Utopia 360

The legendary rock band U2 is finishing up it's 360 Tour and we secured last minute tickets for their East Lansing, Michigan show last Sunday night. This stop over on the MSU campus in Spartan football stadium was the first time I ever saw a major band in a stadium venue. Despite the large crowd traffic was good, bathrooms easily accessible, food and beverage lines moved fast and people were mellow in the 80 degree evening.

The opening band Florence and The Machine were already on stage when Bruce and I arrived, their powerful harpsichord driven music is punctuated by the strong and steady voice of their female lead singer. I did not know much about the band but enjoyed what I saw of their set.

The crowd responded with wild adulation when the four lads from Ireland took to the stage, the thunderous applause abated when Bono stepped up to the mic only to be ignited once again as the first notes escaped his throat. The voice nor the elaborate 360 stage/set did not disappoint.

In size and shape the behemoth set reminded me of one huge arachnid. Unlike Florence Bono and the boys never did laps around the lower stage instead they traversed the two bridges which were kept covered during the opening act. Those bridges had hydraulics which allowed them to join at center stage or retract to opposite sides of the circular stage. The cone shaped body of the spider monster was a huge led screen which could shrink and enlarge with the flick of a switch. The concert itself was projected on the screen as well as social commentary for which U2 is well known.

Hydrangea Heaven and Lizard Lust

I don't know what frogs like more lizards or hostas?

Blooms abound this time of year in Indiana hydrangeas, smoke trees and spirea are peaking. Kousa dogwoods, lilac trees and spring bulbs are waning while the grass is needing to be mowed twice a week. Annuals are beginning to hold their own but have not yet attained the full glory of height and color but perennials are bursting and flaunting strength and size.

While our work week was productive I was disappointed that we did not accomplish all our goals. Irrigation and driveway installation at Craig and Jane's has ground to a halt. The flat work is contracted to King Concrete and Brian King takes no chances when it comes to rain and pouring. Of course beyond the one 96 degree day when Brian formed the driveway we have had pop up showers every day. Bruce tried to back a load of soil to drop at Jane and Craig's only to become mired in mud and had to be pulled out with Brian's big Bobcat. Sloshing in the mud has become the norm for us this year.

Bill started the pond job in Angola. We have repaired a block wall, torn out pavers to establish new bed lines, removed and stacked the old fire pit so we can re-install it later. The old pond built by our customer Gregg is shown in the photo, we have removed it and will be installing an Aquascape designed pond. The pond will have two pumps and measure 24 x 7' with a depth of 30". A seating area in the water at one end will offer a contemplative relaxed atmosphere while the other end of the pond will feature the bio falls that will fill the pond with rushing water. We have not installed a full pond in a couple of years so we began this one by reviewing the Aquascape video. The pond is more of a meditative feature than one where the noise of the water is the star so this will be a challenge to achieve the proper balance.

This customer has some pets that have a keen interest in our every move, two collies and a fluffy black and white cat are making sure we get the job done right.

The irrigation finally was completed at Trish and Doug's so we began the installation of the yard last week. Even though the new fence is not installed we have installed the flower beds that run the length of the lot. Next week we will complete the landscaping and install the final pavers that will become the porch for the new garage. With the prominent location of this house we are getting lots of people stopping by asking questions and admiring our work.

Auburn Concrete

This week will mark the end of the first third of the landscape season and it has been hectic, of course spring always is our busiest time of year. We are actually still working two jobs that we started last year Trish and Doug's and technically Jane and Craig's, although all we did for them last year was transplant some of their shrubs and perennials. We just re-installed one of the boxwood's from last year and will be putting all the rest of their saved plants to good use this week.

Finally this week I was ready to order the custom concrete counter top for the grill surround at Jane and Craig's. Initially I was going to be ordering through Masolite but they turned me on directly to Auburn Concrete where I met second generation concrete fabricator Todd Stayer. Todd took me through the shop and explained their capabilities. His passion for the new technology evident as he tells me about the various combinations he is working on including incorporating everything from beer bottles to blue wine bottle glass.

