Landscaping is hard work - pics warning

Scott P

Scott P

New member
We’ve lived in our house here in Houston for about a year and a half now. We’ve always talked about doing something with our backyard so we can enjoy it, so we finally got started. We aren’t done yet, but it’s at least starting to look like something that will turn out pretty nice.

So far, we’ve gone through 380 pavers, over a yard of sand, two yards of paver base and countless wheelbarrow trips. Excavation was done with a manual sod cutter and some flat nosed shovels. We also did this on the hottest weekend of the year. A neighbor volunteered his help in exchange for help with his patio come fall. We really have some awesome neighbors.

The excavation and base prep took all day Saturday in 90 degree heart. I think we killed off several bottles of water and Gatorade. The dog gave up and went inside to enjoy the A/C. The paver base that I had delivered wasn’t as fine as it should have been and it was very hard to level. Other than that, the rest of the installation went well. Here are some pics


Before Shot

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Excavation

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Paver Base

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Laying the sand and starting the pavers.

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Project Supervisor doing what he does best.

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Pavers all installed

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Yeah, I play with power Tools

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Gazebo Built

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Completed Pavers

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We will be installing a three person swing, speaker rocks, lighting, a water feature and some bushes this weekend. This project has been quite the learning experience. I was also completely exhausted come Sunday night. By Saturday night, I figured I had moved about 4+ tons of material in my wheelbarrow.

There is more to be done this weekend including a new swing, water feature, lights and plants. I still have to run electric and speaker wire. I am not looking forward to renting that sod cutter again and I can finally walk again after pushing and kicking that thing for so many hours last weekend. I’ll be posting more pictures as we go along.
 
Looks great to me and I know its hard work...I played gardener all weekend on my lawn...was sweating like I was running a marathon....makes me look forward to detailing a car

I like the awning thing we are looking at those right now
 
:bow That looks really nice, Scott!! It also looks like a LOT of hot work!! :passout: I think your supervisor had the right idea!! :bigups But I'm glad to see that you were at least wearing a "cool" shirt!!:bigups

:hmmm: wonder why your neighbour isn't doing his til the fall - smart guy!! ;)
 
Excellent job...yes it is an extremely long process...thats why when I went to expand my back patio I went with stamped concrete.

looks good though...
 
Looks good. Are you going to leave the sand border as is, or what are your plans?

How deep did the sod cutter cut? I'm wanting to do a walking path in some areas around my backyard.

What's growing in your garden?
 
Looks like you did a great job.. It is defiantly hard work especially in that heat. Now go and enjoy it :bigups
 
Mr. Clean said:
Looks good. Are you going to leave the sand border as is, or what are your plans?

How deep did the sod cutter cut? I'm wanting to do a walking path in some areas around my backyard.

What's growing in your garden?
Click to expand...

The area around the gazebo will get raised to the level of the pavers and sod will be put down. The two front corners will have small flower beds where citronella plants will be planted. You can see the edgers stacked up on the right corner of one of the pictures.

The sod cutter took off about an inch or so at a time. It was quicker than a shovel, but I would seriously consider a power sod cutter next time.

The garden has peppers, tomatoes, watermelon, cucumbers, thyme, rosemary and basil growing in it. There is nothing like the taste of fresh vegetables.
 
Very nice job. It's great to see people that do projects correctly and not just rush through them. It really shows that you put a lot of time and effort into your project.
 
Scott P said:
The area around the gazebo will get raised to the level of the pavers and sod will be put down. The two front corners will have small flower beds where citronella plants will be planted. You can see the edgers stacked up on the right corner of one of the pictures.

The sod cutter took off about an inch or so at a time. It was quicker than a shovel, but I would seriously consider a power sod cutter next time.

The garden has peppers, tomatoes, watermelon, cucumbers, thyme, rosemary and basil growing in it. There is nothing like the taste of fresh vegetables.
Click to expand...

That will definitely look nice. Have you grown citronella before? I wonder how effective the plants are in repelling insects.

Yeah the manual sod cutter sounds like a beating. I really wasn't even aware that a manual version was available. I need to remove at minimun 2" inches and 3" would probably be better.

Love the fresh vegetable! :) I have a huge rosemary plant that started as a 4" plant and is now 3' wide and almost 4' tall. I went through almost half a dozen plants before on took off. If I had known that it would grow to that size I would have picked a better spot for it. I am past due getting out some tomato plants. :redface:

How is that gazebo anchored?

Will be interested in seeing your completed water feature. Are you doing a pond or a fountain?
 
The gazebo is anchored with 12 inch long spikes through the feet of the gazebo, through holes drilled in the pavers into the ground under the base. It should hold up quite well and the whole assembly would come down for safety if a hurricane came through.

The water feature will be a pondless fountain. I bought a toppled urn that will spill out the water onto rocks. The water runs into a basin where it gets pumped back up and into the urn. I'm really looking forward to that project.
 
Looks nice:bigups and it's great to have such ambition, a great and helpful supervisor, as well as the time to do it:notme:
 
The project is finally done. It's been a lot of work. I had to dig trenches for the electric and speaker wires. The soil is like a wet clay that is simply evil. I had to get started early in the morning to avoid the hot sun. All I need to do is get my citronella plants for the front flower boxes and we'll be ready to host the neighborhood Fourth of July party on Saturday.

The side area excavation

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The bane of my existence - The Sod Cutter

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Starting the water feature

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Completed job

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Side area with swing, speaker rocks and water feature

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Ahhh...Relaxation

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Comfort and Quality Testing

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I don't want to see a shovel for the next twenty years. The same goes for my wheelbarrow. If the weather cooperates, I plan on having dinner out there tonight under the pretty lights inside the gazebo.
 
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