OP
Obed
Elite Member
Our garden area faces southeast. Facing south is good; facing east isn't as good. Our garden will start getting shade in the late afternoons/evenings.
Obed
At Home In The Woods
- Thread starter Obed
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Obed
OP
Obed
Elite Member
Continuing the grading story from here...
We planted the grass in the yard Monday evening, Sept 19. Then, in-between rains for the next two weeks, using the box blade, I graded the parking pad outside the garage to get the desired slope and get rid of the pond in the pad.
The weekend following planting the grass in the yard, I graded the garden area with the box blade. The area had never been smoothed out after it had been cleared two years earlier. I also removed the small amount of unburned stump debris from the burn pile.
I had been piling rocks in the swell between the road and the garden toward the top of the hill in preparation for making a good spot for driving vehicles onto the garden. I also had dumped a pile of red dirt there that came from near the house. I spread the dirt out over the rocks to complete the path to that section of the garden.
My wife had me start a compost pile to the left of the larger wood chips pile that consisted of alternating layers of wood chips and topsoil.
We raked the area with our hand rakes. Then we spread lime, fertilizer, seed, and straw over the area. Darkness fell as we finished.
I'm very pleased with how the area looks with grass on it. When you come down the driveway through the woods, you start to approach the grassy garden clearing. The effect is quite pleasing. Also, when sitting on the front porch, seeing the garden clearing through the strip of trees has a very nice effect.
We planted the grass in the yard Monday evening, Sept 19. Then, in-between rains for the next two weeks, using the box blade, I graded the parking pad outside the garage to get the desired slope and get rid of the pond in the pad.
The weekend following planting the grass in the yard, I graded the garden area with the box blade. The area had never been smoothed out after it had been cleared two years earlier. I also removed the small amount of unburned stump debris from the burn pile.
I had been piling rocks in the swell between the road and the garden toward the top of the hill in preparation for making a good spot for driving vehicles onto the garden. I also had dumped a pile of red dirt there that came from near the house. I spread the dirt out over the rocks to complete the path to that section of the garden.
My wife had me start a compost pile to the left of the larger wood chips pile that consisted of alternating layers of wood chips and topsoil.
We raked the area with our hand rakes. Then we spread lime, fertilizer, seed, and straw over the area. Darkness fell as we finished.
I'm very pleased with how the area looks with grass on it. When you come down the driveway through the woods, you start to approach the grassy garden clearing. The effect is quite pleasing. Also, when sitting on the front porch, seeing the garden clearing through the strip of trees has a very nice effect.
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brin
Super Member
Obed , Our leaves are just starting to change...you are further North..so we have to wait a bit...but I have attached a view out of my office window of the progress so far this year...about another 2 weeks and we will have our usual show of color..despite our ongoing drought - By the way we built our home about 6 yrs. ago and our floor plan and setting is very similar to yours..down to the drive in daylight basement..
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dstig1
Elite Member
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2010
- Messages
- 4,786
- Location
- W Wisc
- Tractor
- Kubota L5240 HSTC, JD X738 Mower, (Kubota L3130 HST - sold)
Looking at your pic here along with your comment in my thread on cutting more trees...yes, you need to cut more. That appears heavily shaded, even for Sept/Oct.
But man that place sure looks nice! :thumbsup:
But man that place sure looks nice! :thumbsup:
OP
Obed
Elite Member
Bob, wow! It looks like your trees are closer to the house than ours.
brin
Super Member
Yes Obed...You are right...We love trees so before we built we removed only the trees that would damage the house if they fell...The photo makes the trees look much closer than they are...I was using full telephoto...the yellow leafed tree you see is a Japanese Maple that is an accent specimen tree ..all the others in the background are a good 60 feet from the house...The good news is I can mow and trim the lawn in 45 min.
OP
Obed
Elite Member
Yes, you can see the shade on the garden area. I'm hoping that two factors will mitigate the shade. The picture was taken at 2 PM on October 30. In the summer the sun will be higher in the sky and provide more sun. Also, we intend to put the garden on the sunnier north side of the clearing (the side farthest from the driveway). We'll just have to see if we get enough sun.
Obed
OP
Obed
Elite Member
Continuing the store from here.
Two weeks after we planted grass in the yard, and a week after we planted the grass in the garden area, we worked on the property entrance. You can see where I had pulled loose gravel from the edges of the driveway and temporarilly put it in the middle of the driveway before spreading it.
