Hi All and welcome.
For those of you that are not familiar, allow me to introduce my self.....
My name is Kerry Jackson and I design, create and landscape gardens, my company Jackson's Landscape Design (JLD) is based in Newton Abbot, Devon.
My aim for this blog is to compile a garden build up dossier using images, videos and brief descriptions on a daily basis to allow others to view progress from a large sloping lawn and sunken ruin area right through to a fully landscaped 1 acre project from start to finish......every single landscaping angle will be covered from how to install the track back on an excavator to planting trees and finally sipping champagne with John and Lin.
If there are any areas you'd like me to cover then just ask and I'll do my utmost to accommodate your requests...(should the requests fall inside the scope of JLD design)
The Design:
The area in blue is the sunken ruin area of which has to be cleared in order to see what is below the made up ground, only when the area has been cleared will the design of a very magical folly, pond and water catchment area begin.
The folly area:
An image of a small section of the folly / ruin area taken whilst on my first consultation. A natural light constantly keeps the pond running with clean fresh water.
Goodness knows what I'll find or create until the area has been cleared of all ivy, stray saplings and around 100 tons plus of topsoil and slate stone.....all to be sifted, stock piled and recycled.
Day 1:
After a morning of clearing all stray saplings, removing all roots and dead limbs with a chainsaw and excavator ....a ramp was created with topsoil and over the top of the existing wall the 1.5 ton mini digger went .....where in......lets see what lies below.....
Day 2:
The team started the ivy clearance from the trees and walling today leaving me to quietly excavate the area to reveal exactly what I have to design with......note the ivy to the perimeter of the pond will remain to assist the frog spawn once they hatch, grow and move on ......
My only snag is the hire company not checking the tracks are pumped up fully with grease.......nice one!
Day 3:
Due to different levels and limited space much of the waste had to double handled to create this stock pile, A healthy pile of roots, slate and rich crumbly topsoil has left me no option but to dumper to an area outside of the design area to a sifting area. Most of the ivy has now been cleared from the trees and walling.
The far left hand pillar had to be dismantled as will the left of the walling and pillar due to severe leaning and being in a state of disrepair.
Day 4:
A day of dumper driving and moving all debris to the sifting area........my creative thoughts are now flowing now I know what I have as a basis .....no coins were found through out the clearance.....numerous bottles, camp coffee bottles, lung tonic bottles, blue poison bottles and fox/rabbit snares though......
Day 5:
The arrival of the swimming pool contractors, Devon pool & spa company, today meant my allocated sifting stock pile grew to over 200 tons.......with the aid of my sifting machine, conveyor belt, excavator and dumper I'll save my clients John and Lin a small mortgage.... in top soil and stone.....no need to bring in any as the 36 acres of land around the clients house has more material than we can shake a stick at......the natural leaf feeding the pond has been redirected in order to create two walk over water features to a heavily planted entrance to the folly.....
Swimming pool and cascading water area:
The area to the right of the folly has the overflow from the pond pouring into this area....with a little imagination this could be turned into a wonderful water fall and water catchment area with floating pontoon......I'm not sure as yet which way I'll go......I need to create this area in my mind first... and transfer to 3D cad for my clients.....thinking, thinking, thinking all the time....
Recycling stock pile area:
The recycling stock pile.....growing every day.....I'll salvage and reuse 90% of what would normally be treated as waste....the days of paying haulage companies to remove (sift, crush and sell back to us designers / landscapers for large amounts of money) are well and truly over.....a huge saving for every client we undertake projects for....we enjoy the fact that our carbon footprint is massively reduced as do our clients and their wallets!
Day 6:
A new path has been set for the diversion of the least....using 1200 gauge visqueen as the least liner, as the stone that lies below the surface would have drained all the water away...a stone water outlet has been formed ....much better than the existing orange pipe. This method is a quick and temporary method of diversion and water catchment.
