Wow! What a spring it has been so far, dealing with snow into April and getting a late start on landscaping has put our spring into fast forward. This last month of May has been one of our busiest months we have had in some time. As every year, once we get through May it seems as we can breathe a little easier with everything going on at Pahl’s. Landscaping this last month has been fun and very busy with roughly four or more jobs going in a day. For this month I will be sharing a landscape project that was done in Apple Valley on the front and side of the client’s home.
First Step:
I first met with the homeowner back in January in the middle of winter. There was definitely snow on the ground so it was tough to see what we were really working with and to get exact measurements to bid the project. Luckily a few weeks later it decided to warm up enough for the snow to melt and I was able to get back to get a clear vision of the landscape. The homeowner just recently moved to the area and he was wanting something kind of like he had at his previous home. The project consisted of removals and disposal. Installing a retaining wall, and a walking path. We also did a dry stream river bed, drain tiling, edging and mulch.
Demolition:
On the morning of May 14th I met the crew at the job site and marked out the bed lines for the retaining wall, dry stream river bed, walking path and drain tiling. Once everything was marked and the crew had a clear idea of what was taking place they began to remove all the rock around front and side foundations. Sod was removed from the front retaining wall bed and we dug out where the retaining wall and drain tiling was going.
Installation
Retaining Wall:
As they finished up the removals it was time to start the installation process. They first began with the retaining wall adding in 6” of class 5 for the base of the wall compacted in 1” lifts. Once the base was done they began to lay the first course and build up from there adding boulder fabric and ¾” drainage rock behind the wall as well as adding a cap to the top layer of the wall to give its finished look. The retaining wall was built using Anchor Diamond Stone Cut wall block Chestnut Tan color and Anchor wall cap Chestnut Tan color.
Drain Tile:
After the wall was complete they added two catch basins, two pop-up emitters and drain tile coming from the downspout to divert the water away from the house.
Dry Stream River Bed:
The dry stream river bed was next to be installed and that consisted of digging a swale for the water to flow away from the corner of the back foundation. Landscape poly and an adding an assortment of different size rock and boulders to achieve the look of natural river bed.
Walking Path:
The walk path was put in for the homeowner to be able to have a clear path from his front side walk to the side of his house to access his water spicket. This consisted of laying down landscape poly to prevent weeds, adding 18 aggregate stepping stones 16” round and 3/8” river rock (pea gravel) to be laid throughout the walk path.
Finishing Touches:
Once the retaining wall, drain tile, river bed, and walking path were installed in was time to add the finishing touches. The crew placed soil throughout the landscape beds to build up and slope away for the house. Poly edging, weed preventer (Preen) and western red cedar mulch was added to finish the project.
After the project was completed I did a walk through with the homeowner and he was ecstatic. He mentioned how great it was to work with the crew and how detailed and polite they were through the process of his project. Stay tuned next month for another beautiful landscape done by Pahl’s.
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