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kskaren_gw

Our Newest Project (pic heavy)

kskaren
12 years ago

Hello Everyone,

I've shared with you pictures of our retaining walls we put in last summer, and I wanted to show you what we've done so far this year. DD announced her engagement in January, with intentions to be married in our yard (which looked like crap!), in a gazebo (which we did not have!) on September 10th.


This photo was taken in August of last year, and the lower part of the yard still looked like this up to April of this year. When we had our retaining wall built out front, we had the contractor dump the extra dirt right in the middle of our back yard. We intended to build a large patio, 20 foot in diameter, in a space that was virtually useless to us because of the slope and the inability to grow grass there (too shady).

As soon as the weather permitted, we started hauling away wheelbarrow loads of dirt to different areas of the yard, all of which need retention in some way. We have several large sassafrass trees, and this mound contained root pieces, which started to sprout, so we called this Sassafrass Mountain. Here it is almost gone:

The bottom side of the patio had to have steps, which had to be put in before the walls could go up. You can see our new gazebo, which because we are not TOTALLY insane, we decided to purchase, rather than build ourselves!

First step in:

Steps done:

Future son-in-law (shown here) worked on one side of the wall while DH worked on the other. When they were done, the levels were within 1/16th of an inch of each other--pretty good, huh?

Here is where we were on July 6th, just 2 1/2 weeks before we were scheduled to hold a bridal shower on the patio for DD:

A friend from church loaned us his excavator, AFTER we had hauled 99.9% of the dirt by hand! Here is DH, basically playing on it, finishing up the leveling.

The same guy also loaned us his plate compactor, which we used quite a bit, until the starting cord came out (it's in the shop now)--this is a rental:

Because of the sheer size of the patio, we thought if we broke up the space a bit with a medallion, it would make it look a bit smaller. This is the beginning of a 9 1/2' circle in the middle. Turns out, this decision added hours of work and several more pavers to our project because of the intricate cutting around the circle, both inside and outside.

The place we bought the medallion kit from sent us extra block, enough to make a mini medallion in the upper section. It would have been SO cool; however, we were just running out of time--so the idea was nixed and we'll use the mini-medallion somewhere else. This picture was taken probably less than a week before the scheduled shower.

We finished the patio pavers and cap block at 9 pm on Friday before the shower on Saturday, July 23rd, and were up at 5 am the next morning, planting stuff in the remaining tree ring before guests arrived at 10 am. We thought we could get the gate up on the fence before then, but that just didn't happen, either!

Here is our finished patio. We still have to finish the brick pathways and landscape around the patio. This year, we will just mulch the area to the right of the patio, because we need the space for seating. But next year that area will be another hosta garden!

I will take some updated pictures of our retaining wall gardens, since I left you hanging with bare construction. I believe I have close to 50 new hostas in those beds, all doing well.

Thanks for looking!

Karen

Comments (13)

  • cheesecake983
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    WOW!! That is a beautiful patio! I'm sure your daughter's wedding will be beautiful there - wish I had a reason to build a patio that nice. Your hostas will look so lovely around it... mirroring that circular shape! Can't wait to see your other pics!

    - Rachel

  • Cher
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Looks lovely. Really great job on it.
    Cher

  • igmommy
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow....lots of hard work. It's beautiful. It's going to be gorgeous when you get it all planted. Please show us some pics.

  • kskaren
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks, Rachel, Cher and Keana! Yes, lots of hard work and we are planning to do NOTHING next year!! Famous last words, huh? Almost like "I'm not buying any more hostas this year!" ;)
    Karen

  • dirtpig
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Gorgeous,just gorgeous.
    Lucky daughter,hope she's hugging
    everyone that help make that happen.
    Thanks for the pictures.

  • hostasformez4
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    What a transformation. Great looking!

    Oh to have a hubby that talented that he can do the work himself!!! Lucky you.

    What little that has been done in my garden was done by me and family members. Hubby helped dig holes for hostas but not much else. I've had him too many years to throw back so I guess I'll keep him.

    Connie

  • kskaren
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks, dirtpig (love your user name!) DD is very grateful--people are always telling us how she sings our praises! She's a pretty special young lady, so we are happy to do what we can to make her day memorable. Plus, it beats spending hundreds of $$ on a church or hall that we would never see again. At least we get to enjoy it afterwards!!

    Thanks to you, Connie--yes, I am very blessed to have a man that not only knows how to do construction, but WILL do it! :) I can't imagine what this place would look like if I didn't have his help...not like this, I'm sure! He's the one who wanted to buy it, so I remind him of that when he starts to fizzle (lovingly, of course!!).

    And I know what you mean about long-time hubbies--I bet there are other reasons you keep yours around! :)
    Karen

  • Cricket_Love
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Simply beautiful!

  • paul_in_mn
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Beautiful design and craftsmanship. Thanks for sharing.

    Paul

  • nutmeg4061
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Just chiming in with the drooling, gorgeous! Can't wait to see it with hostas.
    Have a beautiful wedding.

  • kskaren
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks, Cricket, Paul and Nutmeg!
    Karen

  • ilovetogrow z9 Jax Florida
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Fine job done. Simply beautiful. Cannot wait to see the wedding photos. Paula=^..^=

  • kskaren
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks, Paula! It's not as lush and full as I had hoped, but we've done our best and that's all we can do. With the lighting, I think it will make up for the skimpy plantings. I'll be sure and post pics of the big day!
    Karen