December 14, 2012

Not much to report today. Just dismantled the waterfall a little more. The close ups clearly show how much the honeysuckle vine grew into the cinderblocks.

If you're wondering, probably not, this is where I'm piling the rocks. It's the only place I could think of that I wasn't going to be digging into in the near future.

I had saved the bulbs of some green onions and promptly forgot them in the refrigerator. When I remembered them, they had grown out. I can't but help such and effort to grow, so I went ahead and planted them. I'm curious to see what they'll do. That's a carrot top to the right and a celery butt in the middle. I'm curious to see what happens with those, too.

Suburban Hermit of Fayetteville signing off.

December 13, 2012

In the top image, the arrow is pointing to a solitary rose 'bush' that has valiantly survived these many years. Well done, Rose, well done.

In the lower image, one can see the flowers from said rose, so it is my opinion that this plant is worth saving.  Note the density of the greenery in the background and how it is absent in the top image. 

Amazing how much of a difference some sweat equity can make. Please, do not fret at the loss of the greenery. As permaculture principles go, they were useless. Most, if not all, didn't even flower.

This bucket sat on top of the waterfall, completely covered in foliage. Its purpose was to act as a filter; I'm not sure of it's effectiveness. But, as can be seen in the lower image, it collected so much debris that dirt had actually formed. I'm surprised that a tree wasn't growing out of it.

Suburban Hermit of Fayetteville signing off.

December 11, 2012

Another day of pulling up rocks. Another day of being amazed at the build up. 

 Like yesterday's photos, the above three images clearly show how much build up occurred.

The waterfall is slowly getting dismantled. I never would have guessed that that vine had grown so thoroughly through the cinderblocks. It's going to be interesting trying to get it out.

Suburban Hermit of Fayetteville signing off.

December 10, 2012

Okay, so I started moving some of the decorative rocks spread around the garden. I was astonished to see how deeply some of them had become buried through erosion and organic build up.

In the above two pictures, note that both rocks were more than two-thirds buried. After I pulled those two up I decided to take reference photos of the others. Yeah, as pictures go, they are boring. But I'm hoping that the tension of pulling them out will build some excitement. We'll see.

Oops, already pulled this one out. The slight discoloration at the middle, moving left, indicates how deeply this one was buried. I'm sure that it's not unique.

Yawn, it's boring even to me. 

Suburban Hermit of Fayetteville signing off.

Dec 9, 2012

Yesterday's post was to establish a reference for the deconstruction that has begun. Those pictures were taken in the summer when I first moved back. The deconstruction is fairly self-explanatory, but, if you're wondering about my plan, so far it's just to get everything cleared out and THEN decide what needs to be done. The goal is to eventually rebuild a pond and a waterfall; I just don't know if I'll be able to use any of the existing features.

The honeysuckle vine that was completely covering the waterfall wrapped itself around the water line that fed the fall. I've never seen a honeysuckle with a truck so thick.

 The vine is growing out of the waterfall rock pile.

I'm not sure why that wire is there, but it was there long enough for it to become completely embedded in the vine.

 Just another view showing how securely wrapped the vine had become.

One of the decorative rocks next to the waterfall. Note that the rock was not buried to that depth, the surrounding area built up to that height.

Suburban Hermit of Fayetteville signing off.

December 8, 2012

It has to start, the cleaning of the patio. The 'before' pictures are deceptive. It looks all green and pleasant, but if you were able to walk around you would see that it's overgrown, crowded out, and almost useless. I've sat and observed and noticed that very few birds enter the area. That is a bad sign. Occasionally, I'll see a rabbit. He's going to hate me during the transition. But he'll get over it once the new plants come in.

The 'before' pictures. This design was installed about fifteen years ago. Except for basic maintenance, nothing has been done to it since. As a basic, low maintenance design, it works. As a permaculture design, it's absolutely useless. It gives nothing back. As far as I can tell, even rodents don't live here.

The flat rocks in the middle-ish of the image is a waterfall. I don't think it's been turned on in over ten years. The top two feet can't even be seen because of the overgrowth.

In the corner of the fence was a bamboo patch. I distinctly remember my grandfather burying the bottom half of a metal drum and planting the bamboo in it to contain it's spread. Well, the bamboo escaped, and nothing really seems to grow in that corner now. 

That's rain water, not pond water. My grandfather got tired of cleaning it so gave the goldfish away and drained it. It has to be pumped out occasionally. The bridge is amazingly sturdy. It could easily hold five people or more. The railings, though, not so much.

 The waterfall is falling. So much debris has fallen into the corner that those plants have become a part of the ecosystem.

Behind the waterfall. Like I said, completely overgrown. The rose is the only flowering plant back there. It's not even visible unless it is flowering. I'm surprised at how much space is completely lacking in growth. I'm not sure why.

 'Wild' bamboo. As I said earlier, they escaped from the container in which they were originally planted. Notice that even after all of these years of neglect very little to nothing grows in the empty spaces. Surprising since it has layers and layers of leaves built upon it from which to develop healthy soil.

 Bags of pine bark mulch. They've been there since the area was designed this way, about fifteen years. Plants are growing out of some of the bags.

More dead space. I know that this area wasn't lined with a weed barrier, so I'm baffled as to why nothing grows here.

Rear view of the waterfall. Yes, there's a waterfall in there somewhere.

This area DOES have a weed barrier. Obviously, even after fifteen years, it's still effective. 

That's it for the tour. I'm dreading the work...who am I kidding, I'm almost giddy to get started. I might as well be giggling like a little school girl.

Suburban Hermit of Fayetteville signing off.