Outdoor Design | Tips and Advice on Decks, Porches, Garden and Pools
Stack Some Stones for a Stately Stone Wall
/ 0
- Details
- Category: Garden
- Published on Saturday, 09 March 2013 14:52
- Hits: 277
A courtly stone wall, nobly paving the way through property perimeters, driveway pavements and garden borders, adds a regal touch to a home domain. You don't need a a six foot stone wall with professional masonry work to have the elegance of a stone wall weave through your landscape. A three foot stacked stone wall can create the same elegance and exclusiveness of a masonry privacy wall without the heavy price. Stone, soil and sand are the bulk of your needs.
However, you will still have to pay with some back-breaking work. If you're not used to back-breaking work (and even if you are), familiarize yourself with proper lifting techniques. Keep your sessions short and take a few weeks or months to complete the project. If your stones are delivered to your house, make sure they are unloaded as close to your working area as possible.
Before you start lifting stones, plan the path for your stone wall. You can use a rope or even a garden hose to outline the path for the wall until you are firm in your decision. Once your decision is set in stone, use spray paint or flour to emulate the trail of the stone wall.
After your roadmap is laid out on the ground, hammer stakes into the ground at even intervals to act as height-building guides. On each stake, make a mark indicating where the height of the wall should be. Get a string, and connect the string to the stakes where the height indicator lines are. Make sure the string is pulled tight enough to be an accurate guide.
Then you have the dirty work. Start digging and create a trough along the path about six inches deep. When that is completed, pour a two inch layer of sand into the trough you just dug. You now have a channel ready for wall building.
Use the biggest stones for the base of the wall, and try and save the large flat ones for the top layer. As you build, notice which side of the stone you want appearing outwards. When you place the bottom layer stones down, tilt them slightly backwards into the ground. As you layer the stones, stagger as you go, and tilt each one similarly to create stability. If you're planning on showcasing some floral work that stems from within the wall, don't forget to leave some place for plant pockets. But do not allow a vertical line to form from the bottom of the wall to the top of the wall or your wall will lose stability.
It would be nice if every stone fit like a puzzle piece, but they won't. Get them interlocked as best as you can, then fill in all the cracks and crevices with soil so they don't move in place. You want the wall packed nice and tight. You also want to keep building at a consistent height. Use your stakes as a guide, and make sure you adjust your measurements for sloping grounds. Take your time. Don't rush. Enjoy the process.
Your stone wall can remain solid and stately, or you can soften it up with climbing flowers, container plants and other decorative elements. To give your wall added elegance, add soil for raised beds behind the wall. The soil will drain well, and you can comfortably rest yourself or your refreshments on your stone wall as you tend to your enchanting garden.
Let your handsome stone wall reflect your home. Whether your stone wall graciously leads a guest around a garden or is a regal welcome to the front door, it will always distinguish your home as your castle and your yard will turn into a beautiful kingdom for everyone to admire.
Put a Millstone Rock Fountain Where Your Dirt Is
/ 1
- Details
- Category: Garden
- Published on Thursday, 08 November 2012 16:26
- Hits: 908
Knocking down an old garage or storage shed can leave you with a muddy mess or a dry barren patch that that needs to be filled. The grass might grow greener on the other side of the fence, but it doesn't always grow greener under old buildings. A strong decorative element can fill the fruitless void.
Replacing your defunct dilapidated building with a millstone rock fountain alleviates the question of how to repair the soil. It will give your yard a natural stunning ornament that can blend in with any landscape. It will take a weekend or two to put together, but it's a lot easier than knocking down an old garage.
A millstone fountain is made from a large round flat rock that was formerly used for grinding grain. Since an authentic millstone might be a challenge to find, you can use a large flat round rock and achieve the same results. The challenge with not using a millstone is that you will have to drill a hole in the middle of the rock to accommodate the fountain jet and to provide easy access to the tub below. Look for a rock that is about four feet in diameter. While you're at it, start collecting river rocks that are between 1 1/2” to 4” in diameter to fill in the perimeter and decorate the surface.
For this project you'll need a plastic tub that is 5' in diameter and 18” deep, a 28” plastic tube, a perforated 6” diameter PVC pipe that is 20” long to accommodate the fountain jet, and three or four 6” diameter pipes 25” long to support the millstone. You'll also need a small submersible pump, some concrete pre-mix – and of course, a shovel. Possibly the most important thing to have is the help or means to move your millstone on top of your tub. It will be extremely heavy.
You will need to install the fountain with a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) nearby. You can always install the outlet if one doesn't exist. If your old building was a garage or workshop you might be lucky enough to have one nearby.
The first thing you need to do is dig a hole for the plastic tub that's going to hold the water. Once the hole is excavated, use the concrete premix to line the hole with a 4” thick layer of concrete. This will give the fountain the support it needs. Don't insert the fountain until the concrete dries This will take several days. Ideally, you can dig a hole and layer it one weekend, and install the tub the next.
Once the concrete has dried, insert the tub so the top is level with the ground. If it's not, your millstone won't lay straight. Just move the surrounding soil around as needed to create a level top edge.
Now you can get the pump ready for action. Your three (or four) 25” PVC pipes will be standing up under the millstone rock to help support it (but putting the millstone on your fountain is the very last step). You will have to surround the pipes with river rocks. Set these pipes up to logically balance the millstone, then put layers of river rock around each pipe for support until the rocks are just about an inch from the top of the pipes.
The 20” long perforated PVC pipe will be centered and act as a pump cylinder. Connect the tube for the fountain jet to the submersible pump, then put the assembly at the bottom of the standing 20” pipe piece.
Once the pipes are positioned and the pump is in place, position the electrical cord safely away from the water, and fill your tub with water. Then plug in the pump. Test it out, and adjust the water flow to the level you want.
At this point, it's best to take a break before the next two steps. After you take a breather, gather your strength and get your weightlifting helpers together. Lift up the millstone and place it on the tub with the fountain jet protruding from the center hole.
River rocks are the finishing touch. Arrange the river rocks to hide the hole and hardware, scattering some on the surrounding stone to create a visual flow. Then, surround the perimeter of the fountain with a wreath of river rocks.
It's up to you if your weekend project is done. You can transform the area to an exotic gardening escape, create an outdoor room with a stoned patio cascading from the fountain, or add lush woodland plantings and create a secluded retreat. Your fountain may have have contributed to your perspiration, but it's just the beginning of inspiration for outdoor living ideas.
Whois
We have 3 guests and no members online
Side Links
Commercial Cleaning Service Chicago
Wedding Fashions
Chicago Carpet Cleaning
Hardwood Flooring