Paving Seawalls

Petunias Still Thriving in October

A Terrific Year for Annuals

Dusty Miller Looking Like Sea Coral

It is tough to concentrate on work as this year at the end of season we will be going to Florida to our new home.  We are excited to have our own house and put an end to sponging with the relatives for the winter.  The house needs a bit of work but I enjoy the process from design, install to finish although seems you never actually finish on your own piece of dirt or house.  A huge adjustment this winter will be taking all our critters to Florida with us and living in the city, close to the neighbors, going from 25 acres to .25, wow.

Unilock Rivenstone Paver Seawall 

Looks like these are the only pavers we will install on the Lone Tree Point job this year.  Construction is a bit behind and we have done most of what we can without the house being closer to finished.  This is gonna be a boat stopper when completed.

Super Slab Patio, oh Yeah

Controlling Rainwater

We are actually done with this job now and it is great looking.  I have not taken any photos of the finished product yet but I will.  We have to go back and do some extra seeding once the excavator is finished, this property is about three acres.  This piece of dirt makes me want to move, I fell in love with Pine Canyon Lake the first time I saw it but was already in a committed relationship with another chunk of dirt.  Oh well.

The gravel pit closest to our old shop has changed hands, meet Eric and his brother Eric.  I added to their workload this past week when I went rock/boulder shopping.  It is tough to estimate but I think the next job will weigh in somewhere around 175-250 tons or 350,000 - 500,000 pounds that' a lot of rocks.  When the first load was weighed it was 62,791 pounds with the truck.  The pit is only about three miles from the job site.

We Built This Berm 19 Years Ago

How To Plant Trees Where There Are Roots

The purpose of a berm is usually to retain water or reduce noise on busy roads, add trees and you have privacy as well.  The original conifers that were installed were Austrian Pine, they became diseased and scrawny so it was time to start over.  The new tree are White Spruce we are also removing the sod between trees, leveling the bed, installing edging, weed barrier and crushed stone to reduce outdoor chores.

Potato Launcher

I followed this behemoth down State Road 120, it bombed four tater's on the road the short time I was behind it, think it needs a tailgate?

Lunar Eclipse

It was fun watching the eclipse Wednesday morning, the dogs did not seem to get what we were doing standing out in the cold, dark, morning staring up at the moon, but as usual they were up for it.

Under the Deck, No Problem

Almost Finished With This One

The weather is chilling and the leaves changing, this weekend is brilliant, colors amazing.  I hope to get out and drive up north this weekend, open the sunroof of the HHR let the wind blow listen to Jimmy Buffett maybe a little Bob Marley, run the dogs along the dunes of Lake Michigan, need to take the time.

Finding Spring

It might be snowing outside but indoors you will find Home and Garden Expositions across the country and indeed even the world, one of the largest is the Manchester Flower & Garden Show in the UK. I started my expo going with the annual show in Fort Wayne, IN since it is less than an hours drive from home. Having been a participant in several shows as a guest speaker and exhibitor I know what it takes to put on a good display, especially those landscapers who go all out hauling in tons of soil, mulch, plants, pavers and segmented retaining walls, whew what a hassle. It takes months of planning just to get some plants that are blooming , so hats off to all of those who take the time to bring us some spring.

Next weekend the big flower show at the Navy Pier in Chicago takes place and later this month Indianapolis blooms with their annual event, I hope to make both those shows, only time will tell.
The predominant paver and block featured in Fort Wayne was Belgard which is manufactured in several locations in the Midwest. I have not used this product but I saw several unique colors and liked some of the paver textures and shapes as well , so you might see some installations later this summer.

A wide assortment of home improvement products, health care, entertainment and maintenance
services were available and vendors displayed their wares with creativity and enthusiasm. I bought some polymer beads in assorted colors which are mere specks until you add water which hydrates them into something like marbles, very colorful and even better when you add the little 100 hour led light that brings out the shine. Sweet to add to a vase of flowers. My other big purchase was a one of a kind flower pot hanger that holds up to a 12", 90 pound pot by the lip. I love the fact that the every day entrepreneur/inventor can still make and market a product through a venue like the home shows

White River State Park An Oasis

Crosby, Stills and Nash brought me to downtown Indianapolis, IN in August, a downtown concert sounded like a nice, little break and I am a huge CSN (and sometimes Young) fan. The plan was to just drive down for the night since it is under three hours from home, unknown to me the concert was canceled and rescheduled for the following night due to heavy morning storms that delayed planes and made timely show set up impossible. What the heck we had not been to downtown Indy in ages, so we called the dog sitter, the foreman and decided to stay over to take in some of the sights before attending the show the next day.

