Steve Snedeker’s Landscaping and Gardening Blog

At times, terrain determines style – that, the surrounding flora (if any) and of course, the geology. There are some typical arrangements in given situations, depending on other factors like budgets and neighborhood HOA restraints. But there are wide possibilities out there for designers and homeowners to work within given parameters and to still create interesting environments. One can take the flattest land and bring in a mountain, for example, like this example:

Conversely, one can simply use the hillsides bordering a property to produce a similar effect:

Flat does not have to be boring, for that matter:

One can even take a nasty drainage problem, such as the next two pictures, and just plain old make a swamp. This “bog gardening” is something I have done a few times and it has taught me which plants can thrive in such an environment. Some simply won’t grow in other environments and some very exotic bamboo’s, among other things, love bog conditions – almost too much so:

(Click the picture to enlarge these for detail)

But for sheer floral beauty and a wide arrangement of different colored blooms at different times of the year, it is difficult to match what a good bog garden can supply.

From bogs to desert mountainsides where creeks materialize from hill tops or simply meander slowly by the plants and other features of a landscape, all is possible. Landscaping is limited pretty much by imagination, in the end. We have gone into many people’s lots with the barest of plans. It’s pretty wild when that happens and I don’t recommend it as a constant tactic.

But so often general tactics get discussed at night over the phone or on site, with input and ideas going back and forth and some true excitement emerging on all sides. It’s unorthodox, but I ran things like that as often as not. There is much to be said for having someone who you can talk with and who you find yourself willing to work with. Our very best projects came from both sides, your bottom line. Landscapers have ideas and resources people don’t even dream of. But that’s what they do, that’s their career.

Why, heck, we can even supply the same seats Fred and Wilma Flintstone used on their outings! Check these out!

These are actually pretty darn nice. They stay warm from the sun well into evenings and make a definite sweet spot to sit on as the evening chill arrives.

Frederick Olmstead is the designer of New York City’s Central Park. He was an exceedingly busy guy. His mission was to beautify America and he did this like no other single person in the entire United States history. He laid out city plans and designed parks for New York, Montreal and for Louisville, Kentucky. Indeed, since Louisville was one of his final large designing efforts, it may also have been one of his best. In Louisville, Olmstead was given far more to do than merely set up and design park space. This time, he was tasked to design a city for the best effect. To this end, he designed the entire parks and parkway system for that gorgeous city, my favorite town of all I have lived in or visited. I honestly believe the graciousness of Louisville’s citizens is a combination of that ‘Gateway To The South’ charm and a reflection of the gorgeous and humane environment laid out by this wonderful designer.

I have a Mom and a brother who live there, in Louisville, and I try and make it back yearly, if possible. I was raised about 100 miles West, in a sport-mad town called Owensboro, hard by the Ohio River, my earliest playground. I once heard that, as a state, Kentucky has more rivers than any state in the Union next to Alaska. Inasmuch as I recall an amazing array of rivers and creeks coursing through Kentucky, I have no reason to disbelieve this. As a young fisherman, I think we always assessed the catfish possibilities in any creek wider than 8 feet. Creeks are also everywhere, is my point.

The creek featured in these photo’s is Beargrass Creek, a meandering, slow-moving creek on the limestone bedrock typical of Kentucky geology. It winds through the park and necessitated the erection of these fabulous bridges assigned by Olmstead to his by now well-known bridge and stonework corps of experts. They are all of stone or cement, though mostly stone, some much more fascinating than others. But they all bear the marks of some amazing professional and artistic expertise. There are 7 of them and I won’t feature them all here.

Some are now in poor condition, one even subject to vandalism, of all things. The community rallied around their bridge following a destructive vandalism event and raised funds to refurbish one of the older bridges. It re-installed a community sense of what they had in their midst and is a refreshing and altogether uplifting story of civic pride.

The precision and art of the masons is a wonder. Flawless bridges, carefully and expertly constructed offer yet another reason the park itself can be it’s own destination. My mother used to talk about Olmstead as we would drive through the park and I would crane my neck to see the bridges which we crossed daily when they lived hard by Cherokee Park. Indeed, the Park is still used as a short cut for many who daily traverse these gorgeous bridges. I love what Olmstead gave to the US. As a designer he gripped the 20th Century in his hand and formed it into something respectable in an otherwise cold, gray, utterly industrial period. The persistent beauty of Cherokee Park – and of the road system Olmstead designed, featuring Eastern Parkway and the well-treed streets of downtown Louisville have contributed hugely to making it one of America’s most livable places.