What a great piece of kit....so much money and time will be saved and these savings are passed on to all our clients.....for all our projects.
The whole purpose of this equipment is to sift waste subsoil for rammed earth garden structures......however its so diverse and can be utilised in many ways. So now the 200 ton pile of waste will pass through this machine......you'll be surprised what we salvage.....
Don't just take my word though see for your self
Day 7:
The area to the right of the folly and pond has started to be cleared......the whole sunken area is visible now....knowing the least flows constantly 12 months of the year through the diversion, in and out of the pond and falls to the perimeter of this triangular area and free drains away to the brook at the base of the hill allows for the design to commence........
The design to the higher levelled, slightly sloping lawn area, being previously approved ..first, the main tree structure will be prepared to accommodate a variety of ever green and deciduous tress next week......I feel the extension to the orchard will have to wait until the autumn now.....
With the fuel tanks on both mini digger and dumper filled, again, a full day of sifting lies ahead.......and we will sift this "waste" material until the stock pile consists of a pile of screened topsoil and a pile of walling stone.....the only material thrown away is roots and foliage.....approximately 3 tons in all! Tomorrow we do it all again!
Day 9:
I'm not the sort of chap to be complacent within my garden design / landscaping vocation, however, looking at the last line from yesterdays blog may suggest I was yesterday! Once a landscapers dilemmas are explained you may see that all the preparations and planning are thrown into disary with no warnings.......
Two hours of sifting in glorious sunshine ground to a halt with a crunch.........this time a section of flat slate got in the excavator track........no blaming the hire company this time!!......seems to be coming off too much for my liking.....I'll keep my eye on this little snag.
With the track back on and pumped up with a grease gun we press forwards!!
Or so I thought.....blow me if the bearings to the sifter didn't fail......it looks like a fault whilst the bearing were pressed into the housing plate......at least the thing failed now and not a day or two after the warranty runs out.....
Great service from Terry Richards at Mace Industries the whole bearing system was in the post before I rang him!!!!!!!
I appreciate we all have days when the plan just goes to pot.....it's the way we deal with the problems that are key.....
So.....with the kit down we press forwards with the unveiling of a 1.8m deep hidden culvert.........every day the folly, pond and water catchment area reveals its self a bit more..........I say water catchment but im not sure as yet....
I love Lin's idea of wanting to clean down and use the excavated rabbit snares, ginger beer bottles, sewing machine etc etc in the design.........I know a little area in the garden that would be perfect .....perhaps new stained glass window and sedum roof........we'll see how we all bounce of one another.
More ivy cleaning to perimeter walls and a mass shift of waste closer to the sifter brought our warm yet trying day to a glorious end..........we'll see what occurs tomorrow!
Day 10:
Finally, we have a company that are able to deliver all our required hard landscaping materials.....Roger Barstow, Branch manager for Dartmouth Travis Perkins has driven the route and confirms his lorries are nimble enough to over come the long winding bridal path that leads to the project.....as always the prices are very competitive....thanks Roger.....for your efforts you have the materials to deliver for the swimming pool too.
The sifter bearing arrived at midday...but I'm too far away to collect from the postal address...at least the rammed earth sifter will be up and running by 8.15am tomorrow.
Roasting hot day in the folly enclosure....very little air as the wind whips over the top......pity the pool isn't complete!!...Martin has some rock to peck away at but hes getting there.
Another discovery found....a set of steps within the folly...this project is full of hidden history and I realise the fact that I've been given the task to assist with John and Linus project, we all work together with great communications skills, Im honoured to be entrusted to bring it all back to life with recycling and traditional landscaping skills.
Day 11:
The sifter is up and running by 8.15am, thank goodness.
Our first delivery made it up the long bridal path to make our first of many landscaping material deliveries....much to the joy of us all. Now I know for sure, despite the assurances from the suppliers they could do it, were sorted for all garden build up materials.
