Garden Design Archives - Page 2 of 2

Step 10 – Resizing The Dry Stream Bed

Posted on June 23, 2009 by Mary AhernAugust 25, 2009

(If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning you can start at Step 1 here)

Step 10 of Rear Garden Design Project.

September, 2008

When we finally hired Billy Ahern of Ahern’s Landscaping to finish the project I designed and we started in 2000 he recommended some changes. I agreed with him that the scale of the dry stream bed that I’d designed was too large for the location. He had his men resculpt the walls and add soil. I’d been stockpiling extra soil that was taken from the driveway when I’d had it widened.

The size of the dry stream bed was reduced and brought more in line with the scale of the surrounding garden

The stream was narrowed and brought it into a good balance with the rest of the garden. He reused all the stone I’d dug up from the garden and the extra round river rock I’d purchased years before.

His men put the river rock in the irregular flowing pattern I’d designed and they had nearly enough to complete the dry stream bed. But not quite. We scavenged rock from around the garden but we ended up having to purchase another batch of rock. What a surprise. More rock!

What? More Stone? I’m afraid all this added weight might change the rotation of the earth.

Once the rock walls were in place they put the gravel base in place and put small river rock on top. There is so much rock on this project I sometimes feel that the earth will give way from the weight.

But that is just memories of my aching back.

River rock was placed on the newly sculpted walls.

It is so much easier to sign a check. I wouldn’t feel this way if I hadn’t worked on the project for so long and found that I’d bit off more then I could chew. So now I’m really happy to have help and to come closer to a completed design.

Crushed gravel was put down as a base for the small stone

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Go to Step 11 – New Stone Walls

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Step 9 – Bringing In The Pros

Posted on June 20, 2009 by Mary AhernAugust 25, 2009

(If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning you can start at Step 1 here)

Step 9 of Rear Garden Design Project.

September, 2008

We jump ahead on the Rear Garden Design Project from 2002 until 2008. Sometimes life intervenes and projects get put on hold for a while. In the ensuing years I gained another grandson and he grew enough to join my first. They played on the piles of rock, some of which were walls. They particularly have enjoyed bouncing on the bridge planks giving all of us nervous twitches, but they never managed to get hurt.

Bouncing on the boards and climbing on the stone. What fun!

In 2008 I finally bit the bullet and called in the Pros. Billy Ahern of Ahern’s Landscaping in Huntington NY came to the rescue. (BTW. They are not relatives of mine, past or present) He understood immediately what I wanted to create and he worked from my original drawing plans.

Ahern’s Landscaping of Huntington Long Island

The first thing that Billy’s crew did was to dismantle the stone walls I’d built in fits and starts from 2002 through 2007. What took me days of laying one course of stone took the men seconds to undo.

The crew dismantling my carefully and painfully built stone walls.

It was quite dismaying and sad for me to watch the work I’d done disappear. I thought about the exhaustion and pain I’d experienced and all the trips to Nadine O’Neill my Chiropractor and The Pilates Place trying to get my self back in shape.

And then I’d think with optimism how nice it was going to look and I would be able to go back to gardening, not construction work.

Ahern’s crew demolishing everything we’d built except the stone steps

I was also very pleased that Billy Ahern decided to keep the stone steps that my husband Dave and I had so proudly built in 2002. He said that were rock solid. We’re very proud.

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Go to Step 10 – Resizing the Dry Stream Bed

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Step 8 – Building The Flat Stone Wall

Posted on June 19, 2009 by Mary AhernAugust 25, 2009

(If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning you can start at Step 1 here)

Step 8 of Rear Garden Design Project.

July through November, 2002

We decided to trash my first idea of continuing the theme of the garden and using round river rock for the walls at the rear entrance to the guest room. What would happen each time it rained was that the soil would creep in from behind the stones and eventually clog up the passive drainage system.

So I dismantled the walls, making a stack of rocks to the left of the door. Using my handy dandy Mantis tiller I excavated the base and leveled it smoothly.

July 7, 2002 Clear the base and level it

I used crushed bluestone to fill the base and give an even and strong working surface to the first base layer of stone.

July 9, 2002 Spreading gravel is much harder then raking a lawn.

I put landscapers cloth down first to keep back the soil and put the first course of stone down. This one is so critical because it sets the tone for the entire wall. I used levels to make sure the row was plumb.

