Let us recap:
We want a 10ft flower island, disc, at approx. 20 degrees to the surface,
with landscape block edging.
Remember to use Dianthus, day lillies, or other perennial for edging if you
have a rental property or family home in Gambia. It is cheaper and lighter to
work with. Renters appreciate a considerate landlord. Not a slumlord.
Tools and implements:
Rake, pitch fork, hoe, spade/shovel, watering can/hose, wheelbarrow, one
good leg and foot, one good hand, and a strong back, wife and kids, or borrow
your neighbour's kids.
Material:
Paver base or ground oyster shells, arched-blocks, paver sand/beach sand
from Carnegie Minerals, mulch/hay.
Plants:
Hibiscus(2), bougainvillea(2), Indian hawthorne (4) - (variegated flowers &
snow white), azaleas, dianthus, sedum (8), roses(2), holly (2), juniper (20),
spruce(10).
We will begin by planting the hibiscus, bougainvillea, Indian Hawthorne,
azaleas, and clusters of sedum and dianthus, half on each of the high and low
ends of the disc. Focus Suntou. Plant the spruce around each cluster for effect
and plant the juniper to fill the disc, about a foot apart. The clustered
plants can be spaced 8 inches apart. Then start digging around the disc using
the earth so dug to sculpt your ridges and undulations. Make sure the shallow
ditch slopes with your disc. This will save you blocks and will be more
pleasing to the human eye, bird eye, and idaplane eye. If you are using dianthus
for border, slope them with the disc. BUT PLANT THEM UPRIGHT. No leaning
plants Galleon. Remember 5 inches deep for blocks and 8 inches deep holes for
dianthus. If you're using dianthus, you're almost done. Cover with mulch and
water. Then water everyday for a week excepting rainy days.
For blocks, line your ditch with 1 inch paver base or crushed oyster shells.
step on the base to compact. No need for a hand tamper. Lay your blocks so
they touch end to end. go all the way around the ditch. That is one course.
Now fill in the gaps with paver sand. Repeat for a second course. That is
probably all you'll need, two courses. I have got some block caps instead of a
third course of blocks. This saved me 30 odd blocks but I nad to get liquid nail
or construction adhesive/glue to set the caps on the second course of blocks.
Make sure your blocks are close to flush with the top of the disc. No Great
china wall here. Then mulch.
See you next week for another exciting project!!!
Haruna. The New Green Thumb. You and your kids can suggest our next project
to make it fun. I ain't waiting for a month for a project idea. So git!!
In a message dated 4/30/2008 7:53:42 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
We will consider shape, size, and content here.
For most people, the circle or oval is the most common shape that comes to
mind for a flower island. It helps soften the straight edges of the house
and
blunts the straight lines of the roof ridges and drives. You can also be
creative even with a perfect circle because your canvas is the inside of
the
circle and not its edges. If your front yard is flat, you can be a bit
creative
by building artificial slopes or undulations in the island. This will give
the
impression of cutting a disc in your front yard and tilting it to show to
the world with the flare of a gourmet waiter or conjurer. Try to visualize
it
for a moment. Use a mirror pivoted at opposite ends and imagine undulations
in
the face of the mirror instead of the smooth glass surface. Now imagine
clusters of lush plants sprouting from the surface. Remmember, the tilt is
ever
so slight, 20 degrees say, to the flat surrounding.
For size, I usually go with feel. However, try to make it proportional to
the amount of land in the front yard and the size of your building. For a
Half
acre front yard, I would make the island 10 ft in diameter. for a 1/4 acre,
I
recommend 5ft Dia., and for a 3/4 acre front yard, 15ft. Dia. is
reasonable.
For purposes of this project, we will choose a 10 ft. Dia island.
Next, you have to make a decision as to what border you will have. You can
have a border of landscape blocks, a perennial plant like juniper,
Dianthus,
or day lillies, or even daffodils, but daffodils go dormant during the
winter.
For my project I'm using landscape blocks and day-lillies as lashes for the
island. Lashes meaning I take the island to be an eyeball and one cluster
of
day-lillies form one set of lashes over the eyeball. Too bad I dont have
two
islands side by side. Come to think of it, that may be overkill. Anyhow, if
you don't want to spend too much on the border, I recommend the perennial.
Landscape blocks come about a foot long and are $2.99 a piece. For a 10ft.
Dia.
island you may need 32 blocks per course. A course is a full row of blocks
around the circle. So for 3 courses of block, you will need 96 blocks for a
grand total of about $300.00, add in delivery from the nursery (unless you
make
several trips with your Yugo (5 blocks per trip)), and you could be looking
at $400.00. On the other hand, the perennial will cost you $3.00 a piece
and
spacing of a foot will require 32 plants and only one course for a grand
total
of $96.00. Plus you can transport all of them yourself in the Yugo. I must
tell you though that I wanted block and got a bit creative and only used 70
blocks for $210.00 and my Neighbour was kind enough to loan me his pickup
for
goodwill.
I will share with you how I cut the number of blocks and still produced a
knockout island that is not boring. Later.
For what goes inside the island, you can go really crazy. I don't recommend
that for Yahya's gardener at the Kanilai palace. You remmember we said to
create some undulations and miniature slopes in the island if you have flat
land? Well that will give the impression of mounds of clusters of lush
life. It
is generaaly more pleasing to the eye to use clusters of the same plant
rather
than different plants mixed-in piecemeal to force a colourful variety. The
latter becomes a disjointed hue of cold colour. I know we like our daggit
ak
malans to be colourful but trust me, you will be more pleased with clusters
of
colour than with lonely variety. Try it on a drawing board. In fact, you
should have your concept and design down on paper as we move on. Suntou we
can't
wait for you to get to the Art & Craft shop. Karim will fill you in on what
you missed.
To prepare the island therefore as we envisioned, you will need a spade
(shovel), a pitch fork, and a rake. If you already have ground cover on the
site,
remove all the ground cover so you can have fun with the wife and kids
sculpting the surface. Move dirt around to create the unique impression of
miniature mounds and slopes that you desire. Make sure the dirt is loose up
to about
5 inches down and the border goes in last. This will only take 2 hours just
transferring what you or your child draws on paper. We will stop here for
now. Preparing to get to this point will take a couple of hours of family
fun.
Remmember if there is rain in the forecast, cover the sculpted soil with
plastic until the morrow.
Haruna. New Green Thumb. MQJGDT. Al Mutawakkil.
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