One last bridge:

I have been battling a bug and not up to my posting standards of unremitting and sensational posts.  Oh well, eh?  Here, then, is a recycled post from an earlier time, yet more relevant now, by far, owing to my recent posts regarding driveways and large surfaces.  Thanks, guys, I’ll be back in fighting trim in no time flat……….enjoy:

It is a truism in landscaping, road-building and all things related to the installation of any hard surface that the base is perhaps the single most important strictly functional element in the entire deal. It is also true that any surface will reflect in terms of longevity that preparation. So what am I talking about?

A “base” or “Sub base” is that material beneath the surface. If we lay in an asphalt driveway, we use this weird gravel material, spread out by graders and then rolled over a bunch of times by those big double-drum rollers, or “steamrollers” as we used to call them as kids in America. We watch this occur as if it were nearly natural. “Hey, it’s those rocks they put in under roads,” is our usual statement, as if it meant something. Well, yes, it IS rocks, but it is also “fines”, almost dusty material crushed along with the rocks in these gigantic machines used to crush rock which then gets taken by conveyer belt to a system of “sieves”……meshes where progressively smaller materials can get separated from larger from the processing.

In the end, one of the “sieves” only allows a certain limited size to filter through – in this case, let’s call it “3/4″ minus” material. Naturally, the “minus” deals with the powdery residue which is as necessary to binding compact able material as it is to cement itself. What happens with this material is that, when applied at a proper depth and thickness to the roadwork, a combination of water and compacting with these huge machines occurs. Those “fines” serve to nestle in, carried by either water or force, or both, to combine to make an amazing durable, hard layer. It is nearly, but not quite, cement – just at the flexible end of “monolithic”.

The real trick is assessing the need for what depth we need to achieve. If soils under this layer are moist soils with lots of organic material in them, there will be a need to add a very thick layer of base material to stabilize and maintain a permanently hard subsurface. Once the upper, or finishing, layer is applied, it will deal with issues like water and erosive factors which would affect the substrate. The problems of durability then become how the sub base was applied. If it is a thin layer, insufficient for compensating for loose soil under it, it will sink as the organics break down, or will become misshapen as pressure is exerted downwards, into vulnerable areas. If however, it is of sufficient depth to compensate for the always-looser soil underneath, one can expect a never-changing level for a sidewalk with far fewer eventual problems, such as concrete breakage or grade changing events.

I have seen some classic failures in driveways and even walkways and patios when someone tried to pinch a few pennies of the sub base and failed to achieve a degree of compaction that assured the surface of permanence. The sub base needs to be pounded and then pounded down again to achieve the degree of compaction necessary. Once this is achieved, we’re half way there. But this is, by far, the most important task of all that proceed from it. Ignore this one at your peril.

My advice to those interested in getting a new driveway or introducing some hard surface onto their place is to make sure full attention is paid to this seeming detail. Ask how much base material the contractor is expecting to use and at what depth. Do some math. Make sure your contractor realizes you understand how important a well-compacted sub base can be. Here we have just that: in the foreground, the compacted gravel comes out from the concrete blocks at the right. Notice we are adding an inch or less of sand above it in order to lay in the brick pavers.

If you want to see this in all its stages, click on the right of the main page of this blog for October 2006 and September 2006. It’s reversed, I’m afraid, but every step is dealt with there. Check it out.

New York City is one of my favorite places in the world and it has been a full 20 years since I have visited, This is far too long. Like many, I still keep in touch with some of my old Army chums – not like I should, of course – but 3 of them live there. When I have visited in the past, I always drank deep of seeing old friends and making new ones. But it was the solo time which was nearly as – if not far more – memorable.

For me, the excitement of New York City is in the walking and the teeming sidewalks, the strange bustle which picks you right up with it and carries you along, almost effortlessly. There is a heartbeat which you have no choice but to resonate with in this charming town. It demands it and it energizes you.

My brother took his 14 year old daughter on a very cool daughter and Dad journey to New York, staying with a childhood friend, hard by Central Park. When I told him to take some snaps of the park, he was delighted. He likes looking at this blog where I have semi-immortalized his very front yard!

As you can see, it rained – one of those warm Summer rains. There is Zoe, hair steaming after they got caught out in the 85 degree weather in a quick rain shower. Her picture is under what they called the “steaming rock”. The heat is obvious as the humid air and high temperatures make the rock steam like a hot rock on a fire.

