Update on mcm landscaping - slow but sure progress
The concrete patios are in, but still curing. They start tiling the pool and spa waterline late next week. The landscaping starts next week also. If you remember, the pool coping before was ugly, not well formed and looked brutalistic. I had tried to salvage the patio by grinding the concrete down, but it had to ultimately be removed (at signif. expense and loss of money).
There are trees are in the front and back. Hopefully they will grow enough to hide the surrounding homes, which are increasingly being torn down for multi-million dollar McMansions, encroaching on my view.
I met with an interior decorator last week and we decided to just use the standard "pool blue" tile. I badly wanted blue oceanglass tile, but it is too expensive to install in the spa and at the waterline (25k!). I also met with an architect, who worked with the original home architect and some of the oldtime greats like william cody, and he said the blue tile is what they used to use in the day and I should use it. Please let me know if anyone strongly disagrees with choosing this tile. It also matches the mosaic pool spa tile perfectly.
I'm including pics of the planter space that you guys helped me decide to install. I like it. I think it breaks up the concrete expanse and conforms to the architects 4 ft or 8 ft modules. It also will catch run-off from the roof.
Here are some pics of the progress. You guys have been so helpful!
Front - new stairs. Will have a landing at the bottom.
There will be a rusted steel planter around the tree.
Backyard planter space.
Front with sidewalks leading from parking spot and road to front door.
View out the front pivot door (tape and refectance material to keep birds from hitting glass). I will eventually put a reflecting pool in the dirt spot, but it's out of my budget for now.
Comments (35)
sylviatexas2
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Status updates? How are things progressing?
Comments (28)The electrician finally came today and hooked up our power. And then they turned on the A/C for the first time since our fire in March '09. I couldn't have worked a minute longer in that house - it's July in Houston and man is it hot. Now that the A/C is on we have to wait a few days and then the marmoleum installer will come and do a moisture test on our slab. At that point we'll be ready for the kitchen floor to go in, and then I suppose we'll follow up with the Thermador 48" built-in fridge. The cooktop, wine cooler, wall ovens and warming drawer are boxed up in the L/R, so they could go in (I guess we need the plumber for the gas cooktop, but the electrician can do the rest). We'd hoped to move in this week, but I think we still have a week or so of work to do. So hopefully next week. Because if we are not in next week then I am going to have to cancel or significantly revise my planned vacation and someone is going to get a serious lecture. Our builder said on June 9 that we were 4 weeks away...hah hah hah. That was before his electrical sub stopped returning his calls. GRRR! Time for a glass of wine....See MoreAnother update on mcm landscaping :)
Comments (79)I'm just now seeing this post. Seeing pics of your many birds and hearing about their antics has been enjoyable, although I feel for poor little Scout. I hope that you'll continue to keep us posted on them all, as I'm a huge lover of birds of all kinds. I'm loving the landscape progress, too. Regarding Xeriscaping with rocks, gravel, etc. It gained great popularity here in New Mexico, as it did in many other arid and semi-arid locals across the Southwest, back in the early-Eighties. This was when I was studying to become a Master Gardener. I still recall many of my instructors telling us that people would soon see "the dark side" of using rock as mulch in their xeriscaped yards. And we did. On one hand, it's very practical, but even with the best weed barrier put down underneath, you'll end up with weeds within a year. That's because the wind will always blow dirt in, which settles down between your rocks, gravel, etc., thus creating a good environment for many weeds. The heat from our intense southwest sun is absorbed by the rocks, gravel, etc. It can easily create an environment too hot/ harsh for many flowers to do well, but our feisty, tough SW weeds seem to thrive on it. Yes, the accumulated dirt may be shallow, but those tricky weed roots can easily grow sideways to take hold. So then you're stuck with what to do with the accumulating dirt between the gravel, etc. You can, of course, pull out the weeds as they sprout, but you'll eventually need to shovel up the rocks -especially if you're using gravel or the crusher fines- get rid of the accumulated dirt around them and start over again. Gardening here in the Southwest can be trying, to say the least! I've used the crusher fines. I've used larger rock. I've left the dirt exposed. There are pros and cons to them all, but you end up with weeds, regardless (LOL). What works for me here is to forego the weed barrier and just use several inches of treated bark mulch around my plants. The blown in dirt just drops down to the dirt below. I add more bark on top every couple of years. It works for me, But regardless of what you go with, invest in a good narrow headed, long-handled weeding pronged rake for working around your cacti. The breezes and winds also blow in trash that is much easier to pull out with the right tool. Those cactus spines are vicious!...See MoreNew, w '54 mcm ranch, orig and 1976 updates
