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Thursday, June 2, 2011

Yard Work 2011: Dry Stack Rock Planter

It seems that May is the month for yard work around here.  Last year, we busted our butts clearing out overgrown brush (and even filled a 30 foot dumpster!).  And this year?  We've been moving plants around, removing trees, planting grass... and building a dry stack rock planter!  It was a really fun project and I'm going to share the step-by-step process with you today.  Talk about instant gratification.  This project cost us ZERO dollars and about an afternoon of hard work.


Here's how it went down...

We started with the Walnut tree in our front yard.  It's a very large tree that stands prominently to the side of our house.  Since we have large rocks scattered all throughout the yard (in a flower bed here, behind the shed there...  they're sort of all over the place), my husband came up with the brilliant idea of collecting all the rocks and building a dry stack rock wall around the Walnut tree.  I thought "This is a great idea!" and at 4pm on a Sunday afternoon, we started working...

What's a "dry stack wall", you ask?  It's basically a rock wall without any mortar.  Stacked rock.  Dry, please. 
Simple as that.


Soooooo....

(bean boots)




At this stage in the game, it was after 8pm and the street lights came on. 
I think our neighbors thought we were crazy-- we stacked rock until it was dark! 


I must tell you...




And, this is what that tree looks like today!


Let's take another look, shall we?


(up close and personal with the dry stack)


Doesn't it look great?  We're so psyched about it. 
Plus, it makes for a much better view when enjoying the front porch. 


Do you guys remember what this yard looked like last year???



This is a wide shot from today:




Such a difference.


Can we talk about grass seed for a sec?  We tried both Scott's aaaaand Pennington's.  At about $50.00 a bag, you don't want to buy the wrong seed...  so, if I can help you out?  Pennington's is better.  And they are not paying me to say that.  For our yard, it was just better.


Hope that helps all you homeowners out there who have a difficult lawn.


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15 comments:

  1. KarenaJune 2, 2011 at 11:54 PM

    Kelly it is so amazing to see what one can accomplish! I love to see the before and afters!! Beautiful.

    Xoxo
    Karena

    Art by Karena

    Be sure to Come and enter my amazing $250 giveaway from Tracy Porter

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  2. Emily | RecentlyJune 3, 2011 at 12:51 AM

    I love it when you post these projects because I get to use them as "hints" to my husband! Example: "Oh look honey at this amazing rock project on High Street Market! Doesn't it look great? We could SO do that!" Now, let's just hope it works. :) Thanks for the inspiration!

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  3. RAENOVATEJune 3, 2011 at 7:07 AM

    shazam, that looks awesome! we're in a similar boat this year but our lawn isn't quite as sprawling as yours. keep up the amazing work!

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  4. Linea RJune 3, 2011 at 7:31 AM

    the job is incredible!
    I love seeing the before and after, and the truth in your garden has been great!

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  5. DesireeJune 3, 2011 at 8:44 AM

    oh wow! looks amazing!! and thanks for the tip on the grass seed :)

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  6. ErfsJune 3, 2011 at 10:21 AM

    Wow - what a difference! Your hard work definitely paid off :)

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  7. Cindy @ a curious gardenerJune 3, 2011 at 11:21 AM

    wow, that looks great, wonderful idea! So much fun to have a satisfying project that you and Hubby can do yourselves and your house is so handsome!

    stylishserendipity.blogspot.com

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  8. AnonymousJune 3, 2011 at 11:51 AM

    the tree and the grass look SO much better. Your yard rocks!

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  9. RebeccaJune 3, 2011 at 2:04 PM

    My goodness you did a smashing job on that rock planter! And your yard is just lovely!

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  10. MelissaJune 3, 2011 at 4:26 PM

    Ya'll are gooooood. Really. We have dry-stacked stone planter/retaining walls in front of our house, and the former homeowner decided to watch the mason work, then do the walls lining our driveway himself. We have popped FOUR tires from random pieces of fieldstone that have fallen out of the driveway walls under our wheels in the night. Yours is so level and well-built!

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  11. JanaJune 3, 2011 at 9:13 PM

    Thanks for the great idea. There is a tree in our yard that is going to get this treatment very soon.

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  12. AnonymousJune 3, 2011 at 9:15 PM

    I asked my husband about the Pennington seed, and he has used it also instead of Scotts with much better success...of course, all that rain does help! Thanks for your blog...I'm really enjoying it.

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  13. SaraJune 4, 2011 at 12:08 PM

    Maybe a silly question but how did you get that perfect circle and make it so level? Magic?

    thanks for your great homeowner tips!
    - Sara

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  14. Heidi S.June 4, 2011 at 1:59 PM

    Kelly it looks great, but for the health of the tree I recommend pulling the mulch back from the trunk about 6". It will minimize the chance of bugs or rot at the base. Also for anyone looking to do this you want to be careful about regrading around trees. If you add a lot of dirt around the roots you can suffocate the tree.

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  15. KeelyJune 5, 2011 at 6:53 PM

    Wow, seems like such a simple thing but it makes such a huge difference - looks great! I am so jealous of your yard - definitely nit something we can get here in LA!

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