Part 4 - Finishing Up

15 years ago

The final step in this was to paint the cement path. I have to admit I was inspired by a garden I saw in a magazine years ago. It was a compination veg/flower garden in the Arizona or New Mexico. The edges of the planting areas were round rocks. The paths were swept, red clay. It was so different than anything I'd seen. It really stayed with me.

I like before and after pictures. I hope you do too because there are lots of them. The color mellowed a bit but going by the color on the section of the wall we did in 2006 it's holding up pretty well. Now the Before and After begins.

Looking toward the corner.

Looking back from the Corner

The next picture shows what this side of the house was like when we moved in. No, gardens, no dining room extension. The tree on the right is the only one we've cut down. The birdbath sits on top of the stump.

And, finally, remember the thread Janice did on looking out the window? This is looking up at the garden from inside the dining room. You can see the reflection on the right of the windows that face the west side and lake.

Kristen is making sure Bo doesn't do anything she doesn't approve of.

It's been fun guys. Hope you like the pictures. McT

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Comments (24)

chevy57red
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Awesome renovations!!
Janice
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
McT--I love the woodland look you've created!!! You are indeed an artist!!! Your path would look good
in many shades of blue, too--for those of us who would love a creek running through our grounds!!! LOL

I do hope I get to land at your door one summer! I better be saving my money and buying
less hosta!!!!!
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Hazel, With fungicides, it is hard to know what to do. It seems smart to spray them before the rain occurs as that gives them added protection from fungal spores that might be splashed up onto them during the rainfall, but then if it rains heavily enough, the fungicides may get washed off the plants anyway. I sprayed one plant with Daconil because it had the beginning of some black mold on it a couple of days ago, and then I got paranoid and sprayed the plant beside it and the one across the road from it. I didn't spray the rest. As little rainfall as we received here, I expect the fungicide I sprayed still is on the leaves. If you got more than an inch or two (and, really, the speed with which it fell means more than the amount because I expect a hard, fast rain would wash off more fungicide than a slow, gentle one), the rain probably washed your fungicide off the plants. I don't like spraying anything on the plants, but sometimes it is necessary. I don't think I'll ever be one of those people who sprays fungicide regularly throughout the growing season because I'd rather eat food that wasn't sprayed. I think the most I've ever sprayed fungicide on the tomato plants was 4 times in one year, about once every couple of weeks during the worst of the high heat/humidity part of the tomato season, which at our house occurs in June most years. I am thinking it will be earlier this year. You can add a sticker-spreader product to the fungicide to make it adhere better to the foliage. Some folks just add a couple of drops of soap (not detergent, but actual soap) to their fungicide spray to serve as the sticker-speader. I do not know what the rest of you are looking at in terms of temperatures next week, but at our house we're looking at highs in the upper 80s by mid-week. In combination with wet soil and high humidity, that will give us prime conditions for fungal infections to occur on plants, and likely some bacterial infections as well. Then, there's more severe weather likely at the end of next week. Must be Spring! Rebecca, I find it amazing how much rainfall can vary even over a relatively small area. Often, our three rain gauges vary a lot--a half-inch to an inch, for example, and they are in a relatively small area. A few times we've gotten 9-12" or more in one day while our Mesonet station, clearly missed by the heavy rainfall, showed 2-5" fell at the same time. Sometimes we compare notes with friends who live within a mile or so of our house and often we have a difference of an inch or more from the same storm. Alexis, That's too much rain! We have been sporadically wet, but our last really good wet month here was January, so have been veering towards being too dry in recent weeks and I've had to water the garden a bit. 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Today is going to be cold and windy, with wind chills making it feel colder than it is, and it is too muddy to work in the yard or garden, so I am planning on doing all the grocery shopping and errand running and such today in the hopes that maybe tomorrow the grass will be dry enough to mow. The good thing about grocery day is that we'll be going to CostCo, which takes me very close to Marshall Grain Company and Mike's Garden Center, so guess where I'll be going while we are out? One nice thing about rain is that when you know you cannot garden, it frees you up to do other things that need to be done, like housework, laundry, grocery shopping, running those errands you've been putting off and, my favorite, garden shopping. One onion bolted yesterday. It is a red onion from the Dixondale Short Day Sampler, so I guess that means it is the Red Creole variety. I wasn't shocked to have it bolt as a lot of the onions I received were way too big this year and I expect bolting from those. 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just1morehosta
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
McT--
Wonderful pictures as always,how did you get the red clay,rather,where did you get the red clay,or is it paint of some sort?
I love that look.

