Cleaning a landscape Rock?

xxnonamexx

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

I am trying to clean this Boulder I tried Power washing any other ideas not to ruin my pavers?

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Comments (3)

NHBabs z4b-5a NH
8 years ago
How about a bucket of suds with a scrub brush along with a wet-dry shop vac? I'd probably dig out the dirt around the edge of the boulder and put in gravel if the dirt washing onto the pavers bothers you.
woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
8 years ago
I would guess that the dirt on the rock is washing out from the rock wall behind it. If that is the case, washing the rock is not going to do much good. Just sweep it off periodically and learn to live with it!
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Thank you for all the great ideas and info on how to landscape the way you have it! The retaining wall we just added last fall as the side of the hill was starting to cover a window over there and my dad (a civil engineer) said we needed a retaining wall to keep the side of the hill from becoming structurally unsound. The fence is there because that side of the yard is not dog proof yet and probably won't be until we rent a big dumpster for the yard renovation as the previous owners left a bunch of dangerous (to dogs) junk under those stairs. Because at the time we didn't have the time to clean up the yard, we just put up a fence and have just left it there as we have discovered the rocks and yard in general isn't working out well for the dogs anyways so we would have to redo everything. I don't know what kind of soil we have. I've been planning to stop by the local Extension office to get a soil test kit to find out what the soil is like. There is a bare patch of grass near the deck stairs that has been bare since we purchased the house so I'm wondering if that part of the yard has something wrong with the soil. We have tried seeding that area multiple times with different type seeds and nothing ever worked. You have me very excited about doing the yard now. I can't wait to remove all that rock.
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Not much of a worry if in more sun than shade. And even where a rock mulch is in shade in my garden, they don't encourage moss or algae growth. Concrete sure does though! There are organic products you can use to help control if it does become a problem - Safer makes a moss and algae killer, as does Bayer BioAdvanced (both potassium salts). Personally, I'd be more concerned about weed development. Rock mulches are notoriously hard to keep debris free and weeds will sprout freely (especially in our climate!). Not as easily removed from rock as they are from an organic mulch.
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Yardvaark
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
The dirt can be dealt with. What looks bad is the mortar pasted on so as to cover the boulder edge. Chip this out with a hammer and chisel or whatever prying tool you have (without damaging the wall, of course. Be careful not to loosen the stones while temporarily weakening the wall. Use small stones in a wedge-like manner if stones at bottom need support.) Scrape out some of the earth at the base of the wall (between wall and boulder) -- about 2 1/2" - 3" depth. Clean the excavation with a hose nozzle and after the water dissipates. sweep the debris away. Fill the cleaned gap with fresh mortar such that it is tooled flush with the face of the wall ... not overlapping the boulder base.

Where there is a dirt between the boulder and the pavers, do the same thing, excavating 2 1/2" depth and filling the gap with mortar. Tool the mortar flush with the pavers.

In the end, there should be no dirt showing between pavers, boulder and wall.

Probably the easiest way to handle the mortar is to mix it a little on the soft side (like soft butter) and put it in a grout bag. Don't use mortar that's been sitting around even though it's been dry. It must usually be relatively freshly purchased to work in a grout bag. Also, if it doesn't want to come out, you might trim the tip of the bag a little larger, but be careful not to overdo it. A little trimming at a time. This may require some experimentation. Fill the gap completely and don't worry about any excess mortar that protrudes from the gap. You'll cut this off with a mason's trowel (or your pancake spatula) after it begins to firm up, during the tooling stage, which might be an hour or two later, depending. If you can tool so that joints are slightly concave, that would be fine.

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Cleaning a landscape Rock?

Comments (3)

NHBabs z4b-5a NH

woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada

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