Initial Landscape Work

Spring came, the architect is finalizing the plans with our builder. We have a landscape plan. We are ready to start. Frankly, after 6 months, we are ready to move in ... but that is still a year away.

The site had hundreds of scrub alder trees that were growing where the house was going to be built. The lot also had test holes for septic perk testing. Rather than sit on our hands and go crazy waiting, Chris and I went to work doing the things we could do ... clearing the site of useable vegetation.

The landscape called for paths around our water feature and into the woods. There also were a few wildflowers that Tamisha had spotted that could be saved.

We cleared the site of the alder and transplanted the vegetation that we wanted to save. The trees were chipped and left in a pile so that they could be used around landscaping put in during the fall or on the paths we will be creating while the house goes up.

With our daughter, we collected and relocated rocks for use in retaining walls as part of the landscape plan. This was a waste of effort and nearly killed us. We found that there are so many rocks on the site uncovered during construction that we had more than enough for use later.

Bottom line, look at the BuiltGreen checklist, figure out what can be saved or salvaged before you start and save it for later use. In any event, it is always a good for the body and soul to get outside, on a beautiful day to work in the woods.

We welcome your comments on this site.
You can email Christine Garst at cbgarst@aol.com
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Sunday December 17, 2006 05:34 PM -0800