Suggestions for a slope ?

ha ha ha ha ! nice Ima - good to know about the cement bags, I wanted to make some raised beds for veggie garden in the back, it may work for that...

I happen to paint crooked too, no excuse for that !

haha Ima, yes, I wish I cold afford that too! : )
By the way one of the reasons hubbie thinks the fountain is too complicated is because my patio flagstone is in what's called a "bathtub layout" where NOTHING is straight so that it drains...so I know what you mean!

I do, I do.....our fountain basin has a flat bottom, but it doesn't sit quite level because the concrete isn't flat for the same reason. Now, of course, the tile isn't flat at ALL, because it's Saltillo. We compensated by leveling the two inside parts with shims made of cut-up credit cards, which have held up nicely for several years, and show no sign of disintegrating!

Wow, what a great idea! You must have had a lot of credit cards, ahahha...did you by any chance take any pictures of how you did it?

I think no pix, (I'll look & if I don't have any, I'll try to take some later) but just cut the cards up small enough to fit under the "feet" of the two pieces. We cut copper flashing on the "spouts" to make the water fall more cleanly into the basin, and by doing that it gives me another place where I can adjust for the unevenness.

Oh, I'd love to see how you used the copper flashing too...
Sorry guys, I'm going off topic again! It's my b-day this Thursday and I'm beggin DH to build me a water fountain as a gift! : )
Ima, if you happen to find some more pics, please Dmail them to me?

cut up credit cards - now that is resourceful!

I would love a fountain, too - let us know how your begging works out robc!

haha! OK!

rob, my birthday's on Monday---we virgo/libra cusp children have to stick together!
Here's a photo of the way we used the copper flashing in the lips of this commercial concrete fountain, which was manufactured by these folks:
http://www.alsgardenart.com/Support.aspx
and bought at SummerWinds for less than I could get it anywhere else.
It's a 3-part unit with the basin (I tiled the inside bottom) and a middle, and a top unit. Believe me, it's not manufactured completely straight or level, but it's workable.
This photo shows the copper lips we added to the top layer. This was one of those things DH didn't think would work (HAHAHAHA) but it worked perfectly to keep the fountain from dribbling all down the side (much more noisy without it, and also messier because it forms algae down the sides, etc.). We added these little copper insets to the lips on both of the layers where the water falls, and now it plunges very neatly into its basins.

Hard to see, but in this photo you can see the edge of one of the credit cards (probably an old AAA membership card) sticking out from under the bottom of the middle unit. Does a lovely job of leveling and, being thin, we can stack 2 or 3 layers if needed for delicate adjustments on different legs of the fountain piece.

I use old plastic cards for scraping & shaping tools in my pottery, and various other things. They're indestructible, which means I don't want to put them in the trash because they won't biodegrade, so I invent other uses for them. They hold up FOREVER! The downside is they sometimes float, so if using in water I have to get them weighted down....LOL!

IMA: How did you attach the copper to the bowl to keep it in place ?

Construction glue, but the copper's also heavy enough to sort of just sit there. The glue hasn't held on some of them, but the copper stays in place----and then I can adjust it a little if I need to. We may revisit attaching it at some point, but for now it's working fine.

Thanks ! You've given me an idea of how to improve my pitiful little fountain !

That's awesome! Thank you for finding those pictures Ima! I'm going to go check that website now!

Kathleen,
I just realized I forgot to reply to your post on the RU; how rude of me! I might go this year!
Rob : )

jasper, the instant we put the copper inserts in, the fountain improved dramatically! DH guesses the copper we used is about 30 mil---it's flashing material. Nuttin' special. Of course, he cut lovely rounded shapes that fit the spillways beautifully, so that probably helped!

rob, I'm glad the photos helped!

toots, back to your slope: check out Sunset's website. Do a search for "slope" and you'll get several hits like this one:
http://www.sunset.com/sunset/home/article/0,20633,1091843,00.html
The Western Landscape book has a whole section on slopes (and a ton of great photos, too).

oooh - thank you for reminding me to get out the "bible" ... we're cooling offffffff, so I'm getting anxious again.

Your fountain looks fantastic, love the copper - you have so many great ideas. I should've moved to Gilroy!!! We did go to the garlic festival and had lots of fun, also Gilroy Gardens which the kids adored.

Now I'm off to click your link : )

HGTV - Gardening by the Yard has a segment on "Hillside Garden in the City" this week http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_gby/episode/0,1806,HGTV_3842_44290,00.html It might add a teenie bit of info for the project.

TOLD ya so, TOLD ya so....LOL!!! Even though you're a "furriner", you can come visit after my landscaping gets finished.