The tractor has been unbelievebly useful for our house and property project. With the FEL, box blade, and backhoe, we have been able to do quite a wide array of tasks ourselves. Now if I just had a rotary cutter and a tiller ...
Two weeks after we planted grass in the yard, and a week after we planted the grass in the garden area, we worked on the property entrance. You can see where I had pulled loose gravel from the edges of the driveway and temporarilly put it in the middle of the driveway before spreading it.
The tractor has been unbelievebly useful for our house and property project. With the FEL, box blade, and backhoe, we have been able to do quite a wide array of tasks ourselves. Now if I just had a rotary cutter and a tiller ...
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brin
Super Member
Obed,
Looking down the road...ya never know who will live in that little white house at the entrance to your home...You might want to keep your eye on it and buy it if you have the chance...It would be a good rental, you would control it and who lived there...Just something to think about...I bought 2 houses when we lived at the farm..one on each side of our property...It worked out well...I was patient and got them for a good price but I let each one know to call me if they ever wanted to sell...Just a thought.
Your road looks great...the whole place looks wonderful !
Looking down the road...ya never know who will live in that little white house at the entrance to your home...You might want to keep your eye on it and buy it if you have the chance...It would be a good rental, you would control it and who lived there...Just something to think about...I bought 2 houses when we lived at the farm..one on each side of our property...It worked out well...I was patient and got them for a good price but I let each one know to call me if they ever wanted to sell...Just a thought.
Your road looks great...the whole place looks wonderful !
OP
Obed
Elite Member
The next thing we did was reinstall the gutter drain pipe that got destroyed by the contractor and my wife. Here's a picture that shows the original drain pipe before it was backfilled. Here's what the pipe looked like after the contractor and my wife did their magic on it.
All in all, destroying the drain pipe was a good thing. First of all, the contractor had not installed it deep enough below the surface to satisfy me. I want to be able to drive may tractor anywhere I want without being concerned about crushing a pipe. Secondly, the contractor ran the pipe through the middle of my wife's planned herb garden. We had told him where the herb garden would go; he must have forgotten.
So one evening after work I dug as much of the trench for the new drain pipe as I could before it became too late to finish. The contractor had agreed to re-dig the trench and reinstall the pipe. I just wanted to start the trench so the pipe would be as deep as I wanted it. In addition, the pipe would be going under a future handicap ramp for the deck. Therefore, there was a very specific spot the pipe had to go in order to not interfere with the future footers for the ramp. The only way I could guarantee the pipe would miss the future ramp footer was to dig the trench myself. I let the contractor use my tractor to finish the trench to prevent him from having to bring in his excavator.
I laid out the new pipe on the ground where it would run and painted the ground. Next I scraped off the the new grass and topsoil. Then I repainted the ground and started digging. You can see that my new trench was deep enough that I would be able to drive over it without any worrying about crushing it.
Here's what the area looked like after the contractor installed the new pipe.
The pipe sticking up out of the ground was put there so we could install a french drain under the future deck ramp.
All in all, destroying the drain pipe was a good thing. First of all, the contractor had not installed it deep enough below the surface to satisfy me. I want to be able to drive may tractor anywhere I want without being concerned about crushing a pipe. Secondly, the contractor ran the pipe through the middle of my wife's planned herb garden. We had told him where the herb garden would go; he must have forgotten.
So one evening after work I dug as much of the trench for the new drain pipe as I could before it became too late to finish. The contractor had agreed to re-dig the trench and reinstall the pipe. I just wanted to start the trench so the pipe would be as deep as I wanted it. In addition, the pipe would be going under a future handicap ramp for the deck. Therefore, there was a very specific spot the pipe had to go in order to not interfere with the future footers for the ramp. The only way I could guarantee the pipe would miss the future ramp footer was to dig the trench myself. I let the contractor use my tractor to finish the trench to prevent him from having to bring in his excavator.
I laid out the new pipe on the ground where it would run and painted the ground. Next I scraped off the the new grass and topsoil. Then I repainted the ground and started digging. You can see that my new trench was deep enough that I would be able to drive over it without any worrying about crushing it.
Here's what the area looked like after the contractor installed the new pipe.
The pipe sticking up out of the ground was put there so we could install a french drain under the future deck ramp.
