Year 2 (2021)
The Pergola
Normal Yard Improvements Year 2 (2012)
The Bridge
Early on, I decided to build a bridge to cross over Marie's stream from her design. I designed one by copying and pasting images from Menards website to get an idea of what I would build.
For the posts, I used a long blade in my jigsaw (I didn't have a sawsall at that time), to cut the notches. Then I used the wood planer to make sure each side was flat, so they would have a nice flush fit to the footbridge.
The Bridge
After building the footbridge, I bolted the posts in position for one side, making sure they were perfectly vertical. I began adding in the cross supports by first cutting in more notches into the posts so the cross supports were flush with them. Cutting in those angles so the boards would line up was the toughest part.
The Bridge
The Bridge
With the first side done, I added in the cap lights!
Looking good so far!
The bridge is built and ready for staining!
The Bridge
The Bridge
I removed the sides and stained the footbridge.
The Bridge
Stained, in position, and ready for the waterfall!
The Bridge
Balto approves!
The Patio
We started working on the patio while waiting for the contractor to come back and do the second half of the wall.
After spending time at Menards, looking at the various blocks they had, we decided to go with the pattern shown here.
The Patio
Before we could do any work, we had to first relocate the rocks that we piled up. In addition, we would need to cut the blocks around the window emergency egress and the power center for the wall lights. We had an electrician run a dedicated circuit to that outlet while the wall was being built.
After moving all the rocks, we finally started by digging out the square about 6 inches down, until we were firmly into the clay.
The Patio
The Patio
Marie first outlined the area with vertical blocks, then packed in 2 inches of aggregate.
Next, I hauled in the bags of leveling sand.
The Patio
The Patio
With the sand leveled and compacted, Marie began laying in the blocks in the predetermined pattern and tapping them down level.
The Patio
I stacked all remaining blocks so she wouldn't have to keep getting up. She tapped down each block and leveled them against each other.
The Patio
After a couple of hours, she was almost done!
The Patio
And finally, the finished product with a slight slope for drainage. Great Job Marie!
Roots
Before the wall could be built, there was this issue with a tree that we had cut down, because it was in the way. But Marie and I had to cut out the roots, because there were root sprouts popping up all along the root!
So we spent a considerable amount of time digging out the roots before the contractor showed up.
The Wall Part 2
When we brought the contractor back to finish the wall, I was surprised at the cost. It was considerably more than the first section, but also much longer and taller. As I mentioned in the Wall Part I, the maximum safe height of a sitting wall is 3 feet. Well, due to the slope of the yard, this one was actually over 4 feet tall in the corner. So we may have trouble with that piece at some point.
The Wall Part 2
It didn't take them long to put this one in, since that's all they did this time. No concrete or flower beds. They put in the electrical for the light posts, but since I couldn't afford more mood lights at over $100 a piece, I didn't have them run the low voltage lines.
The Wall Part 2
After the wall was in, Marie and I moved one of our Rose of Sharon bushes into the corner.
The Wall Part 2
We left the remaining rose of sharon's where they were.
Here's what it looks like from the outside. A few years later, the long corner piece began to tilt out and separate from the adjoining walls. But we left it for the new owners to fix.
The Wall Part 2
While waiting for the contractor to show up for phase 2, we began building the first three gardens. I started by outlining what we wanted by using a stick in the rocks.
The Gardens Part 1
The Quarter Moon
We started work on the inner gardens with the quarter moon, so we could partition off the section facing the large patio. We dug out the clay about 6 inches deep, built a short garden wall around it, then filled it with topsoil. This was my first time cutting concrete caps. I used a diamond blade on my circular saw. I first measured the angle of each cut with a squangle. I also began laying down the flagstone blocks for the walkways and placed the rocks in between them.
The Kidney
Then we built the kidney-shaped garden bed using the same techniques as the quarter moon. We also laid in more flagstones for the pathway.
The Circle
The third garden bed was just a simple circle that didn't require cutting any blocks. I also positioned more flagstones to extend the walkway.
With the wall finished, I quickly became tired of looking at the mess within the wall. So we started on the waterfall. Marie started it by sketching out the design on paper. The original design had a hot tub in it, but that wasn't put in.
The Waterfall
The Waterfall
After we cleared the rocks out of the area that we estimated would be used by the waterfall, Marie started by digging out the oval. Once we had the outline, I built a partial supporting wall around the back.
The Waterfall
Then she began sculpting in the levels into the clay instead of using softer dirt, which could collapse later.
The Waterfall
The second level is in place and we have the rocks! My father drove them down from his farm in Upper Michigan for us!
