Some Progress

I got the east side bed done in front. All in all it will do. This type of construction is very easy to undue, but I think it will be durable enough to last until I can upgrade the materials to a better quality. I think this is very close to the permanent layout. I will want a be and a walk here permanently. My ultimate goal is to be able to walk all the way around the house barefooted and not get my feet dirty. But I want the system to be more creative than a ring of concrete around the house.

I have been the object of scorn because I screen the soil as I excavate. However, I am steadfastly sold on the idea because the process produces uniform materials which, with the coarse screen, sort three ways. On the very top is the organic stuff like roots and the grass. On the bottom of the screen is the rubble, the rocks, concrete chunks and heavy trash like plumbing parts. The soil in the pan has small pebbles and the worms and grubs.
The rubble can be used for fill and the roots go to the wood pile for compost or the fire pit. The soil is splendid and easy to work. Eventually I will have the top ten inches of the entire property screened.

The Wrestling

I removed the ornamental plants to other areas for temporary storage and excavated for the wall. Then I moved rubble from the rubble pile to serve as the base for the wall. Since the wall will be composed of chunks of the former footer on this site of a wall long gone, I think this type of footer will serve just fine. There will be settling but this will be fine for a couple of years. When I can finally demolish the old porch deck and replace it, the brick works here will be redone and new caps placed on the walls. At that time the landscaping will have to be removed and re-done as well. A big part of this project is for me to increase my experience with the set of materials and prepare me for the time when I will be using mortar to permanently set the things I am building.

Other Side of The Walk

East Side - Before

Now I've got to address this side of the steps. So I sharpened my shovels, brought out the tools, studied the lay of the land and made some notes. The thing has to be clear to me. I will have it in mind where I start and where I want to finish. Being finished is where all the tools are put away and nothing is left to come back to. This is a place that is entirely relative but must be defined with a finality like death. There is an art to that.
No matter how carefully a project is plotted and planned I am blind to what the thing wants. Then in the first 5 minutes of the work the extra things that will make it dramatic begin to be revealed. When this happens I get a rush of excitement and a feeling of gratefulness that it is being revealed. But this has to be tempered with the realization that this is going to be more involved than I had expected in order for it to reach my expectations.
Then the project becomes like a sculpture which is revealing itself to me and that makes it art. Being an artistic production the excitement causes the pain of labor to be unknown to me as well as any idea or thought of failure or fear of criticism. But this costs me in terms of my being forced to buckle down and dig deep to deliver the goods. It means not slacking up until it is done absolutely. But the creative excitement makes this easy.

Next Thing

Here is the other side to be reworked as the other side of the front as outlined in the previous post. And a step back to see what needs to be done:

I suppose I will just take the gravel I need from the patio in back without remorse. I think I get a better deal putting it to use out front. I can take it from an area where it won't really be missed for a while. I got some positive strokes from folks on the walk to the car.

Finally Got Something Done

This is a before picture of the area targeted for renewal:

I wanted some definition and elevation here and this is what I came up with:

This picture shows the composition parts. The "wall" the hose is resting on are chunks of concrete from an old wall footer that was in the same location. In the next line is Agrape(?) border grass which were the individual clumps in the before photo. I cut each clump into four or five pieces with an old hand saw and lined them out. Next is a brick border, then the walk made with gravel screenings I took up from the patio in back. Then another brick border with screened soil fill on the outside taken from the newly created bed on the left.
The project took about 16 hours over two days start to finish. Becky was ecstatic.
One secret to such uniform results is the use of two screen sifters I have previously explained. I used the coarse screen for all the soil I turned and the medium screen for the gravel as I took it up. I found an old horse shoe and a red marble. I plan to fill this bed with leaves as they begin to fall. It will make for some good mulch.
I love doing this type of work and I can only imagine what I could do if I had some money to spend on materials. Let me say it again, I did not lay out a dime for this construction. Do you think it adds value?

