This is what $800 will buy you! |
Aaron watersealing the wood |
It's level!!! |
I better tighten this bolt so it won't fall down. |
The big beams are up |
 Almost finished |
We finally made progress on building the pergola over the back patio. It is about 90% complete. The only remaining thing to do is to build the trellis which will wait until we lay the concrete pavers over the patio.
The pergola is about 14 feet by 12 feet and is built out of 2x6, 2x8 and 2x2 redwood. Lori drew up the plans based on designs from magazines and books. Construction started Fourth of July weekend and was finished, except for the lattice, shortly thereafter.
We bought new patio furniture and now we enjoy using this space for dining and relaxing. The only problem now is that our three cats sit at the screen door and whine because we're outside and they're not.
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This is what $800 will buy you! |
Aaron watersealing the wood |
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It's level!!! |
I better tighten this bolt so it won't fall down. |
|
The big beams are up |
Almost finished |
The concrete patio was much too large for what we wanted, so Aaron used a sledgehammer to break up the parts we didn't want. We spent one entire Saturday hauling the broken concrete chunks to the dumpster. It was tough work but cheaper than hiring someone and cheaper than paying a healthclub for the workout we got! The dumpster we had delivered had a 10-ton limit and we filled it. What could be heavier than concrete? That's a lot of concrete we moved!
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Constuction is finally underway! Aaron dug the hole and we put the liner in and started filling it up! There's a bit more work to be done, like securing the sides and installing the pump, lights, and waterfall and then of course adding the plants. The pond came as a kit with the liner, pump, waterfall, and instructions.
After a few trips to the rockery, we have enough rock to create a waterfall and a border for the pond. We chose to use tumbled Bouquet Canyon granite. The waterfall is just created by stacking the rocks. It took a few tries to keep the water flowing in the front and not dribble down the sides or back.
Voila! A little bit of nature in our backyard. There are two pumps, one for the waterfall and one for the fountain, to keep the water circulating. Aaron installed an outlet on the back of the house and eventually, after we begin building the patio, the electric lines for the pumps and lights will be buried inside conduit. The pond is very nice at night with the lights illuminating the waterfall and fountain. We added some landscaping which consists of Dwarf Pampas grass, Japanese Blood Grass, and Zebra Grass in the back some Wooly Thyme among the rocks. To the left of the pond, we planted a Sago Palm. In the water itself, are Cattails, Water Hyacinths, and Lily Pads
One Year Later (5/00)
Finally we're getting things to fill in. The cattails have been very happy and the thyme is working out really well as a ground cover. You'll notice that the orange electric cord is gone, having been replaced by underground conduit which leads to a waterproof outdoor electrical box hidden behind the tree. Also hidden behind the zebra grass is the UV sterilizer and the external filter. The water is clear enough now that you can almost make out fish at the base of the waterfall. The hippo at the bottom of the picture doesn't spit water at the moment, but he makes a nice ornament anyway.
Trellis Time! -- well, they're really Espaliers
We've planted lots of things and some of them like to creep. Since we don't have all that much room, we had no chance but to go up. I went looking for something at Zombie Land/Home Depot and though $20 was too much for an ugly red-painted tiny espalier, so I bought some redwood fence boards for $20 and then planed them and cut 3/4" stock to make my own. We knew that planer would come in handy.
I've got one set up for the blackberries and raspberries and even though they've only been stuck on it for 3 days, they seem happy with it. In that raised bed there are cabbages (too many!), chives, oregano, basil, a few onions and some lettuce plants that are about to bolt. On the right is the lemon tree and hanging down over the top is the persimmon tree in our neighbor's backyard.
The other one is in 2 parts - one to get the grape vine going up and then a big one for it to spread on. It will be several years before we get grapes, but we can always make Dolmades with the leaves.
One potato, 2 potato....
Lori got the potatos planted before she left -- or maybe they were potatoes? The first plants came up this week so I can start watering them now and keeping an eye on them so we keep the roots buried so we get more potatoes than foliage. Here's a close up of the top part of the potato. According to our books, the leaves are toxic. But then again the books also say Giant Sequoias will grow here and my little tree never did anything.
Pictures of backyard in spring of 1998:
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