On Nov 26, 3:59�am, "Val" wrote:
"Scott Hildenbrand" wrote in message

...

Just a chit-chat thread..
One close to the top would be to build a nice flagstone or other style
rock patio with 2" of space between the rocks for plantings.. Since we
have a larger yard now I may end up doing that within a few years...
Maybe..

I made a lovely patio out of recycled concrete. On my way home from work one
day I saw a construction crew tearing up old sidewalks. They were just
lifting it with the teeth of the back hoe bucket and dropping it to break
enough to put in the dump truck. I costs a lot of money to dump in a
landfill so......I asked the guy if they'd like to dump that concrete in my
yard, about a mile away....SURE! It was in nice big, random shape and sized
pieces and about 4" thick. They dumped the whole load next to my driveway. I
had 3 big teenaged boys at home then so grunt labor wasn't a problem �I
laid out my patio area, dug down six inches, slight grading AWAY from the
house, laid down a good two inches of coarse sand and then supervised the
boys in placement. We did have to make a tripod and rig a block and tackle
to move a few larger pieces. They also learned to use a level. I just told
the boys these were valuable life skills .....I won't tell you their
grumbling answers to that but they learned it was better to do what Mom
asked at a very early age. (The wrath of unhappy Mom aint pretty.)

I had anywhere from 2-6 inches between the concrete slabs, some pockets I
left even bigger. After it was all set and leveled I filled in with some of
the soil I removed and planted a variety of dense growing creeping plants,
most scented. Lemon thyme, the tiny mint, there was some teeny prehistoric
fern looking thing and little blue star flowers, etc. In the larger pockets
I planted edelweiss, snow drops, miniature narcissus and these tiny little
red tulips. It really looked stunning. The soil I dug out I just piled and
made mounds for a couple of flower beds, more interesting than "just flat" I
think.

When people walked over it and in the evenings the scent was wonderful. The
little bulbs popping up through the last of the snow and early spring made a
nice scene. By the time it was nice enough to be outside the bulb leaves had
died down and the creeping plants grew right over the top. After the second
year it took only about 5 minutes of weeding a few times a year because the
ground cover was so thick.

It took me one full weekend to dig this out, grade, level and spread sand.
One Saturday afternoon to supervise "life skills" and help with setting the
slabs and I planted Sunday morning. The only cost was sand and plants, lots
of picturesque bang for the buck.

Val

Sounds really nice... post some pictures.