Block Walls, Rock Walls, Cement Walls

We do every phase of installation some customers like to get their hands dirty too and we might do just part of the install. You might recognize this house as one where we installed a paver patio with a Ohio State Logo in the pavers. We did not build the walls but I did design a plant scheme and we prepped the beds, planted the trees and larger shrubs and healed in the plants.


The home owner is planting them later in the week. Next year he will also install weed barrier and stone in the beds. These kittens kept us entertainedd, they were just days old when I drew the plan and now they are weaned and oh so cute.




The job on Coldwater Lake wrapped up last week and I am very satisfied with the results. The challenge was to update a landscape where failing concrete walls were cracked and leaning but hidden by a mostly dead euyonomus hedge. Replacing the walls was not a current option but one that will likely happen down the road. (I have before pictures in a previous post) We had an original plan just to paint and patch the walls and attach vinyl lattice to cover a pair of large steel straps that had been bolted into the wall in a attempt to hold the shifting corners of the steps.


After we had it stripped it became obvious that we needed to disguise the area where the top wall had a four inch crack and was leaning out five inches. My first thought was to run a trellis in front of the section of wall that leaned which was about 40', I would need five 4 x 8' panels. We built one test panel in our barn and took it to the site. I was never sold on a 40' trellis as it would make the already longer side of the walls appear even larger. By moving around our sample trellis it was easy to see that it would be even more effective to use the trellis's separately and spread them out along the top wall. This allowed me to hide each of the larger cracks in the wall and spread out the panels to create better balance. We put three seven gallon clematis on three panels and will be anxious to install a couple of large silver lace vines in the spring. Karl Forrester grass and large burning bush fill out these beds for easy care a lots of color.


The client had three mature trees removed so we brought in several ton of soil to even the earth before we installed a new yard. Irrigation heads were added to the system to water the new turf. Since it is late in the season and on a hill we used Futura blanket for erosion control. The home owner liked it so much that we installed it on the top side of the wall. I think erosion blankets can be seen from outer space.



These natural glacial stone walls are one of our trademarks and many people in our area are starting to copy them. This customer only wanted one side of the failing landscape timber walls replaced. Before we even finished the one side they wanted a price on the other side of the house. They decided to go ahead with the second side but are already requesting a quote to rebuilt the steps. Of course they need to do it since our straight new stone walls will result in a gap between the walls and the steps. Currently they have some fancy bagged green stone for treads I sure hope they do not keep it as I feel it is dangerous as a tread to easily sliding under your foot. They have enough timbers left over that we could rebuild the stairs and use timbers as treads.

This is one of the last jobs of the season, we are wrapping up loose ends this week and will likely be shutting down within the week as all our work will be complete.