Marking out the four large (8.5longx2.0widex.800high M, raised slate,10mm recessed point face stone wall), vegetable growing planters ready for cutting the turf to house the concrete footings.....a new orchard will be the back drop to the vegetable growing area. with 18x4M high Quercus Ilex will be planted offset 1.5m from the driveway edging kerbs.
Day 12:
I knew rain was forecast for today...but I was not aware just how much would fall on the project! The team and I were soaked to the bone by 9.00am.
With the rain driving in side ways all schedules went out of the window, sometimes whilst building up a landscaped garden you can do more damage than good, so the only task available for us to commence at this early stage of the landscape build up was to remove the grass and moss to a steep gradient and plant with Hedera canariensis.....now John will not need to stream this awkward bank again as the ground covering ivy will take care of it self.
In order to get the machine to the top of the gradient to remove all existing lawns, moss and weeds we had to track over the garden.....yes this whole area will be landscaped ...just not yet ....in order to keep the gardens looking tidy until such time, we tracked the machine on OSB boards, cut down the centre, to the required area......a dumper at the lower gradient enables us to throw the waste into the butt.
By 3pm the rain had stopped and the sun came out along with blue skies.....always the way......10 hrs of working in drenched work wear that's caked in mud is not fun....believe me!
Day 13:
Completion of planting the top gradient with 375 Hedera canariensis, to act as a living balustrade before the next gradient we planted 25 Hebe "Autumn Glory", creating a 1M footpath which will have a parallel 4x1toe board, staked with geotextile membrane and decorative gravel
By using the pots saved from the planted ivy and the top soil salvaged from the sifter....we have started to save and report the moss from the gradient for later use in the stone work and paving.....as Tesco's say......every little helps.
I have kept the centre turf of the gradient in tact as this will be removed once the 4m radius curved sunken chill area is ready to be cut out of the bank.
Day 14:
The three tiered herb garden commenced today....with a 1.3m radius, 800mm high natural slate walling nearest image...the central herb garden will be 1.5m radius, 600mm high and the far circular tier will have a radius of 1.3m at 400mm high....the furthest tier is embedded slightly into the central herb planter....
To cause no disruption to the existing lawns until such time that the Marshalls black limestone paving, with Stone grey weatherpoint 365 jointing system, is installed along with the Bisetti bamboo screen and tree trunk and bark seating, the footings were dug by hand and concreted with a 5:1 ratio wet concrete mix and levelled 20mm below existing lawn level.
With the herb garden footings in and levelled, cleaned down and curing, the remainder of the day was spent cutting the footings for the four large vegetable planters....again the material to be used will be the natural slate.....care is taken not to cause any mess to the lawns.....as I said before...the whole area is to be landscaped.....it would be so unfair for John and Lin to spend there lives living on a building site........our primary aim is to satisfy all of our clients every step of the way.
Day 15:
By using the strips of cut osb board the machine was able to move and sleau over the turf without any damage.....and continue to cut the trenches ready for concrete.
Knowing that the landscaping materials can now be brought in ....just...on a hiab lorry carrying 5 ton loads.....I've used half the original materials on the herb garden footings. Next delivery on its way.
Now that the whole area has been cleared and exposed, Im now armed with my A3 template of the folly area and able to draw up the new findings and remeasure in order to create the magical folly garden.
Day 16:
A full day of topsoil preparation and recycling the slate stone for all the walling, planters and slate sphere water features / focal points.
By using the 25mm pitch mesh on the sifting machine we are able to capture all the topsoil, for a finer screened topsoil the 12mm or 18mm pitch mesh will replace the larger 25mm, take a look a view for yourself the amount of materials we are able to salvage.
"Mixed Waste Material"
"Recycled slate"
"Screened topsoil"
Day 17:
Another 4 dumpy bags of ballast mixed for footing concrete and still we're slightly shy.......its such a shame we can not receive larger delivery wagons....but that's just the way it is...and by hook or by crook we will overcome this minor issue as the bridal path / driveway just wont allow any large delivery wagon.
