stones, rocks, boulders & erratics

Thank you, Victor! I had no idea that "The City" was so rich in natural resources! Were you a downtown or an uptown kinda guy???? LOL

All over! There is so much of interest. Seismic faults, underground rivers, etc. I worked on 125 street, where a fault lies. The subway comes out of the ground for one stop at 125 street on Broadway because of all the water in that low spot. That water is what enabled us to do our high power tests. When you generate 12-13 megawatts of power, you need lots of cooling! We sat on an artesian well whose water had to be constantly pumped up to the drain.

Louise, your walks must last HOURS, what with all the explorations and discoveries. WOW!!!
In the top pic of the one in shadow. Did anyone else see the silhouette of a frog looking off to the right with a fly on its nose? (made you all look back didn't I?) It just jumped out at me. Kinda like looking at clouds to see what you can see.

Oh well. Good night everyone. Don't stay up too long lookin for the frog. :)

Jan, you are too funny! Of course I went back to look!

Actually, the image in the first post looks just like a store-bought turkey or chicken on its side! The top looks exactly like the wing.

Louise, This is outside my side door. I used it for my pond. (I need a new pic now that I redid the waterfall)

Dave - your pond is lovely. I'm partial to shady areas - so cool, inviting and tranquil looking!

Dave your pond is just wonderful, makes great use of the great rocks as a back drop. Very nice indeed.
I love all these rocks with stuff growing on them, makes them seem alive. There are some wonderful rock walls and other projects on this thread which I envy. Old mother nature doesn't do such a bad job either.

(crash of thunder and lightening) It's not nice to call Mother Nature old!

WOW!!! What a peaceful spot to unwind.
I appreciate EVERBODY"S pics of their water features.
When we retire, we'd love to go somewhere with some water,some rocks, and some hills. (and low property taxes) Anybody have any suggestions?

Victor - that is very interesting info about the subway and underground water/power, etc. You learn something every day on DG!

Jan - LOL about the frog! I actually thought it looked sort of like the ground hog that frequents our meadow. It IS a lot like seeing things in the clouds....one of my favorite pastimes! As to your retirement location, I was about to recommend you move to my area of NH until you threw in that part about low taxes. Since property taxes have to pay for everything in this state, they are pretty high. Sorry!

Dave - that is a lovely pond setting with the natural boulders!! I'd so love to dig a pond just down from our back screened porch that I call my "tree house porch". There are huge erratics with a low area right between them. Maybe we'll get to it someday!

Dave - it looks so natural. Beautiful job.

Here's a pic of what I was talking about. hard to believe this is 'natural'. This is not my image. From Google.

Is there such a thing as a tour of the underground in NYC?

That pic Victor is amazing!!!

As a little girl growing up in Wind Gap, PA we could walk the railroad track to an area where we could pick up quartz crystals. I only remember going once, cuz I was so young, but my brothers and Dad would go.
also on the property was a steep place and you could climb up what we called the "Indian rocks" I'll have to ask my brothers if they were carved into the rock face or were placed like steps. Again, too young to remember and then we moved to the farm in Holmdel, NJ. The stream on the farm was soo cool, cuz you can find shark teeth in the sand bars (especially after a rain). Oh, my boys could spend hours looking and finding them.
You've sparked some memories . Thank you.

i had plans to post pics of all the rocks i have "relocated" to my yard, rock walls built, and roch benches. unfortunately donniebrook has asked on my rock wall construction thread to get busy this weekend. no time to do both - what is done will be there later - sorry - blame d-brook.

www.emophilips.com/home
"Have you ever noticed the signes at the beach that say 'No Glass Bottles'? That's so that the other sand particles don't feel like underachievers."

Thanks for the laughs Jax!

Incredible photo Victor.

Rocks outline the borders of almost all my gardens. Haven't run out yet. When I get low I put a bounty on them and my 9 year old delivers.

Thanks Jan and Dave. As I said earlier in the thread, there are many of these around. Amazing what those fraternities will do when supplied with a few kegs.

Victor - what a cool picture!

