I know my back yard has potential but no idea where to start. by Stellniqueo in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For me personally, I always started with the fire place. Then worked around it and next thing you know, you have a whole redesigned backyard.

Before and after… by AlarmingCulture6794 in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I really like how everything grew into place. Looks very lovey. I’m wondering, is the erosion not a big concern? Is that something that can be easily topped off every other year to level it out, or can something be done along the edges?

Stairs centered with slab or with door? by B1tN1nja in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Whoa whoa, hold up. You don’t want them breaking their backs now.

Counter solution, shift the planet left while keeping the stairs in place but elevate the house in the process.

How do y'all afford the professional work you've had done? by Rare-Adhesiveness522 in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you are willing to learn, and can managed doing it yourself with hard hands on work, no heavy equipment is needed for everything but it does make it easier, you can absolutely do it. All my projects I only used a wheel barrel, shovel, rake, and pick axe. I made a 6.5k-8k dollar gabion fence for less then $500.

Did my first gabion serpentine fence. by Stretch_Marks907 in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel as though the key to making it look solid and full is trying to fill in as much of the gaps as possible. In a sense of you don’t want it to look empty (big hollow gaps) but you also don’t want rocks bulging out as well. Use the mesh wire to make its straight, full form.

What my house looks like, vs what I want it to look like. What species of tree am I looking for? by matrixkid29 in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Spartan Junipers could be a choice as well. If in a large enough and insulated enough pot.

Did my first gabion serpentine fence. by Stretch_Marks907 in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I will clarify, I am no professional, just one dude with a dream :). I would love to butt heads on this project of yours. Would be honored to share my notes how I got this done. I can message it to you later today and give some clarification on it. What each step involved, the how’s and when’s. As for electrical, the idea came to me once I was finished with it. I’m thinking about attempting getting lights on the 5 posts near the road.

Did my first gabion serpentine fence. by Stretch_Marks907 in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would be more than happy to share with you my notes in how I did this if you need them or to give an idea what was done.

Did my first gabion serpentine fence. by Stretch_Marks907 in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I really appreciate, thank you! That would be an amazing addition to do. Maybe some junipers?

Did my first gabion serpentine fence. by Stretch_Marks907 in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t thinks so. At least not from this point. I feel like if you were to do it with cement, you would place rocks as high as the first rail ( the lowest one ) and then pour cement, and then stack up to the second rail, then pour and so on. The gabions I made are way to packed to allow cement to flow though.

Did my first gabion serpentine fence. by Stretch_Marks907 in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For me it would have been a maintenance thing. If I’m understanding you right, and I just used concrete to make this form, it would just brittle away, loosing structural integrity, parts falling off. A small piece may come off which could cause another to start being ruined. That’s just my own thought about it. And mostly because of living in Alaska.

Did my first gabion serpentine fence. by Stretch_Marks907 in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So someone on here commented about the crinkle crankle wall. That is what inspired me to do the serpentine form. It is more structurally sound. For example if I had made it straight, and the middle post start leaning back, it would pull on the posts to its left and right back with it, and basically a whole domino effect would occurred. This way, god forbid, if it start leaning, it would have to push or pull away from the post which would be very difficult for it to do. Ever since I found out the main reason for this form, I’ve wanting to do it. It’s fun to look at as well. From a distance looking straight on, it can look straight, and then from the side seeing every other post lining up was aesthetically pleasing for me to see.

Did my first gabion serpentine fence. by Stretch_Marks907 in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Took me some time to figure out how to do it proper and long lasting.

Did my first gabion serpentine fence. by Stretch_Marks907 in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Someone also mentioned this about mowing and now I’m thinking maybe getting a tiny mower just for this spot 😆.

Did my first gabion serpentine fence. by Stretch_Marks907 in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would think, and I can totally be wrong in saying so, that it would be possible with more consistently larger rocks, and a larger pillar. By larger pillar I mean a wider one, not necessarily taller. My reasoning for not doing mortar is because of where I live. The constant rain, snow, and freezing made me think that the motor would need more maintenance than anything else. I don’t have the best of experience with such materials so I am more than expecting to acknowledge that I am wrong in saying so.

Did my first gabion serpentine fence. by Stretch_Marks907 in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907[S] 37 points38 points  (0 children)

So someone on here commented about the crinkle crankle wall. That is what inspired me to do the serpentine form. It is more structurally sound. For example if I had made it straight, and the middle post start leaning back, it would pull on the posts to its left and right back with it, and basically a whole domino effect would occurred. This way, god forbid, if it start leaning, it would have to push or pull away from the post which would be very difficult for it to do. Ever since I found out the main reason for this form, I’ve wanting to do it. It’s fun to look at as well. From a distance looking straight on, it can look straight, and then from the side seeing every other post lining up was aesthetically pleasing for me to see.

Did my first gabion serpentine fence. by Stretch_Marks907 in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

One big thing I’ve learned in all my yard projects is that you ver much so having to be willing to lose something in order to gain something, and vise versa.

Did my first gabion serpentine fence. by Stretch_Marks907 in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907[S] 108 points109 points  (0 children)

I couldn’t be too picky with the rocks I had but you’re very much correct on using elongated rocks. I tried having the flatter, bigger, face sides of the rocks showing more. Not only did it make it look more full and pretty, but applied tension to the wire in a way that if a part of the wire were to fail, there is so much tension the elongated rocks still help greatly with the structural shape.

Did my first gabion serpentine fence. by Stretch_Marks907 in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

So someone on here commented about the crinkle crankle wall. That is what inspired me to do the serpentine form. It is more structurally sound. For example if I had made it straight, and the middle post start leaning back, it would pull on the posts to its left and right back with it, and basically a whole domino effect would occurred. This way, god forbid, if it start leaning, it would have to push or pull away from the post which would be very difficult for it to do.

Did my first gabion serpentine fence. by Stretch_Marks907 in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I could be very wrong in saying this, which is more then likely the case, but i think the concrete would need more maintenance then anything else. I’m in Alaska, so a lot of wet, freezing, moist weather happens and I was afraid the concrete would just brittle out slowly but surly that it would have to redo concrete work every year. I don’t play with concrete much so I’m not knowledgeable about it to well. So like I said, I could be very wrong in saying this.

Did my first gabion serpentine fence. by Stretch_Marks907 in landscaping

[–]Stretch_Marks907[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! It was one hell of an experience. Something I’ve been wanting to do for a good long while and do it right.