Long time - No Post

I haven't posted in a long time. I have been doing work in the yard, though. I really like building things and I did these two little beds around the Azaleas in the front:

I had some some border grass that I separated into pots this year to propagate and I planted three in front of each bed. All this brick work is temporary in nature. I did these very hastily, but I still used some of my underlayment gravel material under the bricks. Mostly I had a whim and acted without measuring or doing any layout.  The need was to bolster these Azalea bushes in their struggle to be established here. Later, I mulched all around the Azaleas and the border grass. Maybe this winter I will redo this into something a little more thought out.
We were working to get the house and yard in shape for the annual neighborhood yard sale and the "Block Party" which we hosted in our back yard. I get more done and I feel more creative when I have a deadline looming.

Garden Produce

We put out two tomato plants and now the tomatoes are coming in. They actually taste like tomatoes. I've never grown stuff on purpose. I have focused on infrastructure improvements up to this point. Over winter I plan to rebuild three beds in the back corner there visible behind the tomatoes ripening in the window. I plan to use 2 X 12's and fill them with good soil. Next year we will plant some more stuff and see what happens.
We have these tomatoes and this okra in the photo below. It's been neat. I think I could grow stuff. We also had some flowers planted. We got some flowers out of there. Becky cut some and put them in a vase when some friends came for dinner.

Progress on the next project

Up until this minute I was thinking about all these complicated things to do here when all I am looking to do here is to get rid of the obstructions and get grass growing here.
The pile of concrete is from the drive way lane on our side of the line. I suppose there is another lane on the neighbors side of the line. At the far end of the excavation is the dirt that came from between the lane and wall.
I relocated the Mexican Petunias to the back by the fence. This already is an improvement. Just getting obstructions out and grass growing is a huge, but cheap, improvement.
I want to put a brick landing under the wall drain up high enough to establish a grade to carry the rain runoff away from the house. A neighbor gave me some dirt that will come in handy here.
There is probably the same amount of concrete in the area where the dirt is piled, and the same around where the concrete is piled to the gate. I will see how difficult it is to bust the concrete into small chunks with a sledge hammer.

Next Project - Review

The next area that I think needs attention is the side yard in the front. This whole area is very rough as the picture shows:

The property line is very close to the house as the fence references. There is about one foot between the bottom of the porch wall and the concrete strip on the right side of the drive. The other strip on the left side is on the neighbors side of the line.
I think I will excavate the dirt between the right concrete strip and the bottom of the wall and pull up the concrete strip, or what's left of it. This will leave an excavation where the concrete is. I think I will put the concrete chunks in the excavated area and beat them into the smallest chunks I can with a sledge hammer. I will use the ensuing rubble to back fill along the bottom of the wall to just below the top of the foundation on which the bricks lie. Then depending on how that goes I will do the same with the other lane. I will also finish clearing the concrete in the area of the foreground in this picture.
I will need more dirt to fill in with. There are some mounds in this vicinity that I may try to cut down somewhat. Basically this will probably mean that I will use my garden spade and my pick to till the ground and then use the steel rake to contour an acceptable grade with the high spot being beneath the drain hole in the porch wall. I would like to put some kind of landing there for the runoff water to help it quickly drain away from the house.
I want to see this whole area smoothed over with a thick grass turf covering it. There is a lot of rubble piled around the base of the tree. A year or two ago I set out to clean it up. After taking away two wheelbarrow loads with still an unknown quantity to go, I called it good for the time. Now I want to get it cleaned up once and for all. I have plenty of room for rubble back fill along the wall. What I can't use here I can use somewhere else.
I saw the same basic technique in use at the Clinton Presidantial Library across the river where they demolished something concrete and then further busted it into smaller chunks. Then they used it for back fill along a new sidewalk by the river.
I can visualize the finished look of this area.

