6 months later, and I've made about 1 month's worth of progress! Between traveling much of the summer and losing my primary helper to the woes of pregnancy, not a ton has happened.
The broken gas line was fixed, I finished running irrigation to the existing beds near the lawn and to the back bed, and I put all the pavers back. Then a week or so ago, I had some family in town and they helped me form and pour a footer for the front of the raised bed in back. I decided just stacking stone on the pavers wasn't going to cut it. I'm just doing the one large bed for now; the other can wait or a year or two. My gate was denied by the HOA, but I don't care at this point since I'm not building that part yet. Plus, I'm about to join the landscaping review committee...if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right? I'll just build it later, whether they like it or not.
Now I have some decisions to make, and opinions are welcome.
- I have to build the wall out of something. I put some vertical rebar in the footer so I can use concrete block to make the wall, then face it with some kind of stone. Or, I could follow my original thought and build the whole thing of stacked stone, mortared on the backside to hold it together but so the mortar won't show from the front. I think the stacked stone will be easier to follow the curves than block; a bit more expensive though
- I have to run the irrigation lines from where they are right now (in the bucket) across the bed to the other side. I can run it on top of the existing ground surface (more stable substrate) or I can raise them up nearer the top of the bed (more accessible for repairs). I can run them in the back of the bed (straight lines) or in the front (more accessible) since 1/2" pvc is pretty flexible. I'm thinking shallow and in the front.
The broken gas line was fixed, I finished running irrigation to the existing beds near the lawn and to the back bed, and I put all the pavers back. Then a week or so ago, I had some family in town and they helped me form and pour a footer for the front of the raised bed in back. I decided just stacking stone on the pavers wasn't going to cut it. I'm just doing the one large bed for now; the other can wait or a year or two. My gate was denied by the HOA, but I don't care at this point since I'm not building that part yet. Plus, I'm about to join the landscaping review committee...if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right? I'll just build it later, whether they like it or not.
Now I have some decisions to make, and opinions are welcome.
- I have to build the wall out of something. I put some vertical rebar in the footer so I can use concrete block to make the wall, then face it with some kind of stone. Or, I could follow my original thought and build the whole thing of stacked stone, mortared on the backside to hold it together but so the mortar won't show from the front. I think the stacked stone will be easier to follow the curves than block; a bit more expensive though
- I have to run the irrigation lines from where they are right now (in the bucket) across the bed to the other side. I can run it on top of the existing ground surface (more stable substrate) or I can raise them up nearer the top of the bed (more accessible for repairs). I can run them in the back of the bed (straight lines) or in the front (more accessible) since 1/2" pvc is pretty flexible. I'm thinking shallow and in the front.
Hoping to have plants in it by spring...I should make it. The bed is entirely done now (pictures don't show it quite finished), and we're having some new fences built. I had a little scare with the fences, since the guy who is building them told me that they would not meet code if we just shortened them...since now a kid could get a foothold on the new raised block wall. He's going to talk to the city and we'll probably build the whole thing out of various densities of mesh.
With a new baby, there's just no time. They say "if you want something done right, do it yourself", and boy I wish I had been able to. It looks good, but there are some small things that annoy me already. I'll probably get over it. 
I have 3 or 4 wheelbarrow loads left, which will help as the soil settles a bit.
