is not perfect, but inexpensive (a few bags of sand) and better than it was.
DeleteNo fun moving huge chunks of rock but the pathway looks great. Infilling between the slabs depends on what you want the look to be. Sand works well for little plants but also self sown seedlings like it too. I swear plants have ears because as soon as you say it needs to go they perk up thus changing your mind re their future.
ReplyDeleteIt's well known that if you set a shovel next to a rose it will sprout flower buds within a week. ;^)
DeleteI have three 'Moon Lagoon' and one has exploded to the point where most of the foliage is the adult foliage now, which I'm not that fond of. I think I've reached the point where I can't keep it small enough to produce the beautiful juvenile foliage. I may have to start over.
ReplyDeleteYou can prune them pretty hard if they are well established. I cut off several feet of several branches and they all re-sprouted that beautiful juvenile foliage.
DeleteI have always admired how you are able to do all the difficult things you do. You're fearless. For instance, laying a pathway. There would be nothing level about it if I tried to do such a thing. It would wobble all over the place and I would break my ankle. I do read a lot though, and discovered a kind of sand that might be just the ticket. It's called "polymeric" sand. Apparently it controls weeds better than the regular stuff and has cement-like qualities that enable it to stay in place better too. Might be worth looking into. Elizabeth
ReplyDeleteNo, not "fearless". Actually, lazy is more like it, believe it or not. Easier to DIY than to find someone to do it. Finding anyone to do something seems to take more energy and time than DIY'ing a small project. I learn more that way, too.
DeleteI did look at polymeric sand. I could not figure out what it has in it besides sand. Plastic? Glue? I'm not comfortable putting something into the garden when I don't know what it is. Weeds are really not much of a problem in that area. Thanks for the thought, though. I appreciate it.
Great tip on using nursery flats as a screen. That would have been much easier than making my own from wood and hardware cloth. I've been working on renovating paths too. Can't keep the weeds out of the gravel or sand, so I am transitioning towards a relatively cheap DIY concrete hardscape option. Flagstone prices here have gotten a bit out of hand. My craftmenship has not been great either, so things are very, very rustic. It's still a vast improvement over a weedy mess.
ReplyDeleteI double up the nursery flat (2 together) as that makes them stronger and less likely to break.
DeleteFor the area where I scrounged the flagstones I'm looking at the plain concrete squares from big box home improvement retailers. It's in an area concrete adjacent so works fine style wise. One thing I've found about concrete blocks, pavers: I've ended up re-using them multiple times in different places--they don't go to waste or wear out.
Nothing wrong with rustic!
Hi there! I haven't seen the moon lagoon in tree form--Beautiful! How tall would you say yours is? Do you think it's at its full height? Beautiful space and thank you for all of your documentation of your plants!
ReplyDelete'Moon Lagoon' is maybe 10 feet or so. I have shortened it somewhat. It seems fine with being chopped, like most Eucs around here. One thing I learned is that if you want it to grow straight you need to stake it VERY well, as it will lean and flop if you don't. At least here that is the case.
DeleteThank you for your kind complement!