With the weather on our side again we round the day off with a good old fashion sift and create more space for the stock pile of recycled slate.
Day 18:
Preparations are underway to house the main trees.....that will run parallel with the driveway
18 x 800wx650mm deep holes cat been cut and prepared for the 70L pots containing Quercus Ilex - Holm Oak, two parallel stakes and cross member will assist in the stability of the tree roots....which will all have a plentiful helping of Super Root root feed
Day 19:
With the delivery having been taken we are able to complete the final section of vegetable planter footing.....making a total of 9 tons of concrete mixed and levelled for the veggie planters and herb planters...as a rule of thumb we us 6 bags of opc, Ordinary Portland Cement, per ton.
Day 20:
This bridal path is my delivery headache.......even worse when wet.....and today its bouncing off the floor, and I have a delivery of trees arriving.
After meeting the driver and driving him to the property it became apparent that the delivery drop off point has to be a mile away. So armed with a dumper and trailer we head down the bridal path / driveway to collect the first of many loads.
In first gear we slowly make out way towards the Magical Movement garden, pillows are used in order to keep the stems unscathed from movement on the trailer.
The 18 x 70L Quercus Ilex finally have a home after a long journey from Italy, tomorrow we feed and fix them into their final positions with stakes, cross members and webbing.
Day 21:
When walking or driving up or down the driveway I want to see the supporting stakes on both sides running in a clean straight line at 90 degrees to the driveway.
In order to achieve this a folding set square is used against the left hand edging kerb and a straight edge will assist to find the centre of each prepared tree hole....a string line transfers the correct plumb stake position for the opposite side of the drive.
Each stake is exposed 900mm from existing lawn level, whilst the cross members are 100mm below top of stake, the flexible webbing for each tree can easily be adjusted to suit the growth of the tree whilst the roots take a firm hold
I'm fully aware holes prepared for trees, shrubs should be twice the size of the pot, Im also aware of the on site excellent soil conditions in which the specimens are to be planted, also the elements and conditions in which these specimens are housed ....so based on these facts we have decided to cut the holes slightly smaller as the stability factor must play a key roll
Day 22:
The tree support stakes are running in a straight line....only the shadows on the opposite lawn verifies this 8 Laurus nobilis are planted in the far corner of the garden to create a screen, eventually, I'm not looking to create a 15 - 18 M bay wall, however neither would a 2-3m bay screen create much visual or privacy for this area.
I've used 2 Carpinus betulus to add height and structure to the top area of the garden.....in time these specimens will top at 15 - 25M high creating the required visual aesthetics, the two hornbeams will compliment the existing betula jacquemontii
Day 23:
2 Ligustrum japonicum are planted side by side, I hope these specimens will reach the dizzy height of 4-5M....this will block the view from the top bridal path eliminating the on lookers from afar whilst John and Lin are relaxing on the sunterrace....to accompany the Ligustrums, I have planted the Crataegus prunifolia splendens (offset)......as the height of this tree is similar to the Ligustrums, with the beauty of having Spring, Autumn and Winter as interest and colour to the tree....as this specimen is closest to the living room window the enjoyment of the tree and vibrant berries can be monitored at close quaters.
Tree Planting locations:
Day 24:
The first of 4 recycled natural slate vegtable planters commenced once the the setting out of heights, levels, pins and string lines was complete...I'm using a lime dust with 1 part cement and 1 part hydrated lime......and a little splash of febmix,as this traditional method in keeping with all the exsisting walling through out the project.
I have ensured that a quaility face mask and gloves and googles are worn at all times when the mixing is taken place as lime, lungs, eyes, skin and animals do not mix at all....this material cannot and must not be taken lightly and will harm you if you become ignorant to its hazards, checkout Hansons data sheet for hydrated lime.
Day 25:
Day 26:
Little by little the slate stone planters are constructed.........
Day 27:
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