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Not sure if this is of interest to anyone , but I thought I would post our renovation process.
we are finally.... getting our dock and fixing our driveway so we won't have to drive through water all the time. We are finishing our fence too.
sadly it causes us to need to remove 22 trees and do some severe underbrushing for the fence people. I took some before pics and will continue to to take progress pics as we go.
In the "My banana project" I posted the first pics of the move of the banna tree.
Enjoy watching us work hard!
we can drive all around our house and come in from the back. The first pic is to the side of the drive where I alwyas park. The trees behind my truck will be gone So the last pic is the view from the back. Our drive is very long and can't get a good view in one shot so there a 3 of the drive from the street. The one that is "drive 4" is the view from the front of the court yard. All the trees and brush you see will be gone I have always prided myself on a low impact , small foot print. This is killing me but Tim insist we do it.
Looks like it will be a LOT of work!
So, you re going to raise the grade of the driveway? How high will you need to fill in with gravel so it'll be high enough to remain flood free?
Is the fencing for privacy/security?
Will be looking forward to the in progress pictures. I remember driving in from the road to get to your house, but didn't think it was that far but I guess it was...
Don't work too hard. You don't need to get it done overnight....
Lynn,
Boy this old stuff stinks. I didn't realize how hard I was working until I got up this morning .
Ron
Tim says 18- 24 inches to get us out of the water. That's a lot of dirt/rocks. We are going to cement part of it. Tree guy will be here next week. I have tons of plants to move. Moved over 100 bromilaids ,50 Shampoo gingers, a banana tree, and 2 Holly bushes. Still have about 6 small sagos.
We have had 6' no climb black ornamental on the front, but can't afford it down the sides and across the back. We are going with vinyl coated black chain link. I hope it disappears into the woods line. ;-)
Laurie
It looks longer than it is. It is about 300 feet from the road to the house.
Huge undertaking Nancie, it'll be great to see your progress over time. I'm with you about leaving a small footprint but if it stops your flooding problem, then it must be done. Think of all the fun you'll have deciding where to replant everything. Are the tree guys going to take it all away or will they mulch it for you? Love the pics too!
I'm back. The boys worked taking down some of the small trees this past week. Got a few more plants moved. Tree guy should be here today to start taking down the BIG trees. I'M NOT READY, still more plants to move, and as soon as I can see outside I need to get on it. I can't believe it is still dark out at 6:45 am. Sign of the season I guess. This should be the biggest impact to the project visually. I still really don't want my trees to go but as John said, if it solves our flooding issue I guess it is necessary. I bought a new truck a few weeks ago and really don't like the idea of driving through standing water. We are coming into our nor'easter season and it will be high water until about April, then hurricane season in June through Nov so it is never ending.
I should be posting pics either tomorrow or the next day.
anyone want giant aloe, Mexican Daisy's, Mexican petunias, bromilaids, or edible or shampoo gingers? Now is the time to get them from me. They are all out of the ground just let me know if you want any. Oh and spider plants too.
The guy came to begin taking down trees. I wasn't so bad with the 40 ft gum tree, but I wanted to cry when he took down the largest pine. It was a majestic 95 ft tree. I am so in awe of "Sammy" the guy doing the tree work, that even though I have regrets about the honored 75 year old tree coming down , I had to take some pictures. I know most people have seen trees come down before but this guy is awesome! I could not get the entire tree in one picture so I took a couple ref. pics for size.
Enjoy the pictures
I got a frame by frame set of the last limb coming down. You can actually see the falling bark in the last frame where the limb is clearing the bottom of the frame. That tree was sawying so much I thought it was going to throw him out. Almost like it was fighting for it's life.
I watched out trees come down a few times and was always very sad. We replanted our front tree with a live oak. It is starting to get a little growth since it started cooling down. I will be glad when we get shade back. We had a front yard full of shade and now only when you are standing beside the new tree. my hubby can't be a shade tree mechanic any more.lol
Watch out for those snakes girl with all the movement going on in your yard. I would be hanging from the ceilings inside the house.....lol
It's sad watching trees comes down but it will help dry up your yard and you will have more sunlight not that you want that in the hot summers you have..
3 days of work, one guy.
I post the before and after together so you can see the changes. I am really having a tough time with this. I have spent the entire last many year of my life preserving land and resources so this is not something I embrace. I loved my shaded areas and little gardens tucked here and there. I couldn't dig all my "fish hook" bromeliads I got a couple but they rest are gone they dropped trees on them and then scooped them up with a skidsteer. So glad I was sitting somewhere else! Anyway here are the transition pictures before and now. I will post final before and afters when it is all done. there are still a lot of trees and dirt work to be done so I am looking for "tropical" suggestions for planting. I am thinking lots of fruits and palms. Something that won't crack the driveway or endanger the septic.
You could not see the house from the street before.
All I know is that is tons of work there girl. Don't over do it as we are not 20 anymore. I have children to teach today. and I'm planning lessons for next week with number patterns. hmmmm. Still thinking about that one.
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