Short Term

 This is a high priority area. I need to put this place in shape for the work to come on the wall. I believe that I can get a great return on some effort expended here. The conversion I hope to make here is to a grass lawn with the high point under the drain hole in the wall, yonder. I think fescue grass will thrive in this spot and I have plenty of that on hand so this won't require any money.
There is a concrete car path mostly covered over with grass about 10" away from the wall. The path is an obstruction and has to go. Perfect. I need to bolster the concrete footer wall, the top of which is exposed. So here is my plan of attack: First, remove the ornamental plants to elsewhere in the yard. Excavate grade to a line three or four inches below the top of the concrete footer wall and back fill with busted concrete chunks to just below the top of the footer wall. I want to see if I can't put some kind of brick or stone landing for rain runoff through the porch drain. Then, I need to get a grade going that will move the runoff away from the foundation. This might require a good bit of spade and rake work. After I get a grade I will seed it with fescue.
My intention is to cultivate lawn in this area out from our house and into the lot next to us. I have the owners' blessing in this. On our side there is only about four and three-quarter  feet to the boundary line. This area, on the east side from the fence gate to the curb has been a shared space with the former house next door since this house was built. I  keep a swath on their side about equal to the area on our side, plus three-quarters. The only monetary cost to me is the water. I have faith that the cost of effort will be returned ten or twenty-fold in what I will call curb appeal. I approve this project because the area is ugly now and I believe this improvement to be an excellent investment to make at this time.

A Big Project

I have some ideas about essential improvements to our house to make it more livable. A garage with a place to park four bicycles is one of them. I want to begin transferring ideas in my head into tangible drawings. A method that has worked well for me is to take a picture of the area under consideration. Then, I convert the photo to a drawing on the computer. Then I use the paint function and cut out the part I want to address. I print the result and take it to my drawing board and draft in the improvement onto the drawing. Then I scan the drawing back into the file.
In order to get a good picture all obstructions and unnecessary elements in the landscape should be removed. I am thinking that I will photograph the back fence from different angles and select the angle that best suits a drawing for the proposed garage and bike park. The last time I looked out the back gate the alley area around the fence is really ugly with overgrown weeds and trash. So, a gardening clean up project is in order so that I can get some good pictures.  Then it's back to the drawing board.

My Reward

We had a little dinner party last night. I get great satisfaction when people enjoy the hospitality we can provide.

Next Thing

While doing some grilling I saw the planter box. Realization came to me that it was time to do something with it.I also saw that the Lariope ring under the fig tree on the right needed re-doing.

I was looking around and I saw the empty spot in the corner of the yard where the bricks I used out front had been stored.

All week before I was thinking about building a planter over there, so it dawned on me that I already have what I need in hand. It will be a temporary anchor in that corner. I also decided to pull up the Lariope grass. I got eight 1 gallon plastic pots with the intention of getting eight plants from the group. Then I would enlarge the ring, pull apart the clumps and re-plant it. There are three additional clumps in the front yard that can be removed and used here.
My tasks for that morning:

• Remove soil from planter bed, screening it into the big pan to separate the bulbs and debis.
• Clear out the new location for the box and prepare a minimal footer on which to set the planter.
• Move and set planter box level.
• Dig up Lariope and remove to screen.
• Dig new bed for lariope replant.
• make eight small pots of lariope from the stock.
• Re-plant Lariope around fig tree.
• Bury bulbs in new location.
• Recover former location of planter box with fresh, screened dirt and grass seed.

I wanted to be done by 9:30.

Time Frame Review

I took the first photo on June 3rd. I was beginning to produce the photo drawings for the plan

I withdrew a very large pile of soil from this account. I deposited this base here in place of the soil.

I collected some interest off the back patio and spent it on the pavement sub-grade.







I had to push myself to the finish line and get every last detail done, according to what the plan said was 'done'.

Now, two weeks have passed since I pointed the camera out the upstairs window and told myself, "I'm gonna do that." I am hopeful the investment will pay some good dividends in the future.