Central Park is a revelation to those who discover it. Wild and oddly quiet, the hum of the city does redound in the air but it is amazingly muted. Frederick Olmstead designed this park as a refuge in what was already a busy burgh. He wanted the size for the dampening effect it would have on the noise and hubub, plus the ecology it would develop being large and surprisingly wild.

But it was other constructions – many of them – that propel the interest here. Like the Parks he developed elsewhere in Louisville which I have also spent time in, Olmstead invited a free reign in his designs, both budgetary and artistic, to some great artisans and designers who added amazing artwork to the Landscape Art in almost all the works he was responsible for. Bridges and garden walls were built in both park systems by fabulous artisans, the best of their crafts. Here are two bridges which indicate better exactly my point:

Central Park is a revelation and a worthwhile visit at any time of the year. New York has always been blessed with energy and the sinew of business and human artistic enterprise. Central Park is a perfect compliment and contrast to New York City’s most amazing energetic style.

I often visit web sites and landscape galleries for the development of my own projects. I get abundant ideas and I have always tried to approach each site with a clear mind, hoping for a gem or two to take into my own designs and projects. Today, I am taking the liberty of shamelessly posting a few of this interesting designer’s pictures, lifted directly from her website. These are not only the designs from the company featured here, but also their installations. Heidi – who I have come to know somewhat via a small and hopefully developing correspondence – comes almost as close as anyone I have yet met on line to the sorts of projects I prefer most. It is not all that often I find someone who reminds me of me, lol. But in Heidi’s work, (and her firm’s, let me hasten to add), I see a similar regard for pleasing clients as well as an obvious urge to do things just a bit differently.

Her Business Site

The picture above illustrates my point. Details such as this can be a hard sell to a homeowner, first. Many don’t really realize the uniqueness they are being provided, bottom line. And, truth be told, some detail such as that above may be small potatoes in the overall scheme. There are certainly larger scale Landscape Architects whose projects in public and commercial centers are truly riveting and outstanding creative examples of the trade. But those, like many of their impressive and unbelievably expensive projects do indeed reflect the possibilities of landscaping itself and are noteworthy for that – by all means – however, making something special for the mid range residential client is what I personally have always prided myself on. Heidi “gets it” in this particular niche and her clients have got to be inordinately pleased.

In short, I like her work and her company’s persona as evidenced by her web site. If I lived where she worked, I would definitely have her come take a look and pick her brain a bit on creative ideas.

Another draw for her site is its navigation. I wish she had put in just a few more examples of their projects, frankly, but I do respect its educational aspects. She explains in adequate detail what factors a landscaper considers in development of grounds and she offers abundant applications, from Japanese concepts to Garden Art.

I am shamelessly pimping Heidi (pardon the reference, Heidi, lol) because I like what she is trying to accomplish. It meets every ideal I have had over the past 35 years, including good relationships with the people who consider contracting her firm. Good stuff, Heidi!

Brick pavers offer an rich, stable and impressive alternative to pathways of gravel and stone slabs set in sand or DG. The chances of these paths outlasting a house are almost as sure as the sun coming up. Often utilized as street paving materials, brick pavers also have the virtue of manufactured durability. High PSI strength, dense composition and a wider and wider range of colors and textures make brick pavers a very permanent solution for pathway construction.

This next picture is a continuation of the above, taken during construction and showing destination:

Other samples include patios embedded in lawns and beds, still curvaceous and thus more appealing:

And still others are attached to existing cement driveways or porches and add another dimension which was not there originally:

And others use a larger paver for similar purposes, in this case 24″ X 24″ :

A desert-like environment like Reno’s impels a designer to use rocks and mulches to draw attention away from how garden-hostile such a waterless existence can be. Points of interest then become something other than those plants, lawns and general features of wetter climate zones. But it also allows some experimentation with color and pathway features.

In the picture above, we see a small sitting area essentially removing the need for a great many plants but still congruent with enjoying the place and looking OK. (A note, the benches were not our idea). The pathway leading to the “patio” of similar materials is simple and welcoming. Actually, this particular material courses throughout this entire landscape, allowing traffic between some disparate elements.

Incidentally, with drip irrigation, plants can do fine. Don’t let me dissaude anyone from using them, lol. Especially perennials, my particular faves.

These two are of the same place, obviously taken on different days. The owner wanted a substantial pathway, needless to say. It is typically a bit wider than we were used to.

