A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 My beautiful patio wall

Ok this is my first time posting photos..bear with me. I wanted to show off my beautiful circular patio wall I build ALL by myself. yay! It's dry stack flagstone and it took me about 4 months and a sore back. woo hoo! The curlycue end has a frog spitter fountain. http://photobucket.com/albums/f235/flycats/?action=view&current=circledone.jpg Here's a pic of the rest of the yard (excuse the missing fence section, it's all in now. P.S. The plants are still babies and still have some bare spots. This pic taken last October. http://photobucket.com/albums/f235/flycats/?action=view&current=overviewdone.jpg

Flycats, those are awesome looking pictures..

*but a tad too big... any chance of resizing those big guys...???* (Need to go back to your Photobucket account to do that)
They go off the page and for some people with dial~up, it makes it awefully a long time to pull the page up....

And ppllllllleazzzzzzzzzze keep those great pictures, comin'!!! We love photos'!!

OK! let me redo the pics. Can I delete my original post?

I resized the pics in photobucket but they're still big. DOH! I'm stumped.

OK I changed it to a link. Please bear with me. The pics are now smaller if you click on them>>THANKS!

Ohhhhh, Thank~Youuuuuuu!!
They are great!!!

Who did all that great stone work???

I did the stone work on the wall all by myself. I'm so gosh darned proud! The whole wall including the floor of the patio and sideyards took about 8 pallats of flagstone. that's about 12 tons. A couple of the top pieces are mortared on but other than that it's all dry stack..I would shape the stones with an angle grinder with a carbide blade..and then whack the pieces off with a rock hammer or sledge. I threw my back out at one point and had to take a break before I finished.

You should be proud,
that's an AWESOME BEAUTIFUL JOB!!

You could do that for a living, very professional looking!!

That's a big work out too...

Are you all done, or still working on it??

Thanks so much! I'm done with everything except filling in plants, etc. I planted a lot last Oct so the plants are still small, but of course there's stuff you have to wait to get in spring so I still have some holes to fill with other plants. There are no trees yet because there is a house being built behind me and I'm waiting to see which parts of it I want to screen. I would rather not have many trees because I don't want to shade the pool but I might put in some podocarpus to screen. I'll have to wait and see.

Hi there,


those pictures are amazing, you have done a fantastic job
it gives me hope as to what my back yard could be this summer

great job penny

Here's a closeup of the frog fountain. I threaded the pump plug through a PVC sleeve I built into the wall and then I had an electician put an outlet behind the wall where it plugs in.

http://photobucket.com/albums/f235/flycats/?action=view&current=fountain2.jpg

WOW! Beautiful! I'd imagine your back WOULD be sore... that's a lot of work! Can't wait to see more pics when the plants fill in! Keep up the good work!

Oh MY GOD!!! That is exquisite! I love circles in the yard, and other unusual shapes too! What a lot of work but certainly worth it, Enjoy!!! The other reason for not wanting trees to shade the pool is the mess of leaves too.

I knew Mel would like those ROCKS!!!

It's funny the first thing I thought of,
is my Irish background, and how the wee~irish folks where known for their rock wall building
when clearing fields back in the old country,
and my dad could build a PERFECT STONE WALL..
and me, well, lets' just say, I must not have ever gotten that gene, cause mine are all over the place and slidey and just don't look like it was ever meant to be..

But Flycats, you got the gene, and the knack for it and you're right on target...
*Lucky you*

Thanks everyone for looking! Actually I got the idea from an article in Better HOmes & Gardens magazine from 1999! I still had it hanging around. Someone in Carmel had a wall just like it built, except is was a little shorter and didn't have the raised planter part in the back. So I copied it right down to the frog spitter! HA!

Well, hey, that's why they post stuff like
that, so people get insprired and copy them..
You did a GREAT JOB!!!
Wish I could do something like that..
But a stone wall maker I am not..

You'll have to keep us posted on all the work you
do to it this coming summer...That will be great to see...

I love what you did with the patio wall. I may have to give it a shot myself and see what I can do...

How big is your pool? I am wanting a pool and saving up money to get it done. How deep is it?

Dianna

flycats...that wall is awesome!
That is a LOT of hard work. I would be so proud of something like that.

Did it take a long time to do it?
If I tried something like that I would probably get half way finished then decide to move the rocks someplace else. I have a bad problem with finishing something I start.

You certainly have a gift!

Wow thanks everyone! Sorry I haven't logged in in a week or so. The pool is an inground fiberglass pool. It is small, about 10 feet X 20 feet by 5 feet deep, made by Viking Pools. they will do everything for you and have the pool installed in just a few weeks. Inexpensive too, esp for the smaller pools.

As for the wall, yes it took me about 4 months total, weekends and some after work. I burned out early but had to finish it. I was originally going to do another one in the other corner and I said FORGET IT! Ended up selling the leftover flagstone to a friend. Used some of it in the sideyards. Keep in mind I had 8 pallats of this stuff originally (12 tons)! whew! It took a few days of cheap paid labor just to get it into the backyard. what a pain! literally, in the back!

Dianna, in case you were interested the pool was $25,000 including EVERYTHING..the pump, 3 feet of deck around the pool, equipment and starter chemicals. This is Nor. Calif. prices. there are viking pool contractors all over...check the website for your area. I think a regular gunite pool was at least $30,000 for the same size and the fiberglass has a lifetime guarantee...no replastering!