September 8, 2002 Picking the right stones for the puzzle takes a long time

The work was so laborious that I could only work on one or two courses a day and then it would take me a day or two to recover. Thank goodness for my Chiropractor, Dr. Nadine O’Neill in Northport for keeping my aching body going.

November, 9, 2002 The leaves are beautiful, the unfinished walls are not

By the fall of 2002 I had to stop the project because I couldn’t fight the leaves everyday just to get started lifting stone. The project stood at a standstill for quite some time. Years in fact.

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Go to Step 9 – Bringing In The Pros

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Northport Historical Society Garden Tour – June 2009

In June of 2009 my garden was featured on the annual Northport Historical Society garden tour event. Weeks of preparation for a full day of garden connoisseurs visiting your garden takes an act of courage and lots and lots of hard physical work. The day was a rousing success and I’m glad I did it.

Sharon Ruedeman captured the event and created this energetic video of that time.

Step 7 – Building Our Stone Steps

Posted on June 12, 2009 by Mary AhernAugust 25, 2009

(If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning you can start at Step 1 here)

Step 7 of Rear Garden Design Project.

July, 2002

We’ve read lots of books on building stone walls and steps so we are fully armed with knowledge on how to proceed with our latest step in the project. We dug below the soil line, filled and leveled the base with gravel poured onto landscape fabric. Great beginning.

We removed the temporary steps in preparation for the stone work. Note the pile of river rock piled against the back wall. We’ve begun dismantling the garden walls.

We found the largest stones from amidst the three tons of stone we had delivered and started to put down our first step. We measured the height and width of the area and determined the riser and run dimensions of the steps making sure that they would all equal. This is a safety issue.

My husband Dave quit stone work after we built the stairs and went back to computers.

At the end of our first day we were proud of having completed our first step. We used levels to make sure the stones were sloped correctly and concrete dust to stabilize each step.

So now that we had our first step the rest would be a cinch. Right?

No beauty pageant winner here. I’m far to exhausted to care. Stair 2 has been completed.

What we found is that we could only build one step a day. Sifting through the tons of stones, bringing them from the driveway using our handtruck. Shimmying them down to the base of the project and then lifting them into place. Absolutely exhausting work!

I didn’t even commit a crime and I’ve been sentenced to hard labor on the rock pile. I should have been naughty.

At the end of each day we took photos since we couldn’t believe how hard this project was for us physically. Oh, so you mean, working with computers all day doesn’t make you fit enough to haul huge stones? Who would have thought?

The steps are done and I’ll never, ever build another set. Yippee!

And so the day finally comes and we’ve finished the steps. We are still proud of them and thankful that we’ll never have to ever do something like that again in our entire lives!

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Go to Step 8 – Building The Flat Stone Wall

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Step 6 – Stone Walled. Rethinking the Project.

Posted on June 11, 2009 by Mary AhernAugust 25, 2009

(If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning you can start at Step 1 here)

Step 6 of Rear Garden Design Project.

June, 2002

River rock walls with temporary steps reclaimed from the basement

Sometimes you design a project and don’t foresee some of the unexpected pitfalls to your vision so you try to make it work. It is important to recognize when to change course and try another solution. This happened with my idea about using round river rock on the terraced stone walls.

I wanted to keep the materials for the walls somewhat aligned with the natural stone found on the property. I didn’t have enough of my own local stone to do all the walls for the entry and the dry streambed so I bought 3 bins of Pennsylvania River Rock to supplement what I already had.

Running out of rock. To the right is the temporary bridge over the dry stream bed

What I didn’t expect was that, even with landscape fabric behind the rocks, the soil was going to come through the walls and seep into the drainage system. We worried each time we had a major rainstorm that if the drains clogged the guest room would flood. This development was so unacceptable to us we zigged and zagged for an acceptable design solution.

We bought more stone as the solution to all our problems. Hmmm.

So what did we do? We bought more stone of course. This time it was flat stone, which we felt would be a tighter solution to the seeping soil problem. We’re on our way forward…again.

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Go to Step 7 – Building Our Stone Steps

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Step 5 – Hard Labor on the Rock Pile

Posted on June 6, 2009 by Mary AhernAugust 25, 2009

(If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning you can start at Step 1 here)

Step 5 of Rear Garden Design Project.

