Fieldstone foundation--how to plug big gaps?
mainegrammy
10 years ago
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10 years agomainegrammy
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Need Help with Broken Concrete Walkway Design
Comments (21)Ordinarily I would find myself in agreement with almost anything Gardengal would recommend, but not in this case. Setting concrete stones at or slightly below the level of existing grass is going to result in constant dirt washing onto the soil with a sandy soil mix, and in a high desert with the constant need for irrigation for a lawn, it will also tend to wash the dirt onto pavers. I personally wouldn't want all that lawn in a climate where it will increase your water bills so tremendously, but recommended mowing heights for a Tall Fescue/Blue Grass lawn mix will be 3 inches, so having it slightly raised about 1/2 to 3/4 inches isn't going to create problems for the lawn mower. Don't forget that when rain does tend to come, as infrequent as it is, it can be the season total all at once, again likely to wash soil onto surfaces that are set too low. As to a pathway set right up against the house, it is a more common design detail in contemporary as well as spanish influenced designs, and can be a classic Spanish/Californian design detail. A desert garden doesn't lend itself to the PNW garden style with tons of foundation plantings; more widely spaced plantings and more sculptural plants placed in a more architectural or natural to the desert way seems more sympathetic to the surroundings to me. I can understand the desire to have a large green lawn in the high desert, especially if you are used to British Columbia conditions, but it is not practical in the long run, and lawn substitutes make more sense. I guess you will have to suffer through ever increasing water bills and constant battles to keep the lawn alive and looking good to understand the potential wisdom of working with your climate instead of against it. A Kentucky Blue Grass lawn doesn't even make much sense here in the San Francisco Bay Area, where they tend to want to go dormant in the summer heat and take much more water and care to keep looking decent than other lawn grasses. I'd suggest that you look into real water miser grasses such as Buffalo Grass for the high desert. Admittedly it will go winter dormant in your area, but it fills in quite quickly with desert heat, and needs hardly any water in comparison to cool season turf grasses such as Tall Fescue or KBG. If your area has a good low water demonstration garden to visit, I'd recommend a visit. Most California Water Districts do have such a display garden to show the merits of plantings that take less water and care. There is a very nice Display garden in Las Vegas, which isn't exactly close, but is similar in climate to your conditions, and illustrates the wealth of plants that actually make sense in your climate....See MoreRiga V progress pics
Comments (8)I dug out the foundation base 8 in so there's 2 inches of rock under the base frame. The rest of the greenhouse and surround is 6 inches deep. I am not sure what kind of rock I used I only know my wife likes the color. The stone size is larger than what I originally wanted but it doesn't shift as much as smaller sized stone. Very happy they pointed that out. 2 people put it together but 3 would have been better. Putting the final wall on was not fun. It took a long time to attach it. I hired someone for the water and electrical. As a side note, Exaco customer service is excellent. They call or email back promptly. I had some minor issues to solve and they were a big help. I also ordered an exhaust fan that will be thermostat controlled because it gets very hot(outside 75 inside 130) in there even now....See MoreMail order sources
Comments (14)Maryl: There is another excellent source - several of them - in fact. I have recently added two ornamental grasses to our Garden and did so after visiting one of my favorite rural garden areas north of Manistee. The first addition to my garden was Miscanthus 'Purpurascens' also known as "Flame" grass. I looked up its characteristics, photograph, etc. at my favorite garden search tool, which is given far below. Information about Miscanthus 'Purpurascens' 'Flame' can be found here. http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=E220 Once you link to this site, explore the online sources that they provide for this particular variety. Another ornamental grass which I added to our garden is "Northern" or "Inland" Sea Oats. Again, I made use of my favorite gardening search tool and found information on Chasmanthium latifolium. Here's the link to this ornamental grass: http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=A240 You will also note that there are online sources for this grass as well. For excellent information on Ornamental Grasses you might also wish to read either or both of Rick Darke's books: "The Color Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses: Sedges, Rushes, Restios, Cat-Tails, and Selected Bamboos", which can be found at Amazon.com. Here's the link to this book. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0881924644/qid=1130289563/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-8113067-2564903?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 OR his: "The Timber Press Pocket Guide to Ornamental Grasses", which can also be found at Amazon.com at this link. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0881926531/qid=1130289563/sr=8-3/ref=pd_bbs_3/102-8113067-2564903?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 Hope this information and resources are more than useful in your gardening endeavors. Bill Here is a link that might be useful: Missouri Botanical Garden - Plant Finder - Search...See MoreSeeking Ideas on a Lil' Project
Comments (71)Funny you should mention the ceiling, because DH, who recalls testing 14 colors to get the right "haint blue" for our porch ceilings here, asked if we should paint that blue. I suppose! I was really thinking of SW Interesting Aqua for the door, because it would relate to the first space you enter, the kitchen. I did this because there is really no color on the exterior but gray and white. Then I remember that there will be color ... hopefully blue hydrangeas but in any event, flora matching the blue/purple/green/white palette we have pool side. So then I am thinking I should move away from aquas and toward periwinkle to match the flowers??? In other news, approving a sketch of my door ... my landscape guy tells me the landing did not heave from winter, it is tree roots. Suggests we regrade. Probably that will also reduce the number of entry steps from 2 to 1, in which case a slab may be the way to go, Plus he reminded me we have granite steps in our lawn too. He will look at pruning the tree. He had already removed a lot the bed and as per a discussion I had w him last fall. All snow covered for now. He wants to add some irrigation, which could also enable window boxes, further obscuring the mass of white wood....See Moreworthy
10 years agomainegrammy
10 years agoedlincoln
10 years agoAAA333
10 years agoAAA333
10 years agomainegrammy
10 years agoKathrynne Willhoite
2 years agomainegrammy
2 years ago
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