Creating good garden paths

YES!! I use to be very annoyed that he didn't have the exact same desires for the garden that I did!! :)

Susan

Susan.......I found the form at a Home Depot last summer. The plants on the right are ivy. (English if I remember correctly) I planted it in late summer 05 to eliminate mowing over all of the roots from that big Norway Spruce. I'm really pleased with the way it's taken hold and filled the area.

Here's another photo.....It's a bit cluttered up with winter debris now.

early_bloomer

ooppss.. I mean the blue/purple bloomers posted on the 3rd?? :)

Thanks

Susan

Susan.......That's phlox.


early_bloomer

ahhhhhhhhhhh. :) very nice :)

I relate to annoyed with DH, I think he is so lazy and I think he takes advantage of my desire to have a nice home. He says he will help and never does and mine loves to tell me how hard he use to work, on his x wifes yard to add insult to injury. he makes up for it in some ways in adoration for me, but still, love is an action word to me.

Yes, it is for most women!! I use to feel that way, but I've grown satisfied with him just being agreeable to paying for me to have the help! Bad? I don't think so.. I get the holes dug, the sod removed, the new trees and gardens put in and we are both happy with the outcome.. I don't particularly fall over every chance I get to go away to a guys dirt bike weekend away either, so we all have what we like and enjoy doing and I've finally come to realize this. I mean yea, lots of guys (as seen here!) love to get out and garden, but in my neighborhood, even the women look at me crazy for all the hours and time I devote to it. Their is just something about all that hard work that results in all that pretty and it makes it so worth it to me.. I know yall understand.

In defense of my husband though.... he did tell me that this was "your hobby" and he wasn't going to have any part in it when I first started. Not true. He has installed my picket fence, he takes care of all my veggies, and he's even tested the soil to make sure it was perfect.. He asked me to grow less tomatoes this upcoming year since he just had so many to care for and I really don't have a leg to stand on unless I get out there and start tending to them. He just likes doing what he enjoys doing.. helped me build my Tomato T-pee's ....weeding... NEVER!! Only the gardener knows what's a weed and whats a baby seedling anyway, so I do that. OHHHHHHH and he cuts the grass and keeps it so pretty.. but who wouldn't love riding that John Deere with your kid?? That is fun :) Sometimes it just blows me away for someone to ask me about the grass right off when I've got 1000 flowers in bloom.. I'm like What about the flowers!!?? Grass Envy?? Oh yea.. I'm the only woman in this area that drives a John Deere.. guaranteed. Does driving a John Deere tractor qualify me to be an official cottage style gardener?

Susan

Susan, I do agree, and most of the time I'm perfectly happy doing it myself, but once in awhile I get overly tired and just do a little wishing when I see him snoozing in front of the tv!!! He never complains about the money I spend, and has even said I could hire someone to do the hard stuff, but it kills me to do it when I'm able bodied myself (well, more or less - lol!). In his defense, he was in construction all his working years and has the aches and pains to prove it. (He's 65, I'm 62)

And I have my own rototiller (picture is me four years ago at the tender age of 58), excellent lawnmower (for the little bit of grass that still exists!), my own hedge trimmer and my Christmas present was an alligator lopper (part chain saw, part lopper). He does know how to make me happy even though people look at him like he's asking for a divorce when he buys me a garden tool!!!!

Hellnzone11, glad he adores you, but tell him to quit talking about how much he used to do for the ex- lol!!!

Oh that looks like a picture of me. I am like you all, I don`t like the grooling work, when it is hot and cold or extremely heavy, but i`d rather do it myself than see him storm through like a bat out of hell, all irritated. My x pulled all of my seedlings that he saw me growing all winter right after i planted them. Rather he weed wacked them,,thinking he was doing me a favor. So no weeding in the garden, however I live on a 5/8 acre piece of desert that had been groasly neglected by the past owner, who`s DH was dieing from the time they moved here so.... that left desert weeds everywhere and I would have loved help with the 3 years of weed control in caleche, in 100 degree weather, while he kicked back. That was real annoying. lol but like i said, he tells me I am gorgeous every day atleast 5 x`s a day( which is funny because I am ok and not grotesque or anything but I am not the ideal hot babe that most men consider gorgeous.) So he gets some big cudos for having different taste in women, but LAZY sometimes overrides my appreciation for his good traits. I am bad.

LOL - I also am bad, hellnzn11!! And although I'm not bad looking for my age, dh does think I'm beautiful - I keep throwing away his glasses!!

