One of the things pitiful gardeners should contemplate is how much they like or don’t like to garden. Or how much time they’ll spend at it realistically — especially the specific chores we don’t like so much. We shouldn’t bite off more than we can chew.
In the past, I’ve had more time to do this activity that I don’t naturally relish. I was willing to do so even in the rain because I didn’t want our yard to be the worst-looking plot on the block. I gotta say, living in a condo/townhouse and not having to worry about the common areas is a luxury to me! But I didn’t want a solid concrete backyard. I love flowers and green — I just know how much work they take. So I’m going to confine them to specific areas to eliminate weeds.
THE JOY OF RAISED PLANTERS
I decided how to make my work easier. In this patio remodel, I’m putting in raised planter beds. There’ll be a wide lip to sit on to make weeding go faster and more comfortably. Here’s the splurge for such a small space — today I’m having the crew put in automatic sprinklers. I just purchased all the parts this morning at Home Depot with Conzalo Melchior, Nick’s foreman. It cost about as much as doing a big yard. But as we edge toward retirement age, we want more freedom from the yard. Sure, this patch could be hosed down quickly. But we don’t want to ask someone else to have to do the watering when we’re away. Also, this will conserve water. It’ll be worth the extra expense.
The attention was on finishing the planters today. The other two crew members, Lupe Avilez and Alvaro Melchior (Conzalo’s dad, who must be in his 60’s) made up something called SpecMix. It was applied like a grout between the cement blocks. Then a goopy waterproofing material was spread all over the inside of the planters, including the base of the block wall. We don’t want it to deteriorate over the years. They threaded in the water lines and attached the risers for the sprinklers. Things are taking shape.
Now, I won’t be home for one of the most important days tomorrow. Friday I’m taking off to a conference that lasts through the weekend. I will miss the tiling of the planters. If I hadn’t bought the fireplace, causing the guys to spend the first day digging trenches, the tile would have been applied today when I was home. Drat.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT DECORATIVE TILES
When we were selecting a theme or look for the backyard, I was naturally drawn to cheerful colors. Living in LA, I like the bold Mexican sun-drenched tiles of yellow and bright blue, combined with terracotta. I can find that look most everywhere. But, I went the opposite direction. To tie in with the design of our building out front, we’re going for a more monochromatic and subtle Italian feel .
I have put a lot of effort into finding the right tile. I want a dark “floor.” We have an existing tan wall. So, the intention is to have the tile be the link between — a mix of dark slate mixed with tan and yellow. After visiting gobs of retail tile stores, I found just the right pattern. Beautiful colors. I even drove out 20 miles to the supplier, expecting that I could pick out each tile. Wrong! I could only buy closed boxes, all the tile being pre-selected for me. I was not too keen about this. I really cared about the color and pattern. This is not Home Depot or Lowe’s (who each only had one light-colored outdoor tile available), so I can’t take them back. I have to use whatever is in the box (and be happy about it). I ordered an extra box so I’d have enough to choose from.
INSTALLING THE ARBORS
While Conzalo finished up the planters, Lupe and Alvaro installed the arbor at each end of the patio. It’s pretty simple. Eight foot posts were attached to the existing fence posts. On either side of the posts were attached two 10×6 foot long boards. I’d wanted thinner boards, but Nick said they’d eventually warp covering that long of a span. Plus they needed to be sturdy enough to support the bougainvillea I plan to entwine across them — not just for the splash of color, but to help block the neighbor’s upper story.
PLANNING THE TILE PATTERN
After the crew left, I decided it would be smart to lay out the tile. Boy was I shocked when I opened the boxes. They contained so few dark slate pieces! Piece after piece was light grayish with no variation — boring, blonde, and bland. Almost nothing looked like the sample I’d gotten from the showroom. Nick had explained that when you work with natural stone, you can’t predict for sure how they’ll look from the quarry. No two boxes will be alike — or like the old display sample. That’s why I’d wanted to pick out the tiles myself.
I was glad I’d opened the boxes, as I could see I’d have to carefully piece out how I wanted the tiles to be fixed to the planters. Beyond that, I discovered several broken tiles — and wouldn’t you know, they were dark ones. I zoomed off to the store, since it was nearly closing time. I raced in with my splinters, only to be told that the manager would have to stop at the tile yard on his way into work in the morning. Yikes. A hurried call to Nick asking him to stop by the store to pick them up in morning calmed me down a little.
For the next two hours back at home, I arranged the tiles as the light faded into black. I had to be so careful not to drop any of those heavy 16″ pieces. I couldn’t afford even a corner chip. I stacked the plainest ones in a corner, labeling them with a “boring” sign. Only if there was a disaster did I want the guys to use them tomorrow. It occured to me that I should number the tiles on the back with a sharpy, and put a direction arrow on them as well. But alas, it was dark and I had yet to pack. Plus I had to get up at 4:00 a.m. in just a few hours. So, I prayed that the guys would clearly understand my intent.
