Walls

Other plants we have or landscape elements like ponds.

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fredgpops
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Location: plus 700ft in the Santa Cruz Mtns, 8 miles from the Pacific
35 miles S. of San Jose

Walls

Post by fredgpops »

I'm on a steep lot, so I have had to build a lot of walls to increase planting areas. I'll post some pictures of the walls along with what I learned - the hard way. Photos will be posted over the next few weeks. Masonary work is something special to me. A activity that requires artistic and physical labor and constant mental challenges. I learned the importance of proper equipment and project pacing after incuring some heavyweight damage to my body.
Photo 1 - the original slope is where the cement curb , far left, shows. Significant backfill was required to level off this area.
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Note nigra and alphonse karr to the right.
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This is a free form wall - you do not spend time reconfiguring rocks, you find rocks that fit, This wall is made from golden granite. The photo is max height, est. 7 ft tall and curves around to 3 ft tall. Lesson #1
- make sure like rocks will be available after the 1st purchase. I had to wait a long time for more golden granite. Lesson 2 - I mixed concrete mix (to bind rocks) by hand in a wheel barrow. Very dumb. Resulted in a pinched nerve in the neck. Purchased a Imer electric mixer - a great purchase. Lots of pvc pipe embedded to carry off water. Lesson 3 - put a thick layer of drainage rock under the foundation. I didn't do this so cracks may crop up. Lesson 4 - use lot of steel in the wall, especially if slope is extreme. Lastly, this is not about perfection. Funky looks good - ie . old. Front plants are honey bush from south africa. Rock lasts almost forever vs wood. Even my worst walls have withstood yhr test of time & the elements.
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boonut
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Location: Harlingen, TX Zone 10, Sunset Zone 27. 33' above sea level. 27 inches of rain/year. 22 Miles to the Laguna Madre. 27 miles to the Gulf of Mexico. 17 miles from Mexico. Lower Rio Grande Valley - Deep South Texas
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Re: Walls

Post by boonut »

Thanks for sharing... very interesting. My farm is on flat land... and I want to build a 2 acre pond and use the dirt to build up an area for a pier type house on top of that. So, I have been looking for a way to build up the area. I really like this type of house... but, with dirt on one side so you don't have as many stairs to climb. Image
Allen D. Aleshire
Bamboo Nut Farm

http://www.boonut.com
fredgpops
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Location: plus 700ft in the Santa Cruz Mtns, 8 miles from the Pacific
35 miles S. of San Jose

Re: Walls

Post by fredgpops »

Allen - awesome house. Excellent architecture, Bold yet a comfortable feel. THe wall I first presented is a very labor intensive project meant for a relatively small area. I'll shift over to a wall that covers a lot of ground and is far less labor/cost intensive. It covers about a acre of my land. Check the next week or so for my next post. Rgds
Alan_L
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Location: St. Louis area

Re: Walls

Post by Alan_L »

Fred -- beautiful! You've created some great views in your garden. I'd love to see more!
fredgpops
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Location: plus 700ft in the Santa Cruz Mtns, 8 miles from the Pacific
35 miles S. of San Jose

Re: Walls

Post by fredgpops »

THis wall is made of Idaho quartizite. It's a dry wall - nothing binds the rock together, it's just stacked one rock on the other. I did not do this wall. It was technically and physically too much for me. It took a couple of strong guys and a forklift to build it. Very pretty stone. The question is, what will happen when we get a 7.0 quake? Not a cost effective solution for a large area.
This wall surrounds a patio that leads to the front door. The tile is arizona flagstone.
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This wall curls around to the side of the garage. Te smaller wall below, I made with golden granite.
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Rgds
fredgpops
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Re: Walls

Post by fredgpops »

3 walls are visable - the nearest is golden granite, the next is limestone, and the last is fake rock on cement block. I'll cover the last in the next couple of days. These walls are on the side of my property working their way to mid-lot. Once again, my rock source ran out of golden granite, so I shifted to limestone. The story on limestone is kind of interesting. It is natural to this area. After the SF earthquake in the early 1900's, wood structures were replaced by brick and concrete. Limestone was mined and processed locally so concrete could be manufactured. There are many lime kilns still standing. They fed the limestone into kilns fed by redwood fires to break the rock down. A lot of old forest redwood bit the dust to feed the need. At the same time, many masons used limestone in it's natural state to build walls. I have had masons tell me that they like that small wall best because it is hsitorically classical to them. Plants within wall one include coral bark maples, dwarf bamboo, and chinese fringe flower. Plants within wall 2 include bird of paradise, honey flower, a olive tree, and new zealand flax.
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Rgds
fredgpops
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Location: plus 700ft in the Santa Cruz Mtns, 8 miles from the Pacific
35 miles S. of San Jose

Re: Walls

Post by fredgpops »

