Chapel Street Garden - Hardscape Construction
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Chapel Street - Canton, NY
I started this project last year and returned this spring to finish up the hardscape before planting time. One last thing that needed to be done was to create a dripline bed of crushed stone. With no gutters the water falling from the second story roof dug quite a line in the sod.
I cut a new edge just beyond the dripline deep enough to run a line of blocks level with the concrete pad that extended from the house foundation. The dripline bed will be filled with 1A crushed stone and average 3 inches deep.
The Hosta, Lily of the Valley and violets already established along the concrete slab will have no problem coming up through the small stone. In fact the old common orange day lilies planted in the dripline bed on the other side of the house are already well started. The beds were done in stone since mulch or soil would splatter against the house every time it rained.
The edging created to deal with the rain running off the roof was the easy part. It was pretty clear what the area ‘needed’ and installing the edging and filling with crushed stone is a job anyone can do. The real challenge was the front of the house. I declined the opportunity of ripping out the old concrete steps and building new. That job went to a contractor who used manufactured block.
As you can see the new steps were fairly massive yet didn’t quit fit in. Looking straight ahead the steps and planters seemed too narrow. The house front needed some balance and that’s where I started. I put on a good show last summer hauling in some very large boulders on my little pick up truck. A good guess puts the largest just over one ton.
With the boulders in place I’m now ready to plant. I don’t have a real plan although I do have ideas. We’ll see what I’ll end up with soon. Right now I can see Sedums, Coreopsis ‘Zagreb’, small hybrid Lilies, Black eyed Susans, Mini Garden Phlox, Coneflowers and Iris as the primary plants. But that can all change in a split second. Who knows what surprise awaits me at the nursery. (I always expect to be surprised - my memory is getting bad enough that I now have pleasant surprises every day)
An assortment of low growing Junipers will round out the planting in and around the block planters. I’ll be as surprised as everyone one else when finished. I never know exactly what I’m going to do until I’ve finished. I wouldn’t be surprised if I plant a few more boulders. Afterall they need less care and seem less expensive than perennials these days.
I like to say this is the type of job only an Idiot would do. Who else besides an idiot would attempt to move boulders weighing nearly a ton by hand. In the near future I will be posting ‘Boulder Moving for Dummies’ once I get some step by step photos for the instructions.
The next installment from Chapel Street will cover the planting. I’m going to try restraining myself a bit but I’m pretty sure the homeowner is going to suffer a bit of sticker shock when all the plant materials are added up. It’s not that I don’t warn people. I do. But I guess it’s a fine line between Expensive and Dear Lord! We’ll see what you think when I finish.
April 20th, 2008 at 5:41 am
I can honestly say, I think it looks terrific!!!
My GTS photo is shared, hope you can find time to stop by!!
April 20th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Wow, that has to be a labor of love…hauling those rocks about!
I’m thinking of doing a small stone wall in my front yard, up near the house so I can plant some flowers and make that end of the yard look alive.
But I’m finding my love for fishing might delay my planting desire. Remember, you need to fish this year — nothing is more relaxing.
Enjoy the moment.
April 20th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
The landscape will be beautiful. I don’t care for the architectural sytle of the house–it looks more like a chapel to me (guess my vision is limited) but the boulders go a long way toward changing that first impression. Boy–do you do a lot of physical labor! I can barely lift a bucket of water anymore!
Happy GTS,
Aiyana
April 20th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Hi Wise acre,
Good to see you managed to get back and all of your snow has gone.I’m well impressed with your work and I look forward to seeing it in full bloom. I can appreciate the hard work you have done with those boulders, we had 6 tonnes of mulch delivered the other day, my arms are now 6 inches longer and I have fallen out with my wheel barrow.
I have set up another blog just for the community project. It is lawleygreenspacegroup.blogspot.com
We will be able to compare projects as I definately feel ‘ the force ‘ is with me.
Cheers Mark
April 20th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
My goodness but they are close to the street! I hope it is not a busy one. I do like the bright red door; I’m not too adverse to the house. Is it an old farmhouse or does the barn shed out back just give that illusion? The boulders help to soften the approach but what it really needs is a tall tree.
April 20th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Fantastic is an under-statement! WOW! Now you’ve left me green with jealousy…again…
April 20th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
I love the rocks! They add such great balance. The plantings will be great.softenign it a bit…..but I hope the rocks will still find places to poke out
Wherever do you find these huge rocks? And in general do you go to a gravel yard and buy them or do you have access to them “au natural?” I used to own a property where a glacier took a crap (to quote my excavator) but there I live now..rocks are all more like large pebbles.
April 20th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Um, that boulder moving guide would actually be quite helpful. I have a hatchback, fyi. And really, don’t boulders need care, too, just like plants? Well, not just like. I find I have to wax my one stone at least once a year to really bring out the nuanced colors. (seriously, how long will it be till some company advocates this as part of your annual spring cleaning?) But I agree, that house needed some balance out front big time.
April 20th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Wiseacre, are you seriously in Canton? My Dad was born there and I used to spend a significant portion of every summer up there — I pretty much read everything in the library they’d let me carry out of there. The pics are great — looks like spring’s even coming to the North Country! Happy GTS…