Natural slabs make an informal look, somewhere between the informality of gravel and the strict formality of cement or pavers. Some are also easier than others to make work. To be completely honest, the walkway above was not one of my favorites, although it fulfills its function well. We were forced to use smaller slabs owing to market conditions at the time. But – hey – he liked it! He paid!

This series actually begins here::

Goes around the corner like this:

The little creek beds are actually funnels for the odd downpour, leading from the gutters and down spouts into a dry creek which actually functions, taking the water out front to the street. We make these little bridges all the time, lol. They are actually pretty fun.

This one is built around a very adapted water feature which we lowered and made less intimidating. It was owned by an ex NBA ballplayer who went to school where my parents both graduated, Eastern Illinois and had a cool basketball court where my crew lost badly to their boss.  That needed mentioning. lol.

I have a few places I go to almost every day.  The “blogging phenomenon” has grabbed me  and led me to some thankfully truly exotic places.  I sometimes just look at some of the excellent bloggers out there in wonder.  There is simply so much writing and artistic talent blogging anymore, it’s as if there were some fascinating, multi-dimensional book at my fingertips, waiting for the next page to reveal itself in real time, effortlessly and smoothly opening to yet another totally compelling and educational item. I have therefore decided to spread the wealth now and then and feature blogs I really, really care for and tell why. Philip is up today.  I’ll get back to the pathway thing tomorrow or so.

Philip and I have a mutual appreciation thing going.  I sometimes think he likes the practical alternative this blog offers – you know, words and explanations from the designers and – perhaps even more importantly – the installer’s perspective. The truth is, I have not run across a lot of installer’s blogs yet.  I often suspect they are either too busy or too darn burned out to pay attention to a leisurely pursuit like blogging. So I guess my “niche hegemony” is somewhat intact, lol. Now, Jan, from Pond Lady, is one. But I don’t see a lot like me out there, outside of her. Indeed, if someone does know of an installer who is blogging, please hook me up! Hegemony is over rated!

Philip’s blog may be the most fascinating garden blog I have visited.  He has a great literary style, for one thing, which is fine.  But he also deals with the realities and complexities of the histories of things.  One also gets the impression – and rightfully, by the way – that many of the pictures he uses he took himself.  Pictures of ancient and semi-ancient Italian gardens, pictures of garden retreats culled from, say Virginia Wolff’s own garden and residence, pictures of other-worldly and just plain weird Hollywood and Los Angeles residences of the rich and near rich who had remarkable and bizarre senses of “naff”, or “Kitsch” – or just weirdness in general. He mines the exotic and he presents it boldly and in living color, with informed – and I do mean very informed – descriptive writing describing it all in minute detail.

I post this so that whoever reads this can mine some of these fascinating blogs themselves to get a feel of how inspiring I find them and in how enriching in general a garden blog can be.  Gardening is something more than harmless – it is a time-honored method of eye-soothing meditation and of admiring creative combinations and compositions.  It can be complex and fascinating or weird and riveting.  Philip sure delivers on all that and more. Take a visit.

Here is his site:  Philip’s Garden Blog

Some garden and lawn paths are more elaborate than others.  Some are fully intended to be features in a landscape in their own rights, while others want to be less visible but still attractive accompaniments to features demanding more attention.

Composition of walkways such as these can vary from just good old gravel to the Chinese Garden wonders of upraised quartz pebbles, painstakingly put into themes and patterns. In this post, we’ll begin humbly and use an example of “just plain gravel” – or, in this case, Decomposed Granite:

Decomposed Granite is a tiny nearly soil-like collection of bits of literally decomposed granite.  Common to the Western United States, it can be screened and filtered to produce a product like shown in the above picture which has a uniform and justifiably “soft” look.  While it does compact well, it can soften over time and become less dense, and less concrete-like, producing a rather soft surface.  It also has the merit of containing pretty much zero organic matter, being a solid rock product, so it fights weed infestations off well. It’s light color lends itself well to a desert environment like Reno.

The earth tone color of Decomposed Granite also lends itself to use as a mulch.  With drip irrigation, which is underground and hidden in these pictures, the “DG” tends to act as a protectorate for the soil beneath it including holding just a bit more water, while it discourages weed growth.

Here is a final look at this particular project from the patio where we see not only the pathway consruction consisting of this cool material, but also its use as a mulch:

These pictures were taken pretty much as soon as the construction phase had ended. It has developed a bit since then, naturally. I’ll try and find more recent photo’s which are……hmmm.  Not sure where.