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Landscaping

3K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  Van 
#1 ·
anyone do it?

i want to build raised flower beds around the front deck as seen below. not sure what material to make it ut of and what i need to do to the foundation wall before i put dirt up against it.

house is a cape coddy looking thing when you see it from the front. wood painted white? cedar? natural stone? pavers?

plus the flagstone walkway will be getting relaid...

cheers

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#2 ·
I don't know much about landscaping, but I like your mock-ups. The stone one looks the best to me. Maybe those interlocking landscape blocks? They make a nice retaining wall. I helped a friend with a large wall project using the large interlocking blocks, and it's a lot of work, but not all that difficult. The most important thing is setting a solid level foundation. The rest is just placing blocks.
 
#3 ·
Photo chops look nice.... but not really a good idea to do this.

1. You'll be setting yourself up for water damage to the house.

2. Possibility of termite damage also if you use mulch in the flower bed (if you have termites that far North). :lol:

3. If you plant anything like shrubs or ground cover (Ivy), the roots could cause damage or the ground cover will eventually find its way into the foundation, house or worse, the septic system.

It looks like the main floor of the house is raised, do you have a basement or crawl space below that?

If you do decide to put it against the house.... make sure you waterproof the foundation walls with a liquid sealant, then use some heavy duty rubber liners (20-40mm thick). Also, make sure you have plenty of drainage pipes slanting down hill away from the house (perforated pipes with soil protectors).

Best thing to do is to keep at least 18'' of clear space between the outside walls and the flower bed to keep moisture and termites away.

HTH
Van
P.S. That downspout looks like a good location for a rainbarrel. :D
 
#4 ·
van your points really make sense. i have had a few conversations about this and everyone seems to agree..

so here's the winner - going 6x6 timbers around with cedar mulch or chip or something like that that is easy wheezy maintence freezy.

very simple shrubs along the side of the deck cause its like 90% shaded. put whatever the wife likes in the front and same under the window on the right

and still redo the walk
 
#5 ·
Red, I live in a Log Home so I learned that any beds that are around the house are built out of red concrete edgeing blocks and then I use weedblock and those red volcanic rock chips for much. It looks pretty good and is fairly easy to maintain. the only problem with the rock chips is that on hot sunny days they get hot so you have to water the beds more to keep them moist. Probably not as much an issue up your way. Hey what happened to all that white stuff in your yard that you showed us a few weeks ago?
 
#6 ·
Instead of regular mulch (which needs to replaced every year) or the lava rocks (which, as noted, get hot and hurt your feet if bare footed), you could also use the new (somewhat) artificial rubber mulch.... more expensive then regular mulch (don't know about lava rock) but lasts IIRC 10-20 years.

Just my personnel opinion... but I would curve the walk where it stops at the steps and take out that large evergreen to open the patio view up some.

Van
 
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