Carol
hosta_freak
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Beautiful,as usual,Myrle! But a little ambitious for this old man to undertake! I,also don't have near that much flat land,living on the side of a mountain. Keep up the good work,for as long you are able,and we'll keep admiring it!! Phil
woodthrush
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Just amazing. I hope the hosta convention comes to your area some day and you can let everyone tour your gardens. It certainly deserves to be shown off.
Pam
applebrowndebbie
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Those are absolutely amazing pictures and a gorgeous garden.
You have to enter one of the contest that magazines have, you will win for sure. I think Country Gardens would love to do a feature on your garden, it is as nice or nicer than any I have seen in their magazine. Way to go you are truly a garden designer.
Debbie
User
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
All your projects turned out fantastic Mctavish! I have always enjoyed your pictures and especially this four part series showing the before and after of your projects. Thank you.
loveofmylife680
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Love your painted walkway great idea. Like the idea of a blue walkway also.
Jill
paul_in_mn
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Very nice McT, a wonderful garden to enjoy!

Paul
phyllis__mn
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
What a glorious tour this has been.
Patty zone 5
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Absolutely lovely, McT!

Love the before and in-between and after pics. Obviously this has been a labour of love.
jel48
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
It is beautiful, McT! Absolutely lovely. You'd never know it was the same place. You know, it just amazes me how a garden can transform a place. It looks like someplace you'd like to wander into and just never leave.
iowa_flower_nut
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Truely amazing makeover! In the very first pic of this thread it almost looks like your path is a flowing river of lava. I love it all. Wish I had your ambition. : )
floodthelast
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Wow you have created a beautiful garden. The red in the clay does a nice job bringing out the different greens in your garden. It is a really nice look. I wouldn't have thought of that.
maidofshade
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
A beautiful transformation. Enjoy your hard work! You are a designer in every sense of the word. Hats off to a wonderful landscape project. It is simply amazing! What's next???? :)
upnort
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I just LOVE LOVE LOVE this! I have to show this to my husband. Im always making paths, sometimes they dont go anywhere for yrs. but I adore them. Hes not too crazy about them because Im taking more and more of his lawn.
I could spend hours in your garden! BEAUTIFUL!~
anitamo
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Your paths are one of the bests I've ever seen. They show off the plants perfectly. What a tour you've taken us on, and a great way to start off the day. Thanks for sharing all your hard work.

Please give more details as to how you did those paths. What materials you used, etc.
mctavish6
Original Author
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Janice - start saving your pennies!

Phil, this hill can really be a challange. On the other side we had to do a pretty sturdy retaining wall (it was fairly important to hold up the house). We'd built the pool and deck by then and had to do this with three levels each only about 2 feet deep. We ended up using a combination of allan blocks and railroad ties. I like the look which you can see in one of the pictures on "my page".

Pam and Debbie - I would love a convention to come to this area. I will have my garden on the local tour at some point.

madeofshade, what's next is something perculating in my brain that will have to wait a week or so. I'm off to my sisters this weekend - coming back with hostas of course.

unport - stand up for your paths! I went from having none at first, thinking every speck of space needed to be plants to realizing how important they are. I now have paths leading everwhere. They define the gardens like drawing a line in a picture. I'm also chipping away at my lawn which is only 10 x 10 to begin with. Next year it's loosing a foot all the way around. As long as a table and chairs fit that's enough.

