Shoring it up

Due to the layout of the neighborhood, almost every lot has a large hill on one side. Although the dirt is fairly well compacted, slicing into the slope and not building a barrier wall tends to allow erosion.
After debating on materials, we opted to use redwood planks since we've dealt with them before and they're relatively low cost.

On Saturday we jumped out of bed and ran outside with shovels and saws, prepared to tackle the installation from front yard to back. Clearing away dirt took little time since it had not set to concrete, yet. 

The part that was hard involved pounding the stakes into the ground. I opted to dig with a trowel while Ced grabbed various tools from the garage to get the job done. Making little progress while Ced set stake after stake, I eventually gave in and started pulling weeds.

Once all the stakes were set we lined them with Geotextile fabric to help prevent weeds growing between boards.

We were now ready for the fun part - nailing the slats to the stakes!

The little fence went up quickly with the nail gun.

Once the wall was up, the sidewalk was scrubbed and hosed down. Free of dirt, we could finally appreciate the width of the walkway.

Putting up that small section of fence ended up taking a bit longer than expected, so we opted to put off the backyard build for another day. This fence is not completely finished, the tops of the stakes need to be lopped off. Despite that small detail, we're really enjoying the look of the little retaining wall and are quite pleased with how it turned out.

Dirt Sculptor

This weekend I pulled what I like to call, "Letting out the crazy." Now I don't mean I went around throwing a hissy fit about some nonsense. I mean I jumped into the weekend meaning to do a few inside projects and ended up starting and finishing what I thought would be a large outside project. (In other words, the weekend was surprisingly productive.)

We've been wanting to do something to what was lovingly called "the dirt patch." (Pictured in the dark, far left area in this picture). The problem was, we just didn't know what to put there. The area gets very little light and the ground, like everywhere, is clay filler and tough to dig through.

A few weekends ago I started shoveling out pebbles, Airsoft pellets (previous owner), and leftover masonry nails from when the house was built. I figured if I spent some time in the area I would be inspired.

That idea sort of worked. Spending time in the area at least made me dig out the drain that runs through the sidewalk. 

(Side note: Yes, that is a bush in a blue plastic storage bin. I dug up the bush from the front yard when we had the patio and sidewalk poured last year. I wanted to relocate the bush, but wasn't sure where to put it, so I just stuck it in that bin. Amazingly, the bush has been doing rather well.)

After digging out the drain, it became apparent that the ground needed sculpting to help flow water.

After a brief discussion with Ced, we decided two types of bedding would be interesting in some sort of pattern. I pulled out a sketch pad and sat outside envisioning designs that would incorporate the drain path and keep interest. Lots of crazy patterning ensued and I ran some ideas past Ced to pick his brain some more. He steered the design in a simple direction and thus began an internal design struggle for me. Feeling like the designing bit was hindering productivity, I started digging more and etched out a simple pattern in the soil.

Pattern decided, we laid down Geotextile fabric. . .

and started laying out the design using bark mulch and pond stones.

We're pretty happy with the way it turned out.

I keep justifying the simple design (two dark hemispheres jutting into the lighter pebbles) by pointing out how the patio is a hemisphere and smooth arcs are calming.

Then I ask myself why I'm justifying it. (Perhaps a bit of that crazy.)

At any rate, I see myself obsessively straightening the arcs and sorting bark from pebbles. We'll eventually put some sort of center piece near the back (fountain?) and I've begun a search for shade-loving plants.