The Waterfall
I then added a border wall around the waterfall section and filled it with dirt so we could plant flowers around it on both sides.
The Waterfall
I built the retaining wall on the highest corner of the waterfall to support the clay, using multi-colored wall blocks.
The Waterfall
When she finished the sculpting, we put in the water return, electrical, and the liner. She had also cut in the steps for the water to run down and placed in one flagstone piece and tested it.
The Waterfall
The test went well, so we added the liner. Now we need to seal all of the seams and holes from the electrical and water lines with waterproof foam.
The Waterfall
All of the big rocks, flagstones, and river rocks are now in place. We tested the flow again and decided that it wasn't strong enough. So we bought a bigger pump, and installed it. The waterfall is done and we are ready to build the creek!
The Waterfall
And here's the aerial view of the waterfall after everything was built.
The Creek
With the waterfall done, I moved on to creating the creek.
Digging out the creek was pretty easy, as I only had to dig about 10 inches down. We had already decided to make what's called a disappearing waterfall, where the water just "disappears", instead of having it spill into a small pond. We had a pond when we lived in California, and didn't want the hassle of maintaining a koi pond. Marie was also afraid they would die in the winter.
The Creek
I dug out the creek about 5 inches deep, but with a very slight slope, all the way down to where the pit, or sump would be.
The Creek
I cut in a bend, making it much wider than the creek, per Marie's orders. Michael was digging out the pit where the water will collect and the pump will send it back to the waterfall.
The bend was dug so that the main flow was deeper than the overflow. This would allow animals to come in for a bath without being in the main current.
With the digging completed, it's time to add the liner!
The Creek
The Creek
We moved the bridge out of the way to put in the underlayment and liner. You can see Michelle's feet, laying in the mud. And yes, the picture is blurry!
The Creek
Once again, the liner is in place along with some gravel and rocks. After we seal the seams, we can move on to the pit!
The Pit
I had calculated that I would need a maximum of 90 gallons, from the time the water left the sump, to the time it would drain back into it. Add in an additional 20 gallons to keep the pump under water, and I would need 120 gallons of storage. That comes out to be 2x2x4.
So while I was working on the other parts, Michael worked on digging the pit. But he could only dig through the topsoil, because the clay was too hard for him to dig into.
The Pit
Cutting through the clay is slow going when you have to chisel through it. Of course, I contacted the appropriate utilities before I started digging.
The Pit
Eventually, I dug down to the targeted depth, and squared it off.
After inserting the liner, I built a support frame from 1 inch PVC pipe to keep the sides from caving in and dropped it in the pit. I then inserted in the return line and ran it back to the waterfall through a channel that I dug, which was only about 3 inches deep.
The Pit
The Pit
I then filled the pit with water and verified it didn't leak.
The electrical and plumbing is the part that scared me the most. I have no idea what is required by code, but I made sure I bought stuff that was certified for outdoor wet areas. We'll start by tapping into this outlet.
Connections
Connections
The electrical wire is certified for burial, which means it doesn't have to be in a conduit. But just to be on the safe side, knowing we would be digging here later on for the gardens, I fed it into a metal outdoor, electrical conduit.
Connections
Here you can see the electrical conduit and water line coming out of the pit.
The waterline was a bit easier, since there's only one type, which is flexible plumbing. The hard part about this was the trench for it had to be wider and deeper. We punched a hole in the liner to bring it into the waterfall, then sealed the hole with waterproof foam.
Connections
Connections
My Dad and I brought the electrical conduit up the wall and tapped into the existing outlet. I wasn't concerned about overloading the circuit for two reasons:
1. we're only drawing 1.5 amps
2. the outlet is fed from a GFI in the living room, and there's nothing else on that circuit, except for a light.
With the waterfall done, we began working on the adjoining flora. We started by building a narrow garden on each side of the waterfall. The West side (right) was built to cover as much of the retaining wall as possible. In reality, they're both actually a single garden that wraps around three sides of the waterfall.
Flora and Fauna
Flora and Fauna
We originally built the waterfall away from the wall to allow us to get behind it for maintenance. But after seeing it and realizing there's no reason to get back there, we decided to connect the two gardens. We wrapped plastic against the house to keep the moisture out, then filled it with dirt all the way to the top of the waterfall, and sloped the dirt down to the side.
Flora and Fauna
We built a 3/4 round garden bed that flanks the inside corner of the creek. and later filled this with plants.
Flora and Fauna
What the pit looks like all finished.
Connections
Here's the kidney garden with first year plants.
Connections
And the quarter moon
Connections
And one of the half moons.