Comments (27)Lars, my phone photo snapping skills stink. The house is surprising bright for having so much dark wood. But, some spots aren't as bright. Just tending the landscaping will help bring in more light, as so many of the surrounding trees and bushes are overgrown. Most of the fixtures are old and inefficient as well. And keep in mind I'm in CT with winter sky (and 3 feet of snow on the flat roof!) I do agree that I want to enhance the overall light quality, while preserving the woodwork. Outside playing, jlc, missymoo: thanks so much for the words of encouragement. When we have to address the kitchen we will reuse everything that's worth saving. And I have a rather generous definition of what's worth saving. We really aren't going to change the house, other than mechanics and the kitchen update. The inspector had his palms down for 10 minutes waiting for these guys to get hot! Missymoo, the grounds are sprawling for us. The house is on 2 acres, which is flat around the house and then falls away in the back. Our current yard is .11 acres. This is a huge change for us. I showed my DH your note about the tree. He's extremely excited. Any suggestions? Awm, thank you. We feel lucky and very thankful to the family who owned the home. They took impeccable care of the house. They didn't want to just sell it to the bulldozer. We only looked at one house and we are moving to CT from NY to do this. This is a big change and challenge for us. Obviously the unique challenge will be the huge flat roof. It was done really well. It held up to the 3 feet of snow this winter. But, its old and flat! Any house could have needed a new kitchen (especially the ones in our price range!) To build a new house requires clearing land, a well, septic, hvac system.... This house, with its limitations, will shape us as a family as much as we shape it. (Oh geez, sorry, I'm getting corny.)...See MoreBackyard Landscape design in Progress (pic)
Comments (51)Screening trees: Arborvitae DeGroots is beautiful and less common than arborvitae Smaarg. Smaarg or Emerald green is what you are more likely to find at Big Boxes and garden centers. Except for Smaarg's overuse, it is a perfectly suitable tree for accent or screening. People who live where there's a heavy snow load are concerned about arborvitae's branches splaying. That can happen but there are ways of dealing with it. I have a "skyrocket" juniper that is lovely. Very narrow and the berries (blue) add texture. I struggle with design. Nevertheless, my thought on screening is to not ""make a point of it." A tall conifer and spreading deciduous or a columnar deciduous screen would be part of the your larger varied landscape plan. If you planted three of the same right in front of the blue house....to satisfy an immediate need for screening....It would just look like a lump of green. If you don't want to lose a season (or save $ this sale season), make a decision and put a servicable conifer or three there. (peraps Degroots....tall, compact,; chamy. gracilimas ( ferny wide) and???? Please do not plant them too close together or they'll shade out each other's branches and brown out. (the risks of monoculture is another reason not to plant many of the same plant. If one dies a newly planted one will look out of place for a while. If one gets a disease, they may all be affected) Avoid a straight line...stagger. If you carefully consider their ultimate size you'll also see why the proportions of your beds should be larger and wider. I honestly think once you have an interesting "front" to that fence and your attention and energy are engaged with planting you will barely notice the offending house. The house is far from ugly and has interesting architecture. Think of it as "visual noise" but it need not dictate all your plant choices . I concur with some others that the beds need bigger more graceful curves and should be considerably deeper. Have you tried using a hose for laying out? You haven't mentioned whether children might be using the space. If that's a possiblity it might be a factor to consider....I firmly believe kids and gardens can co-exist just fine. Touch football and soccer make another situation all together!...See More
daisychain01
9 years agorockybird
9 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
daki
9 years ago
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
9 years ago
awm03
9 years ago
carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
9 years ago
Olychick
9 years ago
lazy_gardens
9 years ago
WalnutCreek Zone 7b/8a
9 years ago
jlc712
9 years agorockybird
9 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
gyr_falcon
9 years agoblfenton
9 years agocyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
9 years agorockybird
9 years agolast modified: 9 years ago@bfenton: Yes, it's a big saguaro. It was originally in a bad area (stuck in a dirt hole in pool coping in shade), and I moved it when I bought the house. It looks so much healthier now! I think orange cusions would look great!
Eighth pic down is the south side of the house. There will be plants against the house, but I havent decided if I should have them plant the rest of this side of the house when they come back for lighting/ dg installation. The south side is very visible from the inside, so I am considering finishing that side.
Here is a pic of the area with the rusted steel, to the left of the stairs. It is larger than I thought, with a bench on one side. In front of the bench will actually be a courtyard, sheltered from the road. You can sit there while waiting for a ride, or have a cup of coffee, and look at the gorgeous red mtn. in front. I will probably put a couple chairs in there.
Here is the pool area:
robo (z6a)
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agorockybird
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoThis what I was going to be to start for pool furniture - the petal table and two white bertoia chairs with the sunflower yellow pads. I have to get them before the knoll sale ends. What do you think? Is it too much to have the sunflower yellow pads with the blue pool tile?
Thank you cyn427 and robo! It was awful before! I hated it. :(
chispa
9 years agooldhouse1
9 years ago
OutsidePlaying
9 years agorockybird
9 years agoSochi
9 years ago
Bethpen
9 years agocarolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
9 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
9 years ago
emmarene9
9 years agorockybird
9 years agolast modified: 9 years ago@Emarene - It was pretty bad...the pics dont show quite how bad it was. The patio was coated in thick layers of ugly cool decking which I ground off. I tried to grind the patio down to the aggregate, but it ended up looking awful - uneven with dips, horribly stained. The coping was poorly formed and didnt match the patio. It wasnt flush with the patio. The plaster stained badly within two years and cracked. :( i hate the piece jutting towards the house. An architect designed it. It does not look mcm.
rockybird
9 years ago
mudhouse
9 years agoblfenton
9 years ago
LynnNM
9 years agodesertsteph
9 years agorockybird
9 years ago
amykath