Jax - I love your sense of humor! "underachievers"! LOL

Bill - I will take responsibility for being your "Wall Task Master"! After you've put in about 8 hours today on the wall, you can then grab your camera and take some shots of your "other" stones as well, please. LOL

Dave - let's see some of those rock bounties! LOL Smart plan, by the way!

Aren't there child labor laws? (just kidding, I'm right there with ya. put them to work.)

Bill, I hope you didn't spend too much time outside today - if your town was as hot and humid as mine was (and still is)!

I've shown pics off and on of some of the "stones" in my backyard. Here's one that I grow portulaca in the 'dip' on top.

Here's another one of the "water hole" for the cats - below the girl statue, and surrounding rocks. The flower in the planter is asarina.

Here's a view from right behind the house looking up the hill - the rocks are everywhere!

You know the old saying - "If life gives you rocks, make rock gardens"!

Edit: My fairy door is right behind the iris leaves on the bottom level.

This message was edited Jul 19, 2008 6:59 PM

Great photos of great rocks, everyone.

Yes. Aren't we a creative bunch?

Sue - That is beautiful! I love the portulaca in the crevice.


DH increased the natural crack in this rock so I could plant impatience.

What a great Idea!!!

Yes, we are, but I am only creative with as much of the stone as I can get my son to haul. Beautiful gardens, everyone!
I am formerly from NJ, and although there isn't as much rock in the southern part of the state, the ice cap stopped in Northern NJ and Hacklebarney State Park is essentially a small river that runs through a gorge filled with giant boulders. I used to love to go there. Don't know if it is still the same since it came to fame on the Sopranos. We used to go to the Rhinehart Brook section to climb. They have many lovely erratics in there for all of you NY/NJ rockhounds. CT isn't that far away either, Dave. Here's the link to the Hacklebarney photo gallery.
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/virtual_tours/hacklebarney_photo_gallery.html

here is one pic i was able to take - wanted to use this in the rock wall and could not get it to fit. now it will be a stand alone.

Wonderful stand alone.

yes it certainly stands out with its lichens, quartz, and a little moss. it just didn't fit on the top on the wall and i coiuldn't bury it on the bottom. correct decision was made.

It's a beauty! I have a couple in the bed that have veins of quartz in them. I will try to get pictures.
Martha

wha - don't you love it when a decision turns out right? beautiful rock.

Whenever we drive anywhere, Mom always comments when she sees a stand of rock. Granted it has to be big enough for her to see it at all. On a couple cross-country treks to see family in Oregon, she would marvel at the outcrops, etc. This country is ABSOLUTELY spectacular.

Martha - thanks for the link to Hacklebarney. Pics were lovely.

Oh good solution. It sure has too much character to not be up front and center. The moss and lichens will grow and it will just get better with age.

Sue - those are really nice shots of your very creative use of the stones in your yard. I especially love how you have used the natural crevices to serve as planters. I think your shot of the ledge and stone wall and other rocks with the fairy door/iris is so lovely! Can you show us an up-close shot of your fairy door? I really like that!

Nance - that is so pretty with the impatiens in the crevice! With the sun that the impatiens get there, do you have any special trick to keep them from drying out? They look so full and "hydrated". Very very pretty!

Bill - that was a really good decision to let that nice stone be its own "person". LOL Very nice with the quartz and lichen, etc.

Cool 'specimen' stone, Bill!

This is one of the many large pieces of ledge in our yard. Years ago I planted some magenta hardy geraniums in the crevice and I was surprised that I never had to water them even with the roots so shallow. Now that the maple tree nearby has grown so much, the shade keeps them from blooming very much.

LOL - when I looked at that photo, I noticed how much the construction vehicles have damaged the yard. They drove through that area and parked all around it for almost 4 weeks. We haven't gotten around to planting any grass seed to repair the yard yet. But our "lawn" is never really "lawn" anyway....it's just green stuff. LOL

Louise,

Ok, I found the weed eater. Here is a picture where you can actually see the rocks.

There were supposed to be picks of the gardens at church here, too, but I forgot the camera this morning. I did notice that they could use a little weedeating as well. May get to that later in the week.