day 18 - finished concrete and rock work
It’s the end of the 3rd week and the albaniles are done. It may take us a week or two to get all the dust cleaned up. I dragged a bunch of potted plants out tonight and washed the white dust off them, they’ve been out of the sun and with little water for all this time.
I’m really happy with the new look, it’s clean, we can walk on it and put a lounge chair on it. I have 4 times more space for plants, this is the fun part. The BBQ fits perfectly in its spot, the pond is easy to get to and will have a more natural look with parts of the edge planted.
We’re not done. The plumber and electrician now come back to do more on the irrigation and lighting. The extension for the wall has to be put up so we aren’t filling the pool until that is done. I heard some good advice to put 3 or 4 inches of sand in the bottom of the planter beds to keep the soil from washing away. When it rains here, it is a downpour and all that good soil you bought washes down through the limestone. The sand lets water through but holds on to your soil. Since I’ve got all these empty beds, I’m getting sand brought in before I get the dirt.
day 18
I know it looks like a lot of concrete right now. You have to imagine it with plants hanging over the walks and water in the pool. I do have a plan in my head, we’ll see if it works.
Very nice! I would really love to come along on your plant hunting trips. Please call me if you want company.
regards,
Theresa
If there is a hot tub in there somewhere I will be there immediately!
Looking good!
The smooth new concrete makes your back forty look a lot more spacious. I’m sure it will keep those monsters who were scaring your dogs at bay.
Jonna — Are you planning to use the crushed limestone “sand” (polvo, used for mixing concrete) in the base of your planters? In my experience, this turns into a very hard, pretty impermeable layer that may not be what you want. Just a thought.
The smooth concrete looks good — it gives a much simpler and less visually crowded look to the space, I think.
Looks fab…. I love the green of tropical plants with the grey of the stone work. Great vision.
I’ll give you a call when it is plant shopping time Theresa. I’ve a list of new nurseries to check out.
John, we don’t usually need a hot tub around here but I would have been happy for one today, it was a chilling 66 or so.
mcm, good info. I was wondering about it but I did tell them to bring me some of the construction sand. The other day I played with some trying to use it for starting seeds and it did turn to clay with water. How about beach sand? I know where there is a lot of that
Thanks all, I do like the concrete, I love walking out there barefoot and I’ve always loved the smell from hosing off hot concrete. Weird, I know. It’s from my SoCal roots I guess, hosing off the pool deck was my favorite chore.
Construction polvo is crushed limestone…you need beach sand but you may want to rinse the salt out of it first.
It looks fabulous…my only question is where are the dogs going to do their business and how will you keep it from staining the concrete? I think you should make a raised bed on the roof and plant grass in it for them.
Oh boy! I wonder if I can find some washed beach sand, that could take a long time to wash enough for all these planters.
Grass is overrated for doggie bathrooms, the poop gets stuck in it and you have to feed them tomato juice or tomatoes to keep their urine from killing it. My dogs don’t care and if they go on concrete, I can scoop it, toss it and wash the concrete. We are going to seal it but that only keeps liquids from sinking in and causing mold. We may get some stains, we’ll see how hard they are to clean off. It hasn’t been a problem on the roof but that’s impermizable (however you spell it).
It took Jiggs a bit to get used to bathroom duties on the concrete, but once he realized that was the place (just as yours have), he had no problem.
Once again — great looking project.
We too have a great deal of concrete in our yard. We don’t have pets but we still have some stains on the concrete. To my mind, it is a “patina” not a stain. It gives some relief to the expanse of white concrete, as of course, do all the plants.
The smooth concrete is such a nice contrast against your rock walls and landscape beds. I can’t wait to “see” it once the plants go in!