Central Yard Part 8

This post is a compilation of bits and pieces that we have accomplished over the past few weeks; rather like taking a few old dog ends and mixing them together to make a fine Cuban panatela. 

It all starts one Saturday about three weeks ago when we had what we hope will be our last batch of topsoil delivered. What followed was the (by now) usual routine of filling barras and dumping the contents in the yard. 

This was enough to fill up the area at the mailbox side of the walkway...

...including around the irrigation valve boxes...

...top up the section behind the retaining wall...

...and fill out the central area.

Later the same day Amy Sheep and Delilah installed the first batch of plants in front of the house. This area does not have the over-ground irrigation yet, so hand watering is necessary for the time being.

Now that the area between the walkway and the steps which lead to the deck has been levelled out, we want to install an irregular paved pad. We had most of the slabs/paving stones already and managed to buy a few similar ones.

This is the ideal layout after a fair bit of back-and-forth with alternative configurations:

However, before we can properly install the paving, we need to bury the irrigation below this area. This may seem a bit counterintuitive since we just spent ages digging trenches for irrigation, but that was only part of the system.

The underground PVC pipe we previously installed delivers water to the uphill side of each zone. From there a flexible black pipe carries water back across each zone. The black pipe is buried just a couple of inches below the surface so that it can be easily relocated. Narrow "delivery tubes" can be spliced into the black pipe at a later stage; these spurs and subsequent branches can then direct irrigation water to each plant that needs it. The system is designed to conserve water compared to sprinklers which direct water onto walkways, driveways, unplanted areas etc.

We bought a 100 foot roll of pipe and got cracking. I didn't think to get my camera out until we were passing the walkway; this section of the pipe was burred a bit deeper so the walkway foundation can go on top without disturbing the irrigation pipe.

We need a fitting and a pressure regulator to put between the white and black pipe:

We also need a cap for the far end....and we need to do this all again for each of the other zones eventually...

OK, so back to the paving. I began by installing two strips of non-biodegradable bender-board - this is typically used as a boarder for walkways and patios by people who don't mind its plastic appearance. In this case the bender board will not be seen, so it doesn't need visual appeal or have to be perfectly parallel. Both strips were leveled and the secured with some timber pegs which are not visible n the photo. The dirt between the bender boards was dug out to about 1.5 inches below the top edges. 

The channel between the boards was filled with levelling sand which was compacted and screeded to the bender boards to give a flat pad:

This is after the paving stones have been installed according to the photo above. The slabs were not all the same thickness, which meant removing some sand from below the thicker ones and bit of faffing above, but was ultimately worth it.

This is later after the gaps between the paving stones were filled with topsoil. Amy Sheep will be planting ground cover of some sort in the gaps between the pavers. Stay tuned!