Rock Wall Construction

one suggestion i would think of is putting something behind teh rocks like chichen wire to try and keep the chipmunks and voles from moving in. they love to make tunnels through the rock wall into the bed. It is a constant problem for me. or if you have a cat, get another. no cats here - like them - hate the fur they leave behind.

wha--1 cat, so far, and 2 dogs. The only varmints I have, so far, are woodchucks, rabbits, and tree rats (squirrels.) I am layering that whole bed with several layers of newspaper before the soil is dropped on it. I may add something behind the stone, not sure though, it would be more extra work, I'll be having a time of it with the newspaper...lol. I was going to do what my mother does and RoundUp the whole area, but will use the newspaper instead.

How deep will the new dirt be? if the dirt is going to cover the grass i would not bother with NP or RU. any grass dug up planting just make sure you flip it over - dirt side up- and bury it under the dirt as deep as the new dirt is. NP would work like mulch and absorb water though. i've not had a huge prblem just flipping grass over, after a couple of weeding sessions grass all gone and if i cover with dirt no weeding needed.

I had contemplated renting a sod cutter for the area, but I don't have my truck anymore, and trying to haul that beast of machinery around in my Stratus would be comical at best...lol. I was, initially, thinking about hand turning, but, after placing the stone, and working as a CNA in a nursing home, my back can only take so much; so I'm taking the low road, and placing the NP for that reason. The soil is going to be 8" or so near the wall, and gradually taper up a bit, the max depth is going to be anywhere from 10" to a foot in depth. My yard is on a grade going down so I need to watch where I grade the soil.

nothing is going to grow up through 8" of dirt. That's a lot of dirt! How many yards? Do they have access right to the bed? Hope so for your sake.

It took me a long time to finally move the 20 yards i had delivered this year. i used my now famous wheel barrel and because it was going to different parts of the yard and most required some serious roto tilling, stone removal (using to fill the gaps in my wall), and tree root removal it took forever.

I'm doing as a just in case. If something did grow up through 8" of dirt, I would probably cry...unless it was a daff or hyacinth...lol. I'm having 10 yds delivered, via dumptruck...the delivery charge is slightly large, $85! The dump truck will be able to back up to this well and let it rip. The spreading of the soil is going to be the easy part, unpotting, and planting almost 100 plants is going to be an all day affair. There are 4 items that are balled and burlapped, and several 5-10g pots. lol. I'll be using the wheel barrow to move most of the plant material. I can't even imagine having to shuffle, move, load up, and disperse 20 yds of soil...holy crap. lol.

Wha--do you have any help? or is this all you? Paul hates to get dirty, and after 2 years of hearing about how his back is hurting, and having a large argument about a doctors appointment, he finally had MRI's, and Xrays done...scoliosis (sp?) and arthritis for him. Go figure. I've been in the nursing field as a Corpsman, and a CNA, and my back is ok. He's had desks jobs his whole career.
Anyhoo, so all 3 tons of stone, I moved alone. The soil, I will do alone. Planting everything, I will do alone. And when I finally get the mulch delivered, I will have spread that around, alone. He just sits on the deck and watches all of the pretty blooms unfurl. lol.

I admire your heroic project.
Please take some befors and afters.

And x-rays and mri's too!

Anyone, regardless of gender or age, that is going to move things in the hundreds of pounds, and upward of tons of pounds, hats off to you! My only problem, if I can call it that, is that my body gets no rest. I get home from work after torquing my back for 8 hours, and then move small mountains around...lol.

wha--I give you all the credit in the world. I'm cringing at moving 10 yds of soil, and you've moved 20 yds! WOW! Your stone wall is stunning, if I had access to that type of stone I would have more than likely preferred to have used it. The only stone I have available to purchase (without getting super costly) are slate, the stone I'm using, and fieldstone. Everything else is way, WAY costly. I was looking at a pallet of this really neat stone, can't remember the name off of the top of my head, but it looks almost like lava rock, but there are several different colors of it, and the stone is very dense. Each pallet was $495. I was like, WHAT? I have my eye on a granite sphere, not sure if I'm gonna get it any time soon, but, who knows...lol.