Background: As already mentioned, I have a steep lot -top to bottom and left to right-. I also get 50 plus inches of rain in the winter, so run off is also an issue. Early on, I had a trench midway on my lot (across a acre of land) to catch and transport rain water to a side street. At various times I had overflow and transport problems caused by gopher holes in the trench. At times water ran under my house.
Stage #1: I decided to replace the trench with a sidewalk and wall. I started with a sidewalk. I wanted a grade established before I put in a wall plus I wanted the sidewalk to help support the wall. One of the conditions imposed on the sidewalk was that it allow me to run my powerwagon on it to transport wall materials, soil, etc. I poured abt 6 inches of concrete in forms, then pressed pcs of arizona flagstone into the wet concrete mix. I leveled the sidewalk so that water would flow close to the wall.
Photo of sidewalk - concrete/pressed flagstone
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Stage #2: Once the sidewalk was installed and I had the flow of the wall established, I dug a trench a foot deep in back of the sidewalk. 6 inches would be filled with drainage rock and 6 inches would help provide a foundation for the wall. I got about 3/4 of the way (digging by hand) when my back went out. The twisting, throwing the dirt, caused a tear in lumbar #14. A nerve ending poked through resulting in the worst pain I have ever experienced. I was laid up for 6 mths before a specialist cured me. With winter coming ( before cure) , I hired a day labor guy to complete the trench/foundation. He also had significant experience putting in retaining walls.
Stage #3 - I had a lot of ground to cover with the wall. Previous wall solutions were not viable - degree of difficulty and cost effectiveness due to size of project. I also wanted a wall that was not run-of-the mill, and had character. After looking at various solutions, it was clear that fake rock and stucco on cement rock was the best solution.
1A) After costing out cement block, it was clear that Home Depot had the lowest cost. You have to be ready to spend a lot of time with these folks. They are not volume oriented. Your time will be well spent, but be patient and be prepared to follow up every 3 or 4 days.
2A) I looked at a lot of fake rock. Cost is pretty much the same. It comes down to aesthetics and selecting the vendor can supply that you fancy.
3a) With cost as a factor, I designed a wall that was a combo fake rock and stucco. My artistic side kicked in and (after 3 glasses of wine ref the ninja bird post) I decided to somehow integrate poems from all over the globe onto my wall.
4a) My helper completed the drainage rock fill. I was able to drive the power wagon even with a bad back so we were able to move a lot of rock even as a twosome. After completing the drainage rock fill, my helper laid in the rebar, then started laying the blocks. We staggered the height on the steep left to right slope.
Again the power wagon was indispensable in moving a large amount of cement block and mixed cement up the hill.
5a) After completion of the cement block phase, I laid out the sections that we would stucco vs filiing with fake rock. We calculated the amount of rock that we would need and I selected a rock type (color and dimension) that blended in with my existing walls. After delivery, we had to put like colors (of individual rocks) in individual piles to help us mix and max as we proceded. My helper had laid fake rock before, but I ,even with no experience, was able to lay it without difficulty (or stress to my back). It was easy and fun to work with. We completed the rock phase quickly, then moved to the stucco phase. It appears that we had some old and/or contaminated cement as we had flaking after it settled. We had to redo some areas.
photo completed fake rock
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Color of the rock greatly improved (more natural) when I coated it with water proofing with a semi-wet gloss.
See finished product below.

6a) I found 6 poems that I liked on te internet (in native language & english translation). I put an ad on Craigs list for someone to write the poems (using waterproof ink) on tiles that I had selected. I lucked out and found an artist who was good at caligraphy.
Photo - attaching poems to stucco
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Photo - Chinese poem in Mandarin & English
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Photos of completed wall
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I backfilled most of the wall with recycled soil/woodchips from the local dump. It is lightweight, rich in nitrogen, and cheap.
Last winter, with the wall in-place, the rain flow control worked fine. The poems have been quite a hit with visitors. I'm still filling in, planting, and leveling in back of the wall. Considering the size of the task, bang for the buck and aesthetics was fabulous. I have been able to add several interesting plants that , otherwise, would have been impossible. Maybe the most important thing I learned is moderation. I'm working smarter - and it only took me 70 years to learn. I have a handfull ahead of me as I have reached the steepest part of the lot. RGds
ghmerrill
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Re: Walls

Post by ghmerrill »

and no problems with that furry 4x4 landscape destroyer? :shock:

I gave up on ever having a dog.... got tired of the fact that they dont respect the fact that I put in pathways for a reason :wink:
fredgpops
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Location: plus 700ft in the Santa Cruz Mtns, 8 miles from the Pacific
35 miles S. of San Jose

Re: Walls

Post by fredgpops »

If you consider pee on the lawn damage, then yes. She's a fabulous dog, a real buddy. We spend a lot of time together, starting with a 2 mile walk at 7am. Mostly border collie with some English sheep dog genes - very smart. It's like raising kids - if you take the time to show love & care plus provide the parameters for proper behavior, a dog or kid, will do it's utmost to exceed your expectations. RGds
ghmerrill
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Re: Walls

Post by ghmerrill »

fredgpops wrote:If you consider pee on the lawn damage, then yes. She's a fabulous dog, a real buddy. We spend a lot of time together, starting with a 2 mile walk at 7am. Mostly border collie with some English sheep dog genes - very smart. It's like raising kids - if you take the time to show love & care plus provide the parameters for proper behavior, a dog or kid, will do it's utmost to exceed your expectations. RGds
Except for staying out of the plant beds.....kids and dogs! :lol:
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