Anitamo, The paths are just mixed topping cement put right on dirt. You could border them by anything. I used the old stepping stones and other rocks but you could do the same thing with wood or brick edges if you wanted. When I painted them, I thined the paint. My theory is that it would soak into the cement rather than coat the top. This proved out when we painted the house. Dripped paint would easily peal off but watered down paint soaked in and is probably still there. I just used a water based latex -not special cement paint. I didn't prepare the surface other than to have it clean. I didn't wait for it to "cure". I pretty much ignore advice of men in hardware stores. What do they know? I remember trying to figure out what I was going to use as a toping for the border we did when we put in the paving stone patio. We'd built the patio up against those cement bricks with the two holes in them. We'd left ourselves options for wood or cement or whatever. They stayed unfinished for a couple years. Meanwhile I got a bit use to using cement by making these steping stones and the birdbath on top of the tree stump (made in a horse trough). When I asked at the hardware store how to do a curb type thing, showing pictures of the actual patio and bricks, I was told I'd have to make forms. Why? It's not like cement is runny, or at least mine wasn't. I mixed it to the consistancy of soft clay and did it the way I wanted. The only problem I had this year with texturing the wall was forgetting to listen to my own instincts. Men who've worked with concrete will tell you to wet down the concrete so the toping stuff will stick. Wrong! I didn't do that with the first part of the wall so why did I do it with this part? I had the worlds worst time getting anything to stick while I was doing the pole at the corner and that section. Finally I quit puting the water on first and had no problem after that.

Again, thank you all for you wonderful thoughts and compliments. I'm glad you liked our work. Myrle
hostasformez4
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
McT,
Hopefully your 4 posts will stay long enough for every Hosta Forum member to look at if not add a footnote to. I got weary just thinking of all the labor that went into your project! LOL.

As always your pictures were so helpful. Loved the month by month changing of your garden. Isn't it more fun to be outside working than in in a stuffy old house? I think so.

What's the next project or are you done for a while?

Wonderfully interesting as usual from you. Thank you for sharing.

Connie
mctavish6
Original Author
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I agree, being in the house is a drag Connie. As far as garden projects, we have many. Next year the aim is to get a small deck in the inside corner that your can barely see in the L of the house/dining room. We want to work more on the "Throne" project started last year - connecting the seat to the recycling area at the end of the driveway. I also had an idea this year. I was looking at the lawn area and beyond to the corner of the balcony (west side of the house). I thought how nice it would be to connect the two. An added benefit would be a solid roof for the wood storage area below. Now, in pictures of the lawn hostas, you see the ugly pieces of fiberglass roof for the wood. It would be great as a deck. Besides that, I am going to get the old wooden fence taken down. That's the one at the back of the big garden. I want to expand some more into the woods. This will need water. Some or all of these projects will be started. What will be finished remains to be seen! Maybe I'd better rest up and hibernate for the winter.

Connie, you are also going to be surprised, picture wise, pretty soon. Myrle
just1morehosta
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi Myrle,simply beautiful,what a nice garden tour,and what a lot of hard work,i lonve seeing all your ideas,you are great at design.

Has your cement path gone through a winter yet?I wanted to do something like what you did but my hubby said in our zone (5 ) Illinois,it would crack up in a couple of years.

Thank you for taking us all on the greatest garden walk.

Carol
pzelko
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
that looks like a real tiresome chore there!! hope you had a bunch of freinds over to help. along with a couple KEGS of beer!!! like the path that you have going!!! great job. It really defined the garden!! a gin (or a gin and tonic!!) really great work!! and sure that it was not easy!!! probably trying to work around all of those plants had to be a REAL chore, but it's great and I,m sure that you love it!!! I think the clay color works!! probably easier on the bare feet than blue!!!

Paul
lenore1014
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Your garden and path are just beautiful! The garden was beautiful before, but the pathway and wall really provide a good setting for it!

You really have a lot of plants packed into your garden! It looks wonderful!
goldedger
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Wow Myrle, you have unlimited energy and an unflagging spirit, to have done all that and still have all kinds of projects waiting in the wings. Beautiful job and I loved seeing your photo essay. It does look wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

June

Part 4 - Finishing Up

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Part 4 - Finishing Up

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