My new garden or Stone Henge?

Diane ~ your happiness and love for each other is reflected in your stories and your photos. Thanks for sharing with us. It is really uplifting and inspirational.
Jackie

Awww..you guys are so nice -- believe me I appreciate all that God has given us - especially the gift of our special bond and complementary interests we share. It was a long 26 yrs without him..but so worth the wait! LOL..

Y'all have always been so nice to me in this forum and I have learned so much and appreciated the generosity of all who have shared their knowledge, cuttings and seeds. So..that is why I come back here to share pics of the garden -- thanks for the compliments which I tell John about, and he thanks you as well.

I'll keep you posted.

Diane

That is amazing!! A lot of hard work,and it shows,I will be waiting for more pics!

Diane that is so fabulous. It will be increbile once you have vines and stuff growing all over it.

Diane,
Can't wait to see more photos. Please post as often as you can. :-)
Terrie

FAB-UUUUUUUUUUUU-LOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love it Diane, you and your DH are fanstastically artistically inclined and do such a wonderful job!!! WOW, Kudos to you and DH, keep posting the pics as you go along, I'm lovin' it! Needa neighbor??? lol Hey, I'll camp out in there if you'd let me :-)!! hehe

Julie

Stunning as usual, Diane... :)

I'd been keepin' an eye out for an update. Keep 'em comin'!!!

Diane:

You and John are blessed to have each other. I'm anxiously awaiting more photographs and I'm looking forward to seeing your home and garden featured on HGTV when the station learns of them, hint, hint. :-)

Diane, I'm voting for you and John for 'cutest couple'!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks all...well..there's not much more to photograph this weekend - we are having torrential rainfall (almost 3" so far and it's gonna rain all night). I have SOOO much planting to do..but I guess it will wait another week.

John says it will take him the next month just to finish cementing in all those posts. Then there are walls to build - both stone and brick; raised beds to build; the arbor, pathways; the drip irrigation system; the gates. sigh. It's a looong way to the finish line. He's enjoying the process though..BS he loves to see his vision taking shape. I smile from the distance as I watch him and tend to my container and small bed gardening for this year. Every few hours he will call me over to his latest accomplishment and I will marvel at his artistry and skill and then I will drag him over to my greenhouse and he will listen as I babble about my seed grown petunias sprouting their first buds; and my overwintered cannas breaking soil with their new shoots and so it goes...and we are content...and life is good...

Diane

You two are bringing all of us much joy and many smiles as we read about your happy gardening life.
Thank you for sharing it with us.

Cheers,
from Canada where it is raining too...LOL

WOW.... I'm not even sure how I got here, but I just spent the last 45 minutes reading your story and looking at your photos Diane... I can't find the words that could adequately describe how beautiful the work your husband has done is! Your personal story is just as beautiful... thank you for sharing it... I am so happy for you!

Melissa

Hi, All -- Time for an update! The work has continued for dear hubby for the last month - it has taken him this long to cement in all those posts. Today he started leveling off the two posts that will hold a LARGE brownstone lentel across the top. This will be the East entrance to the garden. The Brownstone that will span across these posts is very intricately carved. It will be beautiful...

This is John Today chiseling the tops of the posts to make them level...

This is him measuring to see they are level...

here you can see how tall the posts are...and John so proud they are level now...

This is the fountain we bought this week in Brimfield Mass antique show. Not really old...it is cast cement, but has an old european look to it. I love it! It will sit here against the house this summer. Next year John will install it against a brick wall in the back of the garden...

Diane, it is looking really good. I love the fountain.

Everything is looking so good Diane. What a project John has taken on. I am still just amazed at all the work and looking forward to seeing completion pictures. Oh yes keep those progress pictures posted too..... I love seeing a new Garden in progress. Your fountain is handsome looking. Does it sound as good as it looks? Gotta love Lion's, I'm a Leo...LOL

Your fountain will look magnificent in your new garden...it is perfect for the
the dream you are bringing to life.

I was excited when I saw you had updated this thread..couldn't wait to see what was happening.

Thanks,
Carol

Diane,
I think John's ready for a nice Florida vacation (working of course).
Shoot, I can't even get up the energy to replace my old wood fence...
Jan...

Thanks, all -

Kin - yeah, the fountain sounds as good as it looks. So soothing to listen to. I had it running all day today while I worked planting out containers and raised beds all day. Every couple of hours John and I would stop for a break and pull up a chair here on the patio next to the fountain. In the foreground are just fraction of the plants I have to plant out. Worked on it for 7 hours yesterday and barely made a dent!

Diane

Diane it is coming along fantastic! Love your fountain it looks very old and fits just perfect into your landscape. John must have the paitence of a saint. I can't even begin to imagine all the work that goes into just making the tops level. I fear I wouldn't have the paitence to finish even if I did have the skill. He's one of a kind.

You should contact HGTV. I remember they use to have a show called Monder Masters.

All I ask my DH to do is dig a few holes. I think I will show him this thread. He needs to get off his duff and get to work!! I can't wait to see the finished garden.

Hi Diane,

I would love to have a planter like the one in your picture. The clay one that looks like pots with handles stacked at angles. Where did you get it? Please don't tell me you made it.....

