Post date: Mar 4, 2016 11:37:29 PM
The weather has warmed. I have settled in to the house. Now it is time to start the garden. I have contacted the landscaper to install the flagstone south patio. The north side (which is always shaded) has not yet thawed.
Rocky Soil
I started by raking rocks from the soil. The photo left shows the surface of soil with a representative natural collection of rocks. Some areas have more, some less, but all have rocks. Even where the landscapers mixed in sawdust and raked the surface smooth, I still get lots of rocks by using a 4” cultivating rake.
Then there are the piles of rocks at the base of trees, where I stored them during excavation almost a year ago. I don’t want to leave these rocks around the trees, so I have been putting them into a 5-gallon pail. Where can I possibly use so many rocks? For starters I am putting them around the base of the exterior walls. (See photo at right.) These will prevent mud from splashing onto the walls (very typical of adobe houses).
In some areas the hard ground water with dissolved limestone rises up the stucco walls by capillary action. The water then evaporates, leaving white limestone deposits on the walls. The rocks will at least hide this.
Base of Walls
Another project that I have started is to build the coyote fence of latillas to screen the utility boxes, which you can see in the lower photo left. I answered an advertisement for latillas. The vendor delivered them after I requested skinny ones 4-5’ long. They are actually about 6’ long but I cut them off. I am about 11 short of the 60 that I need to finish the job.
Fence to screen Utilities
The landscape plan (done a year ago before construction) is not realistic. We built berms with the surplus dirt, and I have made a drainage rivulet that is different from the one shown on the plan. So I need to mark out the actual location of berms and trees in order to plan pathways and replan the planting. The general concept remains, however.
Once the ground thaws on the north side, I will get a backhoe to clean out the drainage ditch by the side of the road. I also hope to mix even more sawdust with the soil. I will need to add nitrogen fertilizer.