I love working with rocks, too. Something almost soothing about it. That is until the next morning when you can't roll over to get out of bed!

Bill - Beautiful work. You make the spirits of NE farmers proud! Can't wait to see the next 60 feet!

Thom - sounds like a huge project! I'm sure it will be worth all the sweat, aches and pains!

i do it all myself - and to be honest prefer to do it alone - that way it gets done the way i want it. this was the third year running i had 20 yards delivered. made every bed a raised bed - too much clay and stone here - needed to keep the plants happy. wanted to save some of the dirt this year for the rose bushes i need to push back to make room for the wall - hopefully the dirt/grass i've been piling up down back from the annual edging will be broken down enough to use. i'll mix in some wood ash from the fire pit and dehydrated manure - that should keep them happy.

Thom - that looks great......can't wait to see it with all those plants inside it!

Bill - it's the weekend! Get back out there and get to work on your wall!! LOL And don't forget to show us what you get done this weekend! I'm following your every move! No, seriously......get to work! Happy Weekend!

Looking forward to working this weekend!! It is how i relax from that other work that pays the bills.

I'm sure you are, Bill. There's nothing like a fun project to look forward to on a weekend. Yours is a pretty hefty "fun" project!!! Enjoy the weekend!

It was hot and hunid this weekend and the wall progress did not go well.

I took down three sections of fence and had to transplant three rose bushes.

Here is what i got done with the wall on saturday. really wanted that big rock on top. it has great character with quatz in it and great colors. it just did not "fit" and i took it all apart on sunday.

pic from the yard. moving the bushes decreased future mowing and you can also see new beni fugi dogwood. planted three different kousa's sunday morning before playing with rocks.

looking down the wall towards the street.

And back towards the house.

Holycow,You must be an animal,or highly motivated when in love with a project.

an animal who likes his rocks

HAHAHAHA
I was a potter for 30 years and I can tell you love rocks,I love anything about earth.

Looking good, Bill.

Did you have anybody waiting on you with cold water and wet rags? Hope so, cuz you definitely deserve it! That's a lot of prep for an already back breaking job!

It's looking real good.

thx everyone - the only wet rag was my t shirt(s). the cold drinks came afterwards, need to buy more gloves have already worn holes in 2 pair.

Just gets better and better. How you got anything done in this heat and humidity is very impressive. The bright cherry colored DLs are really nice btw. So, is the long range plan to plant enough stuff so the lawn won't need to be mowed at all? I like it a lot, you should be very proud.

Bill, I've enjoyed seeing your beds along the driveway almost as much as seeing your wall progress. You are really moving!! It looks so nice, and the flower beds are very pretty! Great job!
Louise

My gosh your making me tired. Looks very unique and special.

Do you have a Bobcat?

Yeah, Victor - I think his bobcat is named Bill.....like our tractor is named Lydia. LOL

And real men don't use fulcrums and rollers...

looking great!

never have seen a bobcat, i did see a mt. lion down in back about 9 years ago. - i hear bobcat's are difficult to spot - pics of one was just in the paper, it was in a reservation (winchester/medford) very close to boston.
really i just use the wheel barrel - have gotten good at rolling in the big ones and lifting up with weight on the wheel. probably why i've broken the bearing around the axel twice - it's really not too hard.
happy to hear you like the beds louise - my wife just mentioned that the red dl's don't match the roses this weekend - i have no plans to move them.

Aren't you the stone guy who rolled i big one into a canoe?
Didn't I recall that as a bit of a Stan and Ollie routine? LOL ::-)

And i needed a come along to pull the canoe out of the pond and up where i could roll it out of the canoe - yes that would be me:)

this is the quartz boulder in question - really need something next to it to give it scale.

The "not quite spent " spring bulb leaves are a pretty good measure.
Looks to weigh about 250 lbs.

i think it is closer to 500 lbs. 250 i could move.

You would be the authority on that.
Hat's off to you.

I would move it over a few inches, Bill. Just not right.