Thanks - Kim

Hi, Kim - NO I did not make that planter LOL!! It is neat though, huh? I bought it early, early this spring at a local garden center. I think it was like the end of February and I stopped in to see if they had some of those mosquito bits and they had just received a shipments of terra cotta pots for spring. I thought it was so unusual, I had to have it -- they only had one. I think I paid something like $18 for it. I have it planted with little succulents, but I am finding that the little pots are so small they dry very quickly and it is hard to water it as the water runs right over the sides. I painted the terra cotta with a waterproofing sealant before planting so it would not dry out so quickly, but it hasn't seem to help much. I still think its neat though...thanks.

Diane

Beautiful, Diane. Lot of hard work and love going into it.
:) Donna

Thanks Diane,

Hmmm, sounds like trouble but it is so pretty. Maybe watersorb crystals or wetting the clay? Sounds like succulents were a good idea, maybe a water feature next..... I will still be on the lookout!

-Kim

Donna, I love how your garden is coming along and amazed, it looks great! I also love the tea pot terra cotta pots you have your succulents in. My moma has these and she doesn't do anything to them AT ALL...she may spray the pot now and then but mostly they're everywhere in her yard, on the ledges of her porch, in pots that have dried out...They're from the cactus family and they don't require much water or my mother's would be dead by now LOL....I can't for the life of me raise the things lol...the hen & chicks is what she calls them I think?? I think they'll be fine right where you have them. They're cute as buttons in that pot! It's perfect :-)

Keep the pics coming, I love to watch you pull it all together, and tell your DH he is one heck of a guy!

Hugs
Julie

Diane,
There isn't much I can say to add to the compliments of everyone else but just wanted you to know that I'm watching in awe as this project comes along. And I love your fountain. Listening to a fountain in the garden that is so soothing. Tell John how wonderful we all think he is!

WOW..Your new gardens will be something else when completed..looking really great and a labour of love..please keep sharing pictures as it progresses...great ideas....Jeanne

KRNYSGIRL, I've been watching in the background here, but I just wanted to say that the entire project, and by that I mean everything on the property, is a real work of art. Have you ever thought of contacting Fine Homebuilding to give them the opportunity to put your home in their magazine? Pick any of the many kinds of work that John has mastered and it could be an article in itself.
What is the mortar mix that he used in the house and walls on the property?
Chad

HI, Chad - thanks for the compliment - and yes, I have thought of contacting someone - just haven't done it yet. I really think I will once this garden nears completion - Fine Gardening Magazine, for example is published by Taunten Press which is located right here in CT. As for the morter mix on the house,- John says it is just ordinary cement mortar. The surrounding walls are all dry walls - no mortar at all. To me - that is a really rare art form that is nearly lost on the newer generation. John says it is easier to work with the cement, because you can hide irregularities in the stone. But in the dry walls - you have to fiddle and chip away at each piece to make it fit just right. He has put a lifetime of effort into this property I think he's a creative genious, but I admit I am biased :-)

Diane

Diane...I have been following your thread & your garden progress...beautiful ! I personally think that if you plan to contact someone to do a story on your home, it would be better to do while the work still is in progress instead of at the end or when it is nearing completion. They would probably like photos of the progress...

Also, a question that just came to me...working with all of that stone and cement...all so drying to the hands, what does your DH do to avoid dry, rough, cracked hands? Or does he treat them afterwards? With what? I can always use hints on hand care!

Margie

Margie, my guess would be:

Ultra Palmolive Diswashing Liquid and Antibacterial Hand Soap -- 38 oz.

One product does the work of two - A powerful, grease-cutting manual dishwashing liquid and an antibacterial liquid hand soap.. Improved grease-cutting formula provides unsurpassed cleaning ability.. High active ingredient level.. Gentle pH formula is soft on hands.. Long lasting suds. Leaves hands so smooth they won't scratch your face even if you're chiselling granite all day and operating a bellows blast furnace.

Just kidding!

LOL, Margie & Chad -

His hands actually do get pretty beat up - he treats them with good hand lotion, that's about it...

Diane

Well Alrighty - time for another update...sit back and please be patient - I have about 17 photos I want to share with you. First...here is the picture of that brownstone lentil in place - this is the one John was measuring to make sure it would be level in the last update post... between these posts will be a large iron gate leading into the east side of the garden..

Here is a close up of that lentil-- wonderful workmanship in the carving. This is probably 150-200 years old.

Okay..here is a pano I did showing the progress of the hole garden looking from the east side. I know it may not look like much..but a lot of work has been done this past month. John has nearly completed the whole first course of the walls around the garden...it looks a little bowed because of paralax distortion in the camera as I was too close with the camera taking the pictures I stitched together in software..

Here is a closeup of one of the wall parts. Notice two long stones are layed together and filled in between with smaller rocks. Those metal bars - John made himself. They look like a big staple with posts that are locked into holes he drilled in each rock. They hold the rocks together so they do not shift during winter frosts. The next layer of wall will go on top of these...

Here's my sweetie doing - what else? Drilling stone.. taken tonight when I got home from work