We chose something a bit more traditional but darker than I had anticipated. Initially I thought to match the sandstone color of the full nose in the grill surround. In a quick couple of minutes Todd had convinced me that the sandstone color would appear washed out once it was polished and sealed. The darker brown really stood out but without dominating or becoming the focal point, I took a sample to Jane and Craig and they agreed to the darker color. Craig thought it was granite. In one week we should be installing the new custom counter top.

Out on Clear Lake Patty G planted another 3000 hardwood trees on her second five acre plot. The trees will be her legacy and one day a small woods for all to enjoy, complete with lovely wildflower and native grasses. Bruce Pardue spent a day leveling between the rows of saplings using our Big Deere and TR3 plow to smooth the soil and prepare a seed bed for no mow grass which will be planted this fall. Patty's other plot of trees is now 3 years old and are doing well.

We are finishing up the stone curbing, river wash top dress and rebuilding a small stone wall along the island at the log home in the country. Pop up storms dumped about an inch of rain during the week but it would rain cats and dogs for ten minutes every two or three hours, we managed to sit it out and keep working. Made for some slippery ground when we got out to work again.

In addition to the fence installation we planted a few shrubs at Jane and Craig's. Their driveway goes in next week along with the irrigation. I plan on wrapping things up on both these jobs before the 4Th of July.

"Grass come soon, I promise."

Ever since I got that virus in my computer it has not been right. It is down for the count this week end so I am using Bruce's notebook to blog, if I had known I was going to use it when I bought it for him I would have purchased a full size laptop. My big fingers stumble over the keys and have a hard time hitting their mark. People who know me will testify that I am not a patient person so the constant need to correct is not making me a happy camper this morning.

The grill surround at Jane and Craig's is nearly completed we are down to ordering the custom concrete counter top. It is being handled by Mark at Masolite our first venture with this product. They can use the grill as we have installed a temporary counter. Craig called yesterday and they are now thinking about getting a small hot tub and placing it outdoors, looks like we will need to make a couple design changes. The Ohio State logo in the paver patio looks great, we were going to paint it scarlet, gray and white but Craig and Jane like it just the way it is, me too it is subtle.

The patios, walks, porches and steps are now complete and we have begun some planting. Three 7' Canadian hemlocks went in along with three 5' Chicago lustre viburnums, the foundation of the property line privacy screening. We will install a few more shrubs next week then we are about as far as we can go until the irrigation is installed. I know everyone is anxious to see the dirt yard go away.

The fence has been removed from Trish and Doug's in preparation for irrigation and the new fence talk about instant privacy loss, it sure opens up their yard. We installed three 8' multi-stem Ivory silk lilac trees and three 8' multi-stem Serviceberry to provide a bit of privacy and make the baseballs, volleyballs and soccer balls easier to chase down. Trish has a young, active, athletic family and they need a lot of yard for sports and games.

Terry will work on Trish's irrigation next week then we will be able to seed the yard. We do not like having dirt any more than the customers as it is a constant erosion threat during heavy rain.

I would like to have the new fence installed before we complete the landscape beds but Trish wants to push forward with the plants since construction of the 300 plus foot, custom fence has not yet started. About half the fence is 8' tall and half 6' tall, it will be painted white and made from smooth cedar, let's get cracking on that thing Doug.

Since we were working on Lake Gage last week I stopped and took a photo of a job we did last year. There were existing concrete steps and plain concrete walls before we paved over the steps and another company put "lick em', stick em' ", (cultured stone) on the walls at this residence. The results are great but the walls need new plantings. There is an obvious need for retention at this property, the steep driveway is navigated by only the fearless. Check out The End.

Just Like HGTV

I hired a new guy, he started Monday, he is the son of a longtime girlfriend. He got a rough initiation as we set new record high temperatures last week, topping out at 98 degrees mid week. The 100% humidity had em' dropping like flies, two employees called in during the week as they were experiencing heavy cramping, one of the signs of heat stroke and heat exhaustion. Water, vitamins and my favorite bananas will keep you out of trouble when the hot weather hits.

