Made a Start

We made a start on "The Wall" after much debate about corners. We've had heavy rain for two days, so this is today's result done between showers. We are taking the top two logs off as we go, so it looks a bit messy now and the colour variation is 'deliberate' except for the dirty one which was a sample last year and has been rocking around the garden getting dirty all that time. Yeah - I beleive it if you do! Hard to imagine what it will eventually look like. We're dropping the ag drain pipe behind and the pebbles will be used to fill the gap topped with garden soil. Look at that cheeky Tomato - growing and flowering despite the cold!

Interesting! Are you taking all the pine out and extending the garden forward to the brick wall? How are those locking bricks to put together? I have thought of using them here bur for lower walls, only about 3 high. Do they require footings or do you lay them on sand or crushed bluestone?
Cheers, Jan

We intend to just take out the top three pine logs, leaving the rest in place because they will help to stabilise the bank but mainly because taking them out would be a major project in it's own right. We've laid a 100ml concrete footing in the gap between the paved area and the log wall, laying an agricultural drain along the back. (Installing it once we have one level of bricks done.) Where the footings go off the patio onto the grassed area we've raised the footings to keep the level right. This is on very well compacted ground. It gets a sand and cement screed as we are putting the blocks down just to avoid any sticking up bits, probably not necessary as the surface is quite smooth but it will fill in any hollows. Then we'll refill between blocks and log wall with the pebbles we took out ( gap varies between 1 to 6 inches!) and additional blue metal for drainage. ( The ag pipe has geofabric covering it). The flat topper blocks will have to be glued down with masonry glue in case the kids decide to walk on it.

The bricks interlock so they are really solid - the roads department use similar ones for bank stabilisation so we expect them to do a good job. The height will vary between 2 levels and 5 ( 6 is recommended maximum).
This picture is one end where we've gone from dug down to raised footing to get the level - this is a narrow garden under bedroom windows and the wall will go from about 5 high down to 2 at the end. This leads to the veg garden in the raised part. It's been a bit neglected but is planned to be a little 'fairy garden'. Lots of annuals and child friendly plantings.



This picture is the other side - runs from the patio towards the front of the block. It too will be stepped down from about 5 blocks to 2. This bed is my camellia bed but I have roses there too and plan on planting more when this job is done. It look dull now but in a few weeks will be lovely judging from the buds on the Camellias.



I'll know more when the job is done! We are on reactive clay here, so laying it while it is wet is probably a good plan.

Weekend well spent!

Well I'm impressed!You must be so pleased with this. It is always so satisfying putting all the effort in and ending up with a job worthy of a professional. well done! You now have a lovely and very functional outdoor area.

We'll probably finish it this week as there is only one more row in this section, then the capping blocks, weedmat to put on top of the fill . The fairy garden section and the other lawned section will have 4 down to 2 rows, so shouldn't be as hard work as this section has been. We're having a day off today to rest the aches and pains and go buy soccer boots for the girlies. Then next week we'll take down the treillis and do something about the plantings! Have 40 ml rain over the weekend to slow us down.

It looks fantastic, a job well done, you must be very pleased