September 2000

If anyone had ever told me that I would be sentenced to hard labor on a rock pile I would have mocked them. Welcome to my life.

The garden rocks begin to accumulate in the dry stream bed from months of gardening

On the program, “Inside the Actor’s Studio“, James Lipton asks ten questions at the end of his interview with the guest artist. Two of those questions are:

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
What profession would you not like to do?

My answer to the second is instantly and consistently: Ditch Digger.
I then remember that I’m a gardener and I dig ditches and holes all the time.

Nobody could pay me enough to do this backbreaking work but I’m doing it in my own garden for free

I guess I would also have to include working hard labor on the rock pile under professions I would not like to do.

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Go to Step 6 – Stone Walled. Rethinking the Project

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Step 4 – The Stones Get Delivered

Posted on June 5, 2009 by Mary AhernAugust 25, 2009

(If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning you can start at Step 1 here)

Step 4 of Rear Garden Design Project.

June 2000

On June 19, 2000 I had three bins of Pennsylvania river rock delivered for me to use in building the walls of the terraced back entry. Though my property is rich with stone, (I do live along a road named Stony Hollow after all) I knew there wouldn’t be enough rock to complete the project as designed. The wire bins which contained the stone eventually became repurposed as my compost bins offering me many years of service.

Pennsylvania river rock delivered to the project site

The non-native river rock has a slightly different color than the native rock. It has a cooler shade of gray then the more earth toned local material. I was and am, somewhat bothered by this color shift.

Rocks dug from the garden help to define the dry stream bed

With each shovel dug into the ground over decades of gardening I’ve unearthed more and more stone treasures. I use these treasures to design and delineate my ideas, walkways and planting beds.

First hose and then rocks help to define the woodland walkways

I use garden hoses in the early stages of creating the curves. You can see the hose towards the right hand curve. This allows me to visualize the movement and width of the walkways from many perspectives without breaking my back. Once I feel somewhat satisfied, I then replace the hose with rocks. I have been known to move the rocks over and over as time helps me to consider and reconsider the flow of plants and the land.

It is so creative to plan a garden so what’s a little pain!

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Go to Step 5 – Hard Labor on the Rock Pile

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Step 3 – After Destruction Comes Construction

Posted on June 2, 2009 by Mary AhernAugust 25, 2009

(If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning you can start at Step 1 here)

Step 3 of Rear Garden Design Project.

April, 2000

After we scooped out the soil for the creation of a back entrance to our home certain considerations needed to be addressed. The water and gas lines running to our home needed to be lowered to a new appropriate frost depth. The John Borrelli Plumbing Company brought in heavy equipment and reinstalled all our lines after the town located the entry points of our utilities.

Borelli Plumbing putting in the new gas and water lines

The digging for the utility lines was planned to do the least damage to our existing garden. We used the plans for the dry streambed as part of our guide.

Digging the trenches for the utility lines

And then the rains came and came and came. The sandy soil on the sides started to slide down towards our new door. We stared out our new back window for hours hoping that the passive drainage system I designed was going to do its job. It worked exactly as I intended but we really needed to get some structure to the entryway.

Seemingly endless rains began to erode the sandy backfill

Since I collect round things, so much of my design work entails circles. The entrance was no exception since I wanted a semi-circle as the entrance. I plotted it out on paper and then used twine to circumscribe the dimensions.

I inscribed a semi-circle for the entry platform

About a week later the cement was poured onto the sand base and we breathed a sigh of release. No more soil leading right up to the doorway.

The concrete had to be brought in by wheelbarrow since the truck was so big

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Go to Step 4 – The Stones Get Delivered

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Step 2 – Garden Excavation Starts the Project

Posted on May 29, 2009 by Mary AhernFebruary 5, 2013

(If you’d like to follow this project from the beginning you can start at Step 1 here)

Step 2 of Rear Garden Design Project.

On March 25, 2000 we began the excavation of the rear garden in order to add the back door entrance to the guest room addition to our home. When you first see a bobcat drive into your garden that you’ve been carefully planting and weeding over the course of 10 years it is really startling.

: Frank Falino our Architect overseeing the bobcat excavation

The bobcat continued for hours digging down and removing the soil surrounding the rear foundation of our home. The soil in the top foot or two was good quality planting material but as they dug deeper, the quality of soil deteriorated to contractors fill which was disappointing since I was using it to build up other parts of my garden.

