Timeless Garden Art

Our Work in Progress

Side Yard Before Work

Front of house before work

Arriving safely home in the fall of 2005 with our newly purchased garden and yard art, we began the real planning process to developing our yard.
Our home sits on a half acre lot backing up to a large wooded ravine.  At least a third of the lot is on the slope of the ravine an cannot be developed.  This leaves a narrow back yard and a large side yard.  The septic field takes up nearly half of the side yard and most of the remainder is reserve field and no permanent structures can be put on it, but we can develop it with art and gardens.

Task number one was to clear, level, and cover the side yard with weed-stop.  We also planted photinia along the road to bring a sense of privacy to the yard.

One of our first decisions was to have no lawn and to hard-scape to the extent possible.  So the first action was to lay the fabric, then to add bark over the front portion of the yard.   The fountain is the focal point and anchor for the side yard.  Cece then planted a a circular flower bed around the fountain.  I had also built a large shed at the outer edge of the yard with electrical service to it also.

fountain

It was easy to place the fountain.  We knew we wanted it in a prominent location in the front of the side yard.  Then we had to run power to it.  Since I wanted full electrical capabilities in the shed at the far end of the yard, we had the electrician run both at the same time and put them on separate breakers.  My photo of the location of the fountain was taken after much other work had been completed as I will describe later.

As can be expected, the final design of the yard is an ever-moving target.  As we have found new items we want to incorporate into the yard we have had to rethink the plan.  Also, as we have completed portions, we have stepped back and re-evaluated what we want.  Another factor has been finding the time to accomplish the work.  We are almost four years into the plan and there is still much to do.

About this time I found a metal pergola at Costco that we both really liked.  I bought two and we designed a beautiful path through the pergolas which we placed along the side of the garage to create a semi-formal entry to the back yard.  The pergolas were set at different elevations with two steps and a short level area between them. This required me to properly prepare the base material for the pergola foundations and the area under them that would eventually be paved.  This was required to ensure everything would finish at the proper elevation.

pergolas with planters and benches

Once the Pergolas were erected the next step was to build raised planting beds between the pergola columns on each side of the both pergolas.  we used stack stone matching the flagstone we had bought to pave under the pergolas.  We had to build the raised beds before paving because they provide the side borders to the flagstone paving.  Once the planters were in and filled with good soil, Cece planted the wisteria that will eventually cover the top beams of the Pergolas.

After proper bedding preparation I paved the areas under the pergolas with natural rock flagstone.  On either side of the landing between the pergolas we placed concrete benches so that this area would provide a pleasant semi-sanctuary once the future vegetation matured.

We have several other concrete garden art pieces that have been moving about the yard as we change our plans.  These were also part of the batch we hauled back from California.

boy with frog

desert turtle

St Francis

bird bath

pig bench

Buddha

Each time we make a change to the overall plan we have to find new homes for these pieces and for the others we have picked up along the way.  The front yard was my second project and had to be accomplished before it was too late to plant.  Weather being what it is in Western Washington, I had a short time frame from horrible weather to planting time.  We are using all raised beds for our plantings for two reasons: in this area the plants seem to do better in raised beds and our soil is so bad it is easier to put the store-bought top soil into a raised bed. We used the stack stone matching the planters under the pergolas to create a large oval garden that takes up most of our small front yard.  A Chinese Lantern graces the middle of this garden.  The small areas between the drives and the sidewalk and the garden were hardscaped with roman paving stone (tumbled colored concrete blocks about 4″ x7″x 1.5″.

The next project was to create two large area steps leading from the driveway to the entrance to the pergolas.  These were also done with the roman paving stones with treated timbers as borders to hold the pavers and the compacted base.  Just this past month (April 2009) we finally covered the area between the paving and the drives and planted a few annuals along with lining the paving with planted half-barrels.  We used the corner posts from an old, inexpensive, canvas-top gazebo to create a trellis for a honeysuckle that will serve two purposes as it grows and blooms: beautify our drive and provide a bit more privacy for the side yard while directing traffic to the paved steps.

Now we are marking out paths through the yard and are at the very beginning of lining the edges of the walks with stacked broken concrete to create short walls so that Cece can turn the areas between walks and other objects into raised planters.  We are not sure what we will use for the paving of the walks.

My big job for this summer is to erect the octagonal gazebo on the pad I have prepared for it in the back center of the side yard where it will overlook the ravine.

July 21, 2009

I have made good progress on the gazebo this past week.  We have finally gotten to summer here in north west Washington and I have found the time to be outdoors.  I have pictures of the finished floor on the category page with other posts.  Now I have gotten the sides fabricated from the gazebo kit that I had bought from Costco three years ago but had not had time and weather to erect.  In fact, the sides are now in place and the roof beams have been installed.  Last Friday the grandkids were over so we had our first outdoor dinner on a picnic bench in the unfinished gazebo. (It was the only shade in the yard at that hour).

gazebo with wall panels in place

Red Tablecloth on picnic table for our first dinner in unfinished gazebo

See “Our Work in Progress” category for additional updates