Murmur, Please let us know what this does and if you would recommend it. The alligator lopper (part chain saw, part lopper) I am always lopping and my DH is always chain sawing, perhaps I could get him to do both with this. I think your glasses line is great, I may have to try this too. Thanks, Patti

With any luck, Patti, I'll be giving it a shot in the next few days, but if the weather turns too sour (which it might - they're predicting icy cold and even snow), it will have to wait. DH was a bit dismayed when he realized (after I opened it) that it was part chain saw, but I think it's probably just the ticket. So many things are just a bit too much for a lopper (and for my lack of muscle). This tool is a bit on the heavy side, but I am sure that once I get used to it, it will be a real favorite!!! I'll keep you posted.

I ran across this pathway in another thread. They used the same form I did. (my photos are earlier in this thread)

http://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/Seandor_1168639479_928.jpg


early_bloomer

I have that one too. they used the color for the concrete too. Nice.

oh my gosh... how lovely. :)

Susan

I was just going to send a photo of our path, when I noticed Early_Bloomer beat me to it. My husband and I worked together and built it over a weekend. He eventually seeded bent grass between the "stones" but this year I am going to try to grow some creeping thyme from seed and replace some of the grass with it.

I am very pleased with how easy the concrete form works. We bought ours at Lowes for about $15

Cheers,
Seandor

Seandor, how did you prepare the ground under your path -- what depth of sand or gravel or? It's gorgeous!

Are you kidding? lol I asked my darling husband to do all that stuff - and he said that since each piece is separate (not connected in any way to the other, and each is small, and uneven anyway, we needed worry about frost heaves - just go and fix them up later if any one "stone" becomes seriously wonky. So we simply dug out the path about 3-4" deep and laid down the mold - filled up the slots with coloured concrete let it set a few minutes, then lifted the mold and moved on. That was two years ago, and so far we have not had to reset any of the stones. Now - our soil is naturally sandy anyway, so maybe that makes a difference.

After the concrete had dried, David applied some sort of gloss paint - which makes it very attractive, but it didn't last. Perhaps someone knows of some product that can be applied for a more permanent "wet" look to the "stones."

cheers,
Seandor

I've got clay here, and I'll bet that would heave more.... but it's good to know I might be able to skimp a bit on preparation... It's the thought of hauling all those wheelbarrows of sand and gravel out back that keeps me from starting this sort of project!

Hi Critterologist,

David and I have champagne tastes on a beer budget. We live in the great old house - but we can't do the "This Old House" version of renovation - so necessity being the mother of invention (and creativity) we do what we can with what we can. We installed a "stained glass window" in the main staircase - it's a vinyl film that you apply to glass. David applied it to the back of the window (that is - the outer side of the pane that faces the storm window). He then edged the film with black electricians tape. Honestly - unless you are told, you would swear we paid $$$$ to have a new stained glass window installed! :-) It looks fabulous inside during the day when the afternoon sun lights it - or outdoors in the evening when the houselights glow through it.

The kitchen was in rough shape - so we had the cabinets and countertops replaced - but we couldn't afford the $70,000 TOH reno - so instead of gutting the kitchen, David painted the white wall tiles ivory. I used green nail polish (3 coats) to fill in the white centers of black flowers in the tile trim. The plaster wall (was painted kelly green (not much of this). With lovely wood cabinets, and the green "granite" counter top, the general impression is of an Irish pub!

We have to take the same attitude outside to the yard. We can't afford landscapers - so we have to muddle through, making mistakes and learning on the way. We are such rookies! But we persevere. :-)

Right now, I am trying to think of an easy and inexpensive way to build a trellis for a rambling rose I have ordered called Darlow's Enigma. We have a brick exterior on the house - but even so 100 year old bricks need to be re-grouted (is that the right term?) occasionally, so one has to think how one could maintain access to the wall.

I wonder if anyone has ever discussed the building of trellises on DG?

Seandor

I've had no luck getting trellises to remain upright through ground anchoring alone... but just one or two anchor points put into the wall will do the trick if you "plant" a good 6 inches of the trellis underground (including one crossbar will stabilize it even further). Concrete anchors and a masonry bit on my drill were the answer for me with a couple of trellises we put against our chimney... Drill a hole for the anchor (in the mortar between your bricks; a 3-way intersection point is a good choice), pound the anchor in with a mallot, then install a piece of hardware (like a screw eye) that you can use attach a wire or piece of twine to support your trellis. Remember that the height of the trellis gives it a pretty good "moment arm" if you attach the support low down on the wall (eg, it will more easily tip outwards), but you don't want to put the extra support up at eye level if you think it will be too conspicuous.