Street Side Bed - Done

This is the bed. Now comes the nurture part to get the Jasmine thriving, like the concept drawing, below.

Side project

Removal of the concrete drive strip left this big, ugly scar. The photo doesn't reveal the contour of the ground, but this area has been pitiful. What to do. I have some all-purpose grass seed on hand, so after back filling with the excess soil I took from excavating the bed and raking it to a better contour, I seeded it with the grass seed, then covered that with some medium screened soil:

Becky freaked when she saw this. She wanted to have this area for parking. I reminded her that the corner of our property

Some Side Projects

The project to refurbish the bed in front spawned several other projects around the yard. I had careful plans for the bed, but for the other projects I just created a basic mental picture of how I wanted to finish the areas based on what would take place there. Thinking back now, I know that I was well aware of these areas being affected. In fact I had named them. I had formed rough estimates of each sub project. However I did not create written plans or draft any drawings. The next project that spawns sub projects will see separate plans drafted to spell the sub projects out in detail.
Some of the sub projects:

These projects have suggested further projects. Projects of substance come about with the aid of solid planning.

The Plan Sees Me Through

With the plan I had so carefully drawn up I know what I must complete at each stage to say I am done. Here is the representation of the work done to the point of ready for the brick and the plantings:

And here is the photo of what I managed to wrestle into being to fulfill that vision.

I know there are lots of people who do work with plans everyday that would make all this look like child's play. I want to get steady-on in my ability to plan in detail and create the improvement, following through to the nth degree. I think I hit the bulls eye on this.

Power of the Plan

From Becky deciding on doing Jasmine ground cover in the front bed, I produced a plan consisting of a written plan and drawings. Given my state of development, creation of the plan took a great deal of effort and patience. Through the creation of this plan I learned in advance of the actual work that renovation of the curbside bed was a large undertaking. Renovation of the one bed spawned several side projects that would either consume or produce materials related to the bed. The idea is to make all the materials into assets, rather than waste. Then these newly minted assets, not used in the primary project, are applied to some other useful purpose, not merely piled up as dead dreams.
Knowing from the plan that I must also start and finish roughly four other projects gave me foresight to set up the various work areas;  the tools, the equipment with patience. I set a mental picture of the developed state of each area that I would affect to handle the material needs of the front bed. I had two quarries from which I took the broken concrete rocks. Ragged holes were left when the concrete chunks were pulled. Those areas had to be reclaimed. I had two quarries which produced crushed stone. I had two brick stockpiles which were removed. I took three large piles of dirt taken from the bed and put them in the back yard. All these areas required attention in order that they not look like perpetual construction sites. 
The written plan and the drawings of the specific construction phases keep me on track. I have worked three straight ten hour days to get the bulk of the improvements completed.Up to this point in all the gardening I have focused more on infrastructure than on living things. I have an abundance of rich, clean soil. Spreading that into barren areas and seeding it with grass is simple enough but it is a huge leap for me. The infrastructure is the framework for an orderly garden, but the garden is about life and growing. I takes time to develop. I went from being shy about planting anything, to having the sure knowledge of how to create a lawn. Now I know to keep a bag of the sun & shade grass seed handy. I got a large pile of rich top soil from this project which I can now employ for living things wherever a little life needs to be introduced. As I gain confidence I will get better.
The plan has power. I think it is similar to taking out a loan from a bank. An instrument is created in clear written terms. All details are spelled out. The loan document is agreed upon by all concerned parties. The capital is delivered and the installments are made until the loan is paid in full. The bank earns a profit for the risk it takes, and the borrower has financing for his purpose. The thing is a living relationship until the date of maturity. Once the loan is closed it begins to be some "thing".
The same is with a plan such as the one I made for renovating the big bed in front. It came to the point that the thing left to do was to actually get to work. Once I began I could only succeed or fail. The plan has power. By the plan I know I am not quite done with it yet, but I have earned a breather.

