Apparently our neighborhood was part of a very successful stone farm in the days before the developer divided up the lots and built houses. Even though the builder spread several inches of sandy loam before seeding the grass, we find that the land is still producing stones of all shapes and sizes. Hubby has harvested countless stones with his pick axe while digging holes for trees and rose bushes.
We recycle old plastic pots to gather the stones from the flower beds. More of them turn up each time I disturb the soil to plant or transplant. While planting all the trees last fall, we completely filled up the kids' red wagon with stones. Then we had to think of a place to put the bounteous harvest.
Some of them were shoved under the front porch, but it's getting harder to fit them in as the edges of the porch fill up. A few were hidden behind the air conditioner unit, where nothing but weeds grows anyway.
Our best idea was to spread stones at the bottom of our window wells. Hopefully the layer of stones will keep the weeds from sprouting, and I think they look nice. But we can't put many more stones down there and still have the wells function as fire escapes, if needed.
I have stones on the brain because I spent all of March dealing with kidney stones. I finally had to go to the hospital to have an especially large one broken up with shock waves. I'm still waiting for all the pieces to make their painful exit. Then I can stop taking pain meds and start doing my spring gardening chores.
All of this has given me a great idea: I should perform a shock wave procedure on my soil and blast all of the stones into nice little sandy-sized pieces. Then I'd dump some compost on top and have excellent soil - maybe we could even throw the pick axe away! But that isn't going to happen, so I'll keep scratching my head as we try to figure out what to do with our regular stone harvest. Any ideas?
Gee, when we first moved here I made rock walls, then circled all my shrubs with rock (my shrubs line the driveway), rock walkways to the doors and like you...I've put many around the foundation. NOW, I have a giant hole at the edge of the yard to fill in. Maine grows rock and it is too bad we couldn't use it for great drainage under the garden beds.
ReplyDeleteWow VW what a time you have had. I like the rocks/stones under the deck or porch. One of our areas in the Learning Garden is a rock garden. Lots of rocks, a little soil and some smaller stones to dress it-- but it is full of sedum, rock cress, and other xeriscape type plants. That could be one possibility.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry about the stones in your yard and in your kidneys:( At least the stones in your yard look nice. All the ones in mine are just brown:(
ReplyDeleteAs for your kidneys, I work at a health supplement store, and we have a lot of people that get kidney stones that are extremely painful. I know what works for them is the "Lemonade Diet". Doctor Hulda Clark, recommended this to break up the kidneys and to have pain free passing of the kidneys out of your body. You can Google the the "Lemonade Diet" also known as the "Master Cleanse" and get some info on it. It has been around for over 50yrs and many people have had great success with it. Obviously consult your doctor before doing anything, since I am not a professional. But I thought this might be helpful, cause I have seen the pain that people go through with kidney stones!
As soon as I saw your post title I thought of your kidney stones :) Hope that's over and done with soon. I know from personal experience that it is not a pleasant thing to deal with.
ReplyDeleteWe've done the same with stones, putting them under our deck and piles behind trees. Maybe you can put an ad on Craig's list for free stones :)
Ouch - poor you (kidney stones)
ReplyDeleteWe have made some paths with ours - but they are a bit uncomfortable to walk on, but look like a dry riverbed.
Oh VW~~ I feel for you. I hope relief comes soon and you can get back to the business of gardening. Whatever you do, promise me you WON'T get rid of the stones. :)
ReplyDeleteHave you thought about a dry stream bed? I love how they hint at a cooling creek where there is none. Also I was just reading through a past issue of Fine Gardening and in the tips section a reader wrote that she uses rocks to label plants. She writes the names of plants on both sides of a rock, then placed it beside the plant. When the writing fades she can turn the rock over to refresh her memory.
There are lots of fun ways you can accent your border plantings with rocks. For example, three or four flat ones can be stacked and placed next to a low growing ornamental grass. They can be grouped around bergenia or heuchera with a shallow water bowl to add interest.
There was nary a rock on my property when we moved here. We've trucked in so many it makes my back hurt just thinking about it. Digging them out seems like a small price to pay for priceless garden art. (I know. I'm a bit of a fanatic. :)
I have stones on the brain because I spent all of March dealing with kidney stones. I finally had to go to the hospital to have an especially large one broken up with shock waves. I'm still waiting for all the pieces to make their painful exit. Then I can stop taking pain meds and start doing my spring gardening chores.
ReplyDeleteAll of this has given me a great idea: I should perform a shock wave procedure on my soil and blast all of the stones into nice little sandy-sized pieces.