My dad (who is "handy") assures me that I can easily remove the screw eye if I need to take out the trellis for any reason, and patching the hole it leaves is just like any other "repointing" of the mortar. Actually, I must confess that stabilizing the trellises against the chimney were a "daddy & me" project last spring!

criitter that is cool you and your dad working together. seander, we want pictures. i have been wanting to do that with my door window(stained glass effect.) I have one of those windows that goes next to the door, the same highth.

I know this is O/T, but if you want a stained glass effect with a design you created, check into those paints for making window clings... I got a bunch of different colors from Klutz, and I made window clings for different seasons. They're holding up pretty well, although the red is starting to fade, and I think I need to get something different (maybe Gallery Glass, with the premade leading lines) for the geometric part of the design... I have triple pane sidelights on either side of the front door, and I made a geometric "frame" in the center pane that I generally don't switch out... I just put a different item in the center according to the season...

Check out http://www.klutz.com/catalog/product/2980 for the "Window Art" paint. And here's the site for Gallery Glass info, http://www.plaidonline.com/apGG.asp

Also, my SIL has done some great "stained glass" designs with acryllic paint. I think she used the GG readi-lead lines to outline her design, and then painted in the colors... when she wants to change a color, she just removes the paint with a razor blade.

thanks, I always look at it at Michaels craft store, but never did it. I really should do it now, while i am on disability.

I have a few more tips for making a path out of the Walkmaker molds. I had Lowe's order me the brick one. I also have the cobblestone one.

The first tip is to NOT buy the colorant for the concrete from the big box store. If you look up concrete supply companies in your yellow pages, you should be able to find a source for the intergral colorant. I bought a whole bunch of a gorgeous brick red color for MUCH less than it would have cost at the big box store and the color is much better. I also bought a cocoa colored release agent that I brodcast across the tops of the 'bricks' while the concrete was still wet then hosed off later. This gave a 2-tone look that was more realistic.

A tip I picked up from a guy on the garden web forum was to have 2-3 different colors of integral colorant when doing the cobblestone mold. Mix up a bag of concrete in one color then do 1/3 to 1/2 the 'stones' in the mold with that color. Alternate with another color or two in the other molds OR use different intensities of the same color in various mixes to create natural looking variation. This is also helpful because it won't be so obvious if you don't mix up each batch to precisely the same color. I haven't tried this yet with the cobblestone mold but plan to this spring.

That sounds totally right. Good tips

I'm in the market for a brick edging design for the front of my beds.. just for fun I checked out the materials at Lowes when I was there... Holy Cow! The prices are outrageous!! I saw a type of cobblestone that was .80 a piece! My husband said that seemed on target.. I guess I'm just completely out of the loop here. Concrete do it yourself is the way to go if you can do it yourself!!

:)

BTW, I'm just going nuts trying to find the link to the garden in California where the two guys where using cattle fencing in their rose garden. the pictures were amazing and now I want to share it but can't find the link. have any of you seen it? Was it linked an this forum?? ugghhhh!! Help me lord! or fellow DG'er!! :)

Susan

I remember something about the cattle fence. I think it may have been in Garden Talk. I'll see if I can find it.

In Frugal Living of all places!

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/679815/

YES YES YES thats it!! Bless you! :)

it's really an amazing concept.. i wonder what forced them to stop gardening.. but here it is for the rest of you to see. :)
http://homepage.mac.com/lemec/Garden/PhotoAlbum133.html

Susan

I too am drooling still and my heart is racing, for real.

i know!! :))) I get the kind of shoppers high that shopping addicts get when I look at pictures like that. !!

Susan

Me too, it is a drug 4 me. I wish I knew what zone he is in, I should have asked him?

There's a thread over in the herb garden forum on thyme to be used between flagstones in what promises to be a wonderful set of pathways... check out drsaul's photos & ideas here, http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/694090/. I sure hope he keeps us posted as this major project progresses!

I need to take pix today before my block wall gets put up. I think we lost our photos in a computer crash of the complete desert parcel that it was, luckily we had printed some pictures of what it looked like for our insurance when it flooded but the best we could do is scan them to a file, the quality would not be good though. If I take pictures now, it has a long way to go, but has greatly changed in the last 3 month. We added a huge cargo shipping container and a big metal enclosed carport, now the block wall is coming. This is my solution to the rabbit, wind, afternoon sun problem. My micrclimate. I best take the pix today.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! THAT IS IT, OH MY GOSH. I AM FIXING THIS IN SEVERAL PLACES NOW IN CASE I CAN'T FIND IT AGAIN, IT WILL BE IN SEVERAL LOCATIONS AND ON MY FLASH DRIVE TOO.
I KNEW I COULD COUNT ON YOU.