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.

November 28, 2012

Well, I started cleaning up around the storage shed and decided that that area also needed a retaining wall. The process becomes addictive apparently.

 In the above image, the right side is the area behind the shed. The orientation of the photo can be confusing. The new wall can be seen in the very back of the image below, as compared to the left side of the image above..

 A closer view from the image above. The elevation of the yard in back reaches about the height of about three and a half blocks.

 This view is from the opposite direction of the right hand side of the top image. Note how sandy and dry the soil has become. The surface can become so dry that water will run off, almost taking a downpour before soaking in. In technical terms, it becomes temporarily hydrophobic.

The three mounds of dirt came out of the area behind the shed. I didn't even reach the original level because so many thick tree roots have grown into that space. It was the digging down and seeing the elevation difference which prompted me to build this wall. Considering all of the practice time that I've accumulated, it went quickly and smoothly.

 My kale is coming along nicely.

But the seeds that I planted in a soil ball seem to be struggling.

 The difference is obvious. Was this a failed experiment? No, because I learned not to do it again. Either direct plant the seeds or do a general broadcast.

Suburban Hermit of Fayetteville signing off.

November 16, 2012

Still, not much happening. Thought it would be a good time to post documentation pictures, just to show the current state of the work.

The frost finally got my squash.

Suburban Hermit of Fayetteville, signing off.