: Dennis George watching as the project evolves

There is something about power equipment that mesmerizes people. As time passed, the groups standing watch at this loud and violent-like event grew. The whirring and burring of the machinery echoed disconcertedly through the woods

: The mesmerizing sound of power tools

The saws used to cut through the concrete squealed with high ear splitting intensity while spewing clouds of dust both in and out of our home.

: Within days we had a brand new back entrance to our home

We had our back door and new full size windows looking out on our garden brightening the rooms planned for our new guest quarters. Both the inside and outside spaces were forever changed and our home felt so much larger.

So where did the excavated soil disappear to? Whenever you are moving soil on landscape design projects you need to consider where the soil is coming from and also where is it going.

: The red arrow marks some of the berm we built as a buffer to the street

Part of my plan was to use the soil to create berms on the outside perimeter of the property close to the somewhat busy street running along the back of our home. The natural slope of the land scooped towards the street but the berms created an upswing and a visual and sound buffer useful for planting.

Unfortunately the better soil was at the bottom of the piles with the filler soil on top, reversing how it was excavated. I’ve been enhancing that soil for years now.

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Go to Step 3 – After Destruction Comes Construction

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Step 1 – Sometimes Garden Projects Take a Long Time

Posted on May 28, 2009 by Mary AhernAugust 25, 2009

Step 1 of Rear Garden Design Project.

In 1989 I bought my home in Northport Long Island NY. A cute little two-bedroom cape but I really bought it for the garden. It had a good skeletal structure. The property is triangular, set on a corner at a point of two (actually three) converging streets. That the perimeter is not rectangular adds to the illusion that the area is greater then its actual half-acre on the tax code.

The original rear garden in February 1989

The original garden behind the house was merely a worn path skirting a slight mound of earth leading to the rear foundation. The foundation planting consisted of two Euonymus alatus shrubs perched on each outside corner.

In 2000 after looking around for a new home in the area which my new husband Dave and I could share together, we decided to stay on this little piece of earth and build a home specific to our evolving needs. One of the main reasons for staying was my love of the garden I’d worked on for a decade and the vision I’d been working towards.

Small basement windows in the rear of house in 2000

In March of 2000 we began to break ground on what was to be a momentous change in our lives. We were gutting the entire house and rebuilding the interior into three floors. The rear of our home was to become the guest room entrance for the finished lower level which we were adding to the existing structure. The tiny basement windows would be replaced and the entire rear mound would be excavated to create a grand entrance.

View of rear garden looking north in 2000

The modest little bluestone path was to be replaced by a walkway leading to a Japanese inspired bridge, dry stream bed and planting terraces.

My drawing of the project as I envisioned it in 2000

As part of my degree in Landscape Design at Farmingdale I designed and drew the plans for this project. It entailed moving water lines, electrical work and ensuring proper drainage management. Pretty complex and really creative.

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Go to Step 2 – Garden Excavation Starts the Project

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How Not To See A Rhododendron

Posted on June 17, 2008 by Mary AhernMarch 26, 2017

Rhododendron catawbiense in the window

Rhododendrons have such a great place in plant hunter’s history. Tales are still being told and re-enacted as new and old seekers traverse the back roads and non-roads of the Himalayas in search of the newest and rarest of Rhodies. Courage, stamina, and leeches always play a big role in these adventures.

Having quite a different perspective of plant hunting, I traverse the hills and dales of Long Island in search of the ever elusive cultivar not yet in my plant collection. Rather than being the intrepid adventurer of far off lands gathering seed, I drive to nurseries and make some of my decisions on whether I can lift the plant into my car. Rhodies can be backbreaking.

Which brings me to the problem of this Rhododendron catawbiense which is an original inhabitant when I bought the property in 1989. The foundation plantings were all huge view-concealing Rhodies. Over time I’ve managed to dig up and move all of them except this last remaining specimen. Some of the huge plants I moved by myself and in some cases, I hired a person with a bobcat. Some survived the transplanting and some didn’t. In retrospect, I think the fatalities had to do with watering and drought issues since the rootballs of Rhodies are pretty shallow and self-contained.