Sub Project

I had another purpose in mind with the street side bed renovation project. I have all this concrete in various areas of the yard that I want to get rid of. The city will not pick up concrete rubble. I had some hauled off last year and it was costly. So, I done me some thinking and that is where I got the idea to use this concrete rubble as the underlayment base to the paver projects. At the same time, I will use about 75% less crushed stone. I end up with 3-5" of concrete stone and 1" of crushed stone. So the minimum thickness of the base is 4". There were stones that were five or six inches thick. So, just speaking of the base, I think the outcome meets or exceeds my expectations. My main concern is how the base settles, and if it stays put.

This is it going in. I covered it right up with fine, screened soil as I went. I constructed a screed board using a 1x8 that spanned the curb and sidewalk. To that I tacked a 1x6 set at a depth of the brick, plus one inch, for the crushed stone back fill. I laid the stone to come as close to the bottom of the screed board as I could make it. I found that the smaller stones were much easier to handle.

First Step, First Phase, Part One?! Something Like That

I finally finished laying the broken concrete rocks to the sub grade. It was a massive effort for one little guy. Here is the excavation, now at the sub grade:

That is this:

Next step:

 I will top the concrete stones with crushed stone and make the grade for the brick pavers, something like the drawing represents.

Final Step

Here is the final drawing of my project. Here is the brick landing and the beds of Jasmine. I have some planning to do for the methods for construction.

Next Step

After the mosaic sub- bed of broken concrete and mud are set and the rest of the excavation is back-filled with screened soil, I will add a base of crushed stone, here called 'screenings'. The top of that grade will be for laying brick pavers on level with the sidewalk and curb. I will make sure this grade is as flat and compacted as I can make it.

After I accomplish this I can lay the brick and do the final fill of screened soil in preparation for planting the Jasmine. It was our decision to plant this wild area with Jasmine that created the need for all this work in the first place.

Sidewalk Bed Project

I have done some preliminary excavation work, some work to prepare materials and I have done a series of drawings that outline and detail what I intend to build out front.
When I am finished with the excavation I will construct a sub- base using chunks of concrete that I plan to take up from the former drive on the east side of the house. Here is the drawing:

My plan is to lay these chunks in screened soil made into a mud. Then I will grout the edges with mud leaving a fairly flat grade. I have ideas as to how to set a good grade. It will resemble a giant mosaic made from concrete chunks and mud.
When I am satisfied that this is good enough, I will back fill the excavation to the base grade with screened soil. That is the end of this stage of construction.

My idea

I was thinking that I'm not really wanting to dig out much more of my gravel patio to supply other projects until I get another truck load. While I was digging and transporting the dirt to the back yard I was thinking that I wish I could use some of the concrete chunks so abundant around the yard.
I got this visual image of using some pieces for a foundation under the bricks. The problem is filling in around the chunks. I thought what if I took some dirt and put it through the medium screen? Then take that dirt and mix it up in the pan with a little water until it is a good mud. And how about if I troweled that mud in to lay the concrete chunks like you would a rock patio?
There are a couple of sources for the concrete. There are two concrete strips on one side of the house about 70' long that used to be a drive way. The concrete is about 3" thick and the strips are about 18" wide.

So, I got a brick and an average piece of the concrete and photographed them with a tape measure. Here it is:

 So, the two together are around 8" thick, on average. So, I excavate about 9" to 10", or so, then lay the concrete "stones" using the mud and a trowel leaving the top below grade just a little more than the thickness of a brick. When I have the stones laid and filled in completely, I will put just one inch of fine material taken from the patio screenings that have been put through the fine screen to lay the brick exactly at the grade.
Then I back fill the whole bed with the top grade leveled by a screed board drawn over the edge of the sidewalk and the curb. I'm going to try and draw up something that makes sense of this scheme.