We got a room right across the street from the Hard Rock and all of downtown was within walking distance. Living in Angola we are culturally and culinary deprived so we drove to the suburbs and ate at one of my favorite places, The Cheesecake Factory, yum fucking yum. The warm summer night was perfect to stroll downtown, the circle with its fountains and lights, the downtown clubs, the new minor league ballpark and walking arm and arm along the canal offered a side of downtown Indy that I never knew existed. It has certainly changed for the better.

The next day a visit to the Gardens adjacent the Zoo seemed the perfect pre-concert event before meeting friends for an early dinner. What a pleasant surprise, these gardens offer whimsical sculpture, a variety of mini gardens depicting different themes, well kept knot garden, shaded arbors filled with the sweet fragrance of honeysuckle and a couple of simple but charming water features. It was easy to shot a couple of hundred photos and difficult to choose just a few to post.

I think downtown Indianapolis is a great spot to get away for a couple of days and has a lot to offer whether it's just the two of you or you have a family. There is ample to do from a ballgame to the zoo all within easy walking distance of some nice hotels, plus they are building a new Radisson that looks promising. CSN was awesome, I could see them every year, reminds of times gone by and what a perfect venue.

Getting My Head Ready

Once the landscape season begins there is little time to stop and smell the roses, it is non stop from April to December. That is why grabbing a little inspiration with a quick trip to Florida, shopping for specimen plants (unique, often dwarf conifers or bonsai type plants), visiting garden centers, nurseries and other suppliers is on my radar in early spring. This post features the gardens at Marie Selby in Sarasota, Florida, The Garden Shed in Orland, IN where I got my start, Fort Wayne Rocks, Fort Wayne, IN where I buy a wide variety of natural stone products (referred to as hardscape) and a floral shop where the owners collect and sell specimens, this spot I keep secret for good specimens are hard to come by. A great way to start the year and shake off the winter blues.

North Carolina Gardens and Sites

The first week of August I took a rode trip to visit friends in Marion, North Carolina. These friends were my mentors and were instrumental in my beginning in the landscape business. I met them in the early 80's, they owned and operated a business called The Garden Shed that sold vegetables, flowers, hanging baskets, trees and shrubs. The Shed was very close to my house and a favorite place for me to purchase my spring garden material and hanging baskets, I was such a novice but I loved flowers. One spring I was in between jobs, I worked at the time as a vocational evaluator and had a habit of quitting jobs in the winter so I could spend the chilly months in the Caribbean where my sister lived with her husband. Some people might think it foolish to quit a job to travel but it was one of the best things I ever did, my adventures in the Caribbean are a story for another time.

I went to the Garden Shed and offered to trade some labor for plants, they accepted and offered me a job, I fell in love. They had a small nursery which was the part of the business I ended up running. Soon people were asking questions about design, plants and installation. I read what ever I could, including lots of nursery tags and magazines and started paying careful attention to gardens that I admired. I taught myself the basics, sharpened my shovel, put my pick up truck to work and started installing the plants I sold at The Garden Shed. My first notion was to have an all female crew and I recruited two of my women friends as business picked up. Their employment was short lived when I nearly amputated ones fingertip with a spade as we desodded and the other women fainted to frequently in the summer heat. They were soon replaced with strong, young, high school boys.

Lin and Den, owners of The Garden Shed readily shared their business acumen, opinions and advice while we sipped manhattans and discussed the days customers. That seed grew and pointed me in the right direction as I took off running in the landscape business. When I get the chance I like to visit these two, loved people and between cocktails and wonderful homemade meals we often get to visiting the local flora and fauna.

Dutchman's Pipe at a garden near Ashville, North Carolina, rather suggestive I think or these beauties (top) blooming heavy in the NC summer. Close up of the annual blue salvia used in the formal garden, my absolute favorite annual for NE Indiana. (bottom)