With the solar power system complete, Louise wants to get started on landscaping around the house and the driveway.
Earlier in the week we used a landscape rake on the tractor to pull mulch away from the house. The mulch was added when the house was built, to break rain falling from the roof (we don't have gutters), but this proved to be not a good choice, so we bought 13 tons of gravel several months ago. With the mulch removed, Mike made 15-20 trips with the tractor to bring some of the gravel and dump it next to the house, and Louise spread it out to reach a rock border (we have plenty of rocks!).
Today Mike spread more gravel in one section near the front deck, and placed large rocks along a steep slope to the basement shop door. Later we'll add gravel between these rocks.
We used our power auger to bore sets of 20"-deep holes close-together for four rhododendron bushes along the front walkway. Surrounding each set of holes, we made a circle of shallower holes to enable the plant roots to spread. Finally, we used the auger to mix composted manure with the pulverized soil.
We used the power auger to drill 10 major holes plus numerous small holes in the central deck area (below) and along the side-door deck walkway. When we were done, Louise planted shrubs in most of the large holes. One remaining extra-large hole in the center is for a magnolia tree to be added next spring. The small holes were made to loosen the clay soil for various bulbs.
Yesterday and today, Mike spent eight hours with the tractor moving six tons of gravel from a pile in the driveway loop to portions of the driveway that have worn thin. He also moved the remaining four tons in the pile to a new location that is out of the way and less visible.
Yesterday and today, Mike used the tractor to till the earth in the center of the driveway loop. There are hundreds of buried rocks! Louise removed these as the tiller unearthed them, so Mike could make more tilling passes. Ultimately we tilled about 4" deep, then mixed composted manure in five areas where bulbs will be planted. Finally, Mike used the tractor to move four large and three small boulders to attractive locations in this landscape area.
Louise planted some bushes in the area in front of the bridge deck, and some bulbs in front of the kitchen bay deck.
Later we used the power auger to bore holes for three trees inside the driveway loop, and to break-up the soil a foot deep for bulbs in the same area.
Louise planted three decorative trees and some bushes in the center of the driveway loop.
Yesterday Mike used the tractor to remove loose soil where 500 bulbs are to be planted, saving Louise hours of shoveling. Today Louise spread the bulbs and raked the soil over them.
This morning Mike used the tractor to move soil from the observatory area to the bulb area in the driveway loop, since what he scraped off yesterday wasn't enough to cover all of the bulbs.
Later we hooked the trailer to the pickup truck and drove 50 miles to buy 50 bales of pine-needle mulch. It is sitting, still loaded in the vehicles in the driveway, until Louise is ready to spread it on the freshly-planted areas.
Over the past few days, Louise finished planting in the driveway loop, covered the bulbs with the soil Mike scraped away, and began spreading mulch. Today she finished spreading the pine-needle mulch, and added the final stones to the rock border. This area is complete!
With the driveway loop finished, we started on the entrance. We used a chain on the tractor bucket to yank small trees out of the ground, then Mike put the tiller on the tractor and used it to remove weeds and till the soil.
Later we used the power auger to make deep holes for trees and bushes, and Louise got to work planting and spreading bulbs in areas where Mike removed the loose soil with the tractor. With this done, she spread pine-straw mulch. We need a few more bales of mulch, and the entrance landscaping will be complete.
A smaller area to the left of the driveway is similarly landscaped.
The three-light post lamp seen in this photo is a recent addition; the lights are low-voltage LEDs. When we were installing the solar power system, we dug a trench from a nearby driveway post (left background) to the lamp location, and laid conduit in it. Later we poured a concrete footer, installed and wired the post lamp, and added a custom house number plaque.
Bulbs planted at the driveway loop (top) and at the entrance (bottom) have sprouted and grown through the mulch. The plants are even blooming.
Today Mike used the tractor to till a bed in the front yard for swamp irises. This is at the bottom of a slope from the driveway, and will catch water for these moisture-loving flowers. While we were there, we excavated a shallow channel to direct other water from the slope into the forest, away from our basement patio below.
The channel will be filled with gravel of various sizes to allow easy water flow.
Yesterday Louise planted swamp irises in the newly-tilled bed, and Mike used our landscape rake on the tractor to scarify the yard surrounding the house. Then Louise spread rye grass seed evrywhere, and Mike added white clover seed to a small area in front of the solar panels. We hope the white clover takes hold, but the rye grass will die-out by summer. Hopefully, by then it will have put down roots to reduce erosion until we figure out what kind of ground cover will thive in the yard. We don't want grass that must be regularly mowed.
It rained overnight, and it appears that the new drainage channel is doing its job (this photo). When the ground dries again, we'll spread large river rocks in it, to present a finished appearance and prevent eroding the channel. The ton of rocks we bought are still in the pickup truck and trailer because we ran out of time yesterday.
With the ground finally dry, Louise laid a landscape fabric liner in the channel. We backed the pickup truck down and unloaded its stone, then eased the trailer down behind the tractor. (The tractor's three-point trailer hitch let us tilt the trailer for easier unloading.) We spread the rocks evenly, but one ton wasn't enough – we need more. The drainage channel looked like this at the end of the day.
Mike took the trailer to the nursery and bought another half ton of large river rocks. As before, we used the tractor to back the trailer down the slope to the channel, then spread the remaining rocks. We placed a dozen larger rocks at the channel outlet to minimize erosion, then used the tractor to transplant one large boulder from the rip-rap above the shop patio to a decorative location 80% of the way along the channel outlet.
Louise trimmed the landscape fabric close to the river rocks, and we declared this task done. The piles of dirt on the slope in the background will be moved another time.
After waiting nearly two months, Louise got a call from the nursery that her magnolia tree was in. She got it this morning, and discovered that it is much larger and heavier (easily 350 pounds) than expected. Mike attached the boom pole to the tractor, and used it, a chain, and a strap to lift the tree from the pickup truck, maneuver it to the area between the driveway loop and the deck, and lower it into the hole that Louise dug. The tree is significant – about 10' tall.
After we finished the deck, we built a small platform to hold our barbeque grill. We placed this in the driveway loop near the side door walkway, but didn't like how much it intruded on parking space, so we decided to relocate the platform outside the driveway loop, overhanging the yard.
Today we tackled this project. We bored two holes with the earth auger, then used the boom pole on the tractor to support the platform while we measured 4x4 legs, leveled the platform, and attached the legs with lag bolts.
In early May, we built three A-frame trellises for clematis plants near the deck. This photo shows two of these trellises flanking the tall magnolia tree we planted on April 24. The third trellis is in the distance to the right, between the kitchen bay deck and the side door walkway. The trellises have Nylon fishing line for the plants to climb strung between the uprights.
Two of the clematis plants have climbed halfway up their trellises, but the one in the middle is a little slow, only now beginning to show signs of life.
Updated May 23, 2023