I've got 12 yards of GORGEOUS gravel for my paths sitting in my driveway. It was delivered at 7:30 this morning. My contractor's supposed to be here Saturday. My fingers are crossed.

I took a vacation day today; we had errands to run in San Anselmo and Richmond, so I talked DH into a slight side trip to Annie's Annuals. I managed to find a whole tray of 4" pots full of stuff to bring home. And spend $70 in the process. I'll have to plant on Sunday because Saturday a) will be path day and b) is Women's Work Day so I won't be home! I must have several screws loose.....

Thank you PotEmUP - I set the TIVO to record.

Ima - wow 12 yards ! Ooooooh, we're going to need some pictures after path day - but take your time, you really have your hands full !

Roberta, my get-together isn't THE roundup - that will be later in the spring at drdon's place. So you have two to go to!
I think I'm just a hop and a skip from you.

Kathleen, where is it going to be?

Which "it?" :-) Couldn't resist. The one in March will be at my home in Bonsall. The big roundup is at drdon's ranch in Temecula.

Oh yeah, absolutely then!

Good!

Red,
I'm going to pipe up, admitting I didn't notice if you are trying to go all natives or not, but true plumbago *loves* a slope (it wants perfect drainage). It's something I lust after if I ever have a slope again.

~'spin!~

Oooh---good thought! The dwarf variety has beautiful blue flowers and great fall color, around here, too! It's drought-tolerant once it's established and takes very little maintenance.

Thank you Crystal - I will definitely try it. I'm in buying mode, since it's cooling off.

I went to the University of CA - Berkeley Botanical Plant Sale yesterday. We got there 5 minutes before it ended, but I managed to get an Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree) which I adore beyond reason-I am a freak for the bark, and the fat glowing orangey-red berries. And a seneclo compactus - which I hadn't seen. But the leaves are a pretty fuzzy gray green with white edge - plus completely white from underneath - really stands out, I'll have to really think about what to put around it to show off the white undersides.

I love the suggestions - thanks !! ** Potemup, I did watch that Gard by the Yard segment on slopes - it was good, and reminds me to not just plant plant plant, but add rocks, etc - also, moating around trees to help hold the soil. The main host of that show bugs me to no end !

I love Paul James! lol Quirky, I know, but he loves gardening and has lots of information on his show.

I agree with you about the Arbutus unedo. We planted one Arbutus menziesii, which is native here, but it's very slow growing, which is supposedly an indication it's not real happy. Will try another some day, though, because they are just beautiful. I do know a nursery here that has the 'Marina' variety, perhaps that is worth a try, too. Unfortunately, I'm allergic to oaks and lots of other stuff, so choosing trees is difficult.

I have arbutus unedo "Marina" around a big chunk of our fenceline (our lot borders on 5 others) and I LOVE them. I was lucky enough to get them dirt-cheap when one of the guys who first grew them commercially cleared out a bunch of 5-gallons. That was about 15 years ago. They've been extremely well-behaved. Whenever I prune them I save the branches---I just LOVE the wood!

Have you noticed if they are fast growers? We have one spot in particular where we would like a good sized tree, but it's in full sun and I don't think these guys like too much heat when they are young. I need to 'beam' in a fully grown tree!

The Las Pilitas web site says their customers report the menziesii grows 5-10 ft/yr when happy, to about 25 feet. However, 'happy' seems to be soil on the acid side, and saying acid soil and San Diego in the same sentence is unheard of!

Paul James - argh! But I think it's because he reminds me of an old boyfriend : D hahahaha, he does know what he's talking about, I'll give you that.

I think they are slow-moderate growers, I've not had one come close to 10 feet a YEAR !! This one is just a baby - but I do have one in the front that is about 6' tall... the berries are starting to turn now.

Tootsie, just an off the wall thought, but what about a collection of Bamboo species in beautiful glazed tubs, probably with a drip system ?

Mine were faster growers than the other aubutus unedo I got. I was able to afford a lot, and I planted them close-together, and lost a few (probably due to uneven watering). Even within the ones I have there are big differences in the growth patterns. I'm not actually positive mine are "Marina"----they were not tagged----but they look just like the ones I've seen in the nursery.

balvenie, I am a big fan of bamboo - love the way it sounds when the wind blows through it. The black would be pretty in some limey-green pots! .... I have got a collection of gingers ready to go in, but they are all different and I need to make sure they can take the sun.

ima, you were lucky to get so many, they are so gorgeous. Well, I am out to dig dig dig, I have quite a cold going on, so we'll see how far I get today !

I hope you feel better soon----a good sweat in the garden might be just the cure!

Black bamboo in lime-green pots sounds delicious!

Back to work for me......sigh.....