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Monday, June 20, 2011

Hanging Gardens - Part 4


Hee-hee-hee, if you thought that was the end of the project, you don't know me!

So here you can see plants waiting in their holding station on the back steps... waiting to be planted into the next stage of the project.

If you remember these photos you might have noticed the following things:
In August of 2006 a portion of the old worn path is still there. In relation to the fencing for climbing plants the progress of construction is still below the fence.

Construction has now reached the top and final run. These next two photos show the fencing is now below the top edge of construction.

(The fencing is at the right hand edge in this photo.)
We still have a problem. The top run is completed, but there is still slope to slip and slide on. This was my solution:I am bad about getting my own shadow into my photographs. In this case it is helpful. In my shadow there sits the neighbor cat I call Shadow sitting in the shadow as he normally does. Beside him is the top and final run of blocks. Above it is a random scattering of two loads of limestone blocks ordered from a quarry in another county not far from here. They were cut from the same vein or layer as the stone from which our house was built in 1955. I am extremely color conscious and I find the color compatible with that of the terracing blocks (man made) and the stone of the house.

The following photos cover from June through October 2007.

In the left side of this next photo we can barely see how the large stone blocks were placed so that they dwindled out into the trees and shrubs to the right.




Husband/Best Friend/Chief Photographer said what I was doing was like 'taking coals to New Castle' considering that this used to be a limestone quarry, and I was now bringing limestone back into it.








I decided to plant a collection of several varieties of Coreopsis into the gaps between stones, and a few other plants. The next spring the only Coreopsis that came up was the good-ole workhorse, the old form of Threadleaf Coreopsis that we transplanted from E-Bed-3. All the others, including 'Moonbeam' died. I did not replace them.


October 2, 2007


October 31




The ideas were mine, but the skill and muscle were Neal's to whom I am so grateful!
To Be Continued


8 comments:

Lucy Corrander : Photos said...

It's quite hard to grasp the scale of this project, Barbee. You must have been very determined - and very long sighted - when you started.

Lucy

Barbee' said...

Oh, I don't know, Lucy. It was a lot of fun. We had a lot of laughs, because we really didn't know what we were doing, and just sort of made it up as we went. It was a good creative outlet for both of us that went on and on for months. At least each day we knew what we would be working on that day... and the next. I appreciate your following this series. Thank you.

Vetsy said...

I'm still watching, and along for the ride. The "good ole work horse coreopsis, the only one that came up, I think is the prettiest of all other varieties of Coreopsis.

I happen to like the shape and leaf form of the Thread-leaf. I'm happy to learn it's a hardy reliable one because I really like it, It happens to be a plant on my future garden list.

Thanks for sharing

Barbee' said...

Hi Vetsy, there will be one more post to this series. Whew, doing the posts has been almost as difficult as the project. This Thread-leaf Coreopsis was already here in the garden when we bought it in 1989, and it's still going strong. I was really disappointed that the Thread-leaf Coreopsis 'Moonbeam' didn't last for I really like it and had put in more than one - a few, I don't remember how many. Hard headed that I am, I might give them another try.

Lucy again: I think my reply to your comment was not entirely accurate. We did have the vision of how we wanted it to look and what we wanted to do with it. Getting it to that point was what we didn't really know how to do, neither of us had any experience along that line.

Toyin O. said...

This looks great:)

Barbee' said...

Toyin! Hello! What a surprise to find a new blogger visiting here. I love it! Thank you for visiting and for the comment and for the positive feedback. Your blog surely has strong meaning and messages. Keep up the good work. You do not walk alone.

Tad Crocker said...

Well done!

Barbee' said...

Thank you, Tad Boy.