20 Jan 23:
Our landscape crew brought in some cedar mulch, and Skipper said to have them put some around the two pecan trees where we had daffodils last year. That simple order kicked off a little project of extending the border stone around the pecan tree next to Lewis Boat Works and creating a new bed around the other pecan.
The retaining wall blocks are inexpensive and fun to work with, we have used tons of them in California, Texas, Arizona, Texas again, Florida and now the Mid-Atlantic. We get the ground smoothed out and put down a thin pea gravel base as needed to work as drainage and a leveling base. For this bed below we tied into the border around the shed and worked our way around the tree towards the deck step. Border stone was also used as the piers for the deck and steps, so we used the top of the stone under the step as our target for where we wanted to top of the tree ring to tie in. A level and a long, mostly straight board come in handy to check each stone for the proper height as the stone is laid, kind of like marking a waterline. Since the ground slopes away a little, the first few stones to the right were dug in a few inches, and the last few stones by the step needed a little pea gravel "shim."
15 yards of cedar mulch, a decent size dump truck load, was brought in to top off the flower beds, a few mulch rings and our forest trail. We like cedar or cypress shredded mulch because it deters ticks, which don't like the smell or texture.
We have found that we can raise a block by almost half of its height with pea gravel. Once the ground slopes away more than that we dig in a lower course of blocks. For this run the lower course started where the tree ring curves away from the shed border. Dirt that we dig out gets used under and around blocks that end up above grade. The blocks will shift a little over time, but it is easy to adjust them.
50 blocks times 20 pounds each, into and out of the wagon, plus a little shovel work, equals a nice workout. These stone projects also get the creative juices flowing.
We leave air gaps under the shed and deck, it would not be good to have moisture retaining mulch up against the wood. The circle was laid out by using our garden rake to scribe a rake wide arc around the base of the tree. And speaking of creative juices, while studying the step (s) we decided it would be good to continue the step all of the way around the deck, it will help reduce the chance of stepping off in the wrong spot and make a good spot for container pots.
As for the yard, last year was spent grading a nice slope away from the house towards the forested area and installing sprinklers. This year we hope to get some cool weather grass growing, it will give us some green during Spring and Fall.
The blocks serve a few more purposes, they create a trimming edge and retain the mulch. The also help delineate where I should pull trailers and where I shouldn't...not that I ever hit a tree if Florida with my car before...Don't worry, the 70 foot pine tree won. And now you're wondering... I was backing a trailer, and turning, and caught the tree with the passenger side door. Pro Tips: Friends don't let friends back and turn trailers around trees.
The daffodils must have heard Skipper talking, because a few of them are are already popping up. We've had a mild Winter and some temps in the 70s, but Spring here occurs much later than it does in Gulf Coast Florida.
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