Our accomplishments last week were pretty close to our goals so it was a good week. Looks like we will be able to get back to the log cabin, with a thoughts that we will finish that next week. In addition Bills next project will be a water feature that has paver work too.

The permeable paver driveway, walk and patio on Lake Gage was wrapped up Wednesday and on Thursday we hit it with a big crew completing the landscape installation and clean up in one day. I think the Belgard, Subterra paver was the perfect choice and the Grey Mist color ideal. The idea behind permeable pavers is to allow rapid water absorption through the gaps between the pavers and the holes in the bottom of the pavers reducing the need for retention ponds on large commercial applications. For residental applications the pavers help homeowners restricted by hardscape to greenscape ratios extend their square foot ratio as the pavers count only 50% as much as concrete poured surfaces.

Here in Steuben County, Indiana we have a building code which states your hardscape (this includes the footprint of your house, driveway, walks, retaining walls, pavers, etc.,) can only be 50% of your total lot square footage, we call it the 50/50 rule. With the square footage of our customers on Lake Gage they would not have even been allowed to pour a concrete driveway. The permeable pavers changed all that and they got the drive, a walk and the patio.

This lot was very small. The landscaping is simple yet elegant and compatible with the young homeowners desire not to spend their time at the lake taking care of the yard. We sodded the lakeside yard and seeded the rest. We used Futura Blanket (the green stuff in the picture) instead of straw to hold the seed fearing the frequently windy location would have straw in Lake Gage in no time. Futura is used mostly on slopes but can but substituted for straw and will pop a lawn quickly as it holds moisture and hear extremely well.

Tornados, Driveways and Annuals

Talking about the weather is right up there with watching paint dry but it has been an unusual spring in Northeast Indiana. The wettest April and May on record, Sunday a small but F-1 tornado touched down on Clear Lake and Lake Gage was hit with particularly heavy winds over the Memorial Day week end. A pontoon boat was picked a hurled through the air landing on someones porch and there were multiple large trees uprooted. High water levels in the lakes due to excessive rain have resulted in "no wake" restrictions or in some cases prohibiting motorized boats period. This twisted garage was just one of several destroyed.

Despite the wild weather ride we managed to get over 500 man hours in last week, a new record for Millgrove Landscaping. Eleven people in the field, a bit of overtime and working longer hours on the clear days are helping us catch back up. Theresa is basically done with spring clean up and will concentrate next week on spreading fertilizer, she will be applying "Screaming Green," which as the name implies has high nitrogen. Flat after flat of annuals were installed this past week.

Trish and Doug's driveway is finished and it looks great. A test run with Trish at the wheel of Doug's full size pick up went pretty good. When Trish insisted I drive the truck the results were not as positive when I reversed, I am reverse challenged when driving. I still think it would have been wiser to make the driveway 9' wide instead of 8' but Trish says she will get used to it.

The Belgard permeable paver, Subterra is going down at Dan and Marla's and it is an awesome match to the house. Since the paver butts up to the stone work on the house it is especially rewarding that it looks so cool.

Over on Lake George we are taking a bit of a break from Jane and Craig's as we wait for the builder, Mike to bring the yard up to contractor grade, he is working on it and should be ready Friday. Our next steps in there are finishing up the grill, installing 24' of fence, some large hemlocks and then on to the main landscaping. Jane and Craig are all moved in with big grins, their new lake home is now home sweet home, almost finished except those darn landscapers.

We also started the first phase of landscaping for a log home off 327. Ryan is over there with a crew and they are installing large rocks (boulders), medium rock curbing (50-60 #) and riverwash in the beds. We will be taking a break from this job next week so I can put lots of bodies on finishing Jane and Craig's, then Trish and Doug's.

My blog, GMail account and all things google were lost to me over the Memorial Day week end.

I got a nasty virus imported by accident from a customer. The virus lay in my system for several days collecting address's and worming around. After several days the virus sent over 100 emails from my computer to people from my address book, trying to infect them. I am not sure if anyone opened those bogus emails but I hope not. It took me a lot of work and a visit to the computer Dr. to get my machine up and running. Be careful what you open in your emails.