View from the dining room window of the Artist, Mary Ahern

View from the dining room window of the Rhodi in bloom

The way to view Rhododendrons is not to the exclusion of a view of the rest of your garden when sitting at your dining room table. This view is only beautiful for 2 weeks a year when the rhodi is in bloom. The only other benefit to having this view is that in the winter you can use the leaf curl as a thermometer to determine if the temperature is below freezing. Not worth it I say. So, as I’ve said every year for the last decade or so, I’m going to move that Rhodie to the woods this year.

Six Years and One Month Later in My Garden Design

Posted on June 11, 2008 by Mary AhernSeptember 1, 2017

Garden Entry April 2002

I’ve been working on my garden for a long time. When I had the driveway widened, I had bluestone gravel put down since I like the crunching sound of homecoming when I drive off the paved street into the driveway.

I took the stones, which come up every time I sink a shovel into the garden, and used them to create the edging with the slight curves that welcome you onto the property and foreshadow the style which will be followed throughout the garden. Though I had professionals widen the driveway and initially place the stones I supplied, I moved them and moved them for quite awhile until I got the actual curves visually right.

I moved the stone edging 6 times before I was satisfied with the curves. I did this instead of joining a gym.

Garden Entry May 2008

I planted spring bulbs and flowers, in order to give an early season, welcome to the folks driving by and the ones who walk by on their daily exercise circuit. I am pleased how the area filled in since my initial planting in 2001. In fact, it has filled in so fully that I’m able to divide and share the wealth with some other eager gardeners.

I like the way the stones seem to have settled into their niches and look as though they’ve always lived where they are. The soil has slid through the gaps and the ground covers have leaped over the tops, naturalizing their display.

What a difference a month makes.

Posted on May 9, 2008 by Mary AhernMarch 26, 2017

Front Entry garden April 14th. Last year I took this picture in my front entry garden on April 14th. This is just at the edge of where the driveway meets the garden and as you can see, I hadn’t even finished clearing out the leaves from the miniature rhododendrons. The bulbs are all starting to come up and the azaleas behind the tree stumps are getting green. The Cercis canadensis ‘Covey’ or Eastern weeping redbud tree is not yet in bloom and I haven’t turned the water on at the little globe water feature. I haven’t even gotten around to planting the hayracks on the deck banisters.

Front Entry garden May 17th. This second photo was taken a month later on May 17th and what a difference! The azaleas, which were here when I bought the property in 1989, are in bloom in the entry garden and in the distance in the front garden. The Uvularia grandiflora or Bellwort is spreading itself in front of my globe. A hosta named ‘Diana Remembered’ that I bought from Terre Nova Nursery is sprouting to the right of it on the curve. The miniature yellow green hosta to the bottom left of the image is called, ‘Green Eyes’. I love growing all different kinds and sizes of hostas but I like even better when the slugs don’t spoil the view. These mini’s I find are particularly vulnerable to becoming salad for the slugs but I like the challenge of changing their minds.

Garden Benches

Posted on May 5, 2008 by Mary AhernMarch 26, 2017

My Graduation Garden Bench 2000-2007 RIP I don’t have much seating around my woodland walks other than tree stumps since it is a place for a meandering journey rather than a destination. But I do have one bench that allows me to sit and take a break if my phone rings while I’m gardening.

It also is very much a destination for my grandsons since they use it as a stopping and starting position for their many excursions with the dinosaurs and forest tigers they’ve found roaming the woods.

This first bench I bought in 2000 to commemorate my graduation from Farmingdale State with a degree in Ornamental Horticulture. By the time this photo was taken in January of 2007, the bench was beginning to sink if you sat on it so it truly became merely a garden ornament.

My Birthday Garden Bench, circa September, 2007. This next bench I bought in September of 2008 to celebrate my birthday. I found it on the web at shop-nc.com:

It surpassed my expectations in the quality of materials and the beauty of the design. I would certainly recommend the product and the company.

I took this photo in April with one of my Rhododendron PJM’s in full bloom. A few years ago I transplanted this rhodi from another part of the garden and positioned it behind the bench to give a sense of enclosure. The view beyond is borrowed scenery since my property line is about 10 feet behind the bench.

My Gingko Garden Bench looking towards our home. Here is a view from behind the bench looking towards my home. If you look closely you can see that I have secured the bench to the adjacent oak tree to prevent it from getting legs and walking out of the garden. Some years ago I found that my wood chipper had disappeared from the garden and it took me quite some time to get over the sense of violation and intrusion.