Backyard water garden build begins!

[GBBUDD]

First rule is to give your rocks somewhere to sit on so they don't keep sliding or shifting , its all about a stable and firm foundation then you can build from there.
A STREAM is erosion where water over the years cuts into the landscape creating a depression where the soils have been washed away. trying to get said waters to ride on the surface without a depression is a heck of a challenge . Berms are great but best left as a last resort or as a means of leveling up a low side. if the hole is able to be deeper instead of building upwards one row of rock on the sides and top would have been needed instead of having to cover two sides and a wide top. But i'm looking at photos that are terrible at depth perception so i maybe way off

fantastic picture , should have placed that in the sunrise photo contest.

 

[combatwombat]

Wow. What a sanctuary. Beware of @GBBUDD. His solution is always to keep digging!

 

[GBBUDD]

NOPE HATE CARRYING STONE UP HILL

 

[Lisak1]

Nothing helpful to add except to comment on what a boon those rock bags are - when we first had stone and gravel delivered it was just dumped into the yard from a truck - I was picking stone out of the grass for weeks. The bags make it soooooo much easier!

 

[Rabungalow]

and so Tetris begins

 

[GBBUDD]

Some pretty big boulders your using! And i'm guessing your doing this all by hand... but if i'm not mistaken your not putting any fabric under them ? fabric is a cheap insurance and that only helps to prevent a cut tear or puncture.

It's funny the previous pic looking back to the house looked like there was a elevation change of 6 to 8 feet but your most recent pic looks like its only a couple feet at best.

 

[Rabungalow]

@GBBUDD My younger brother and I are moving the boulders by hand. Used the gorilla cart to get them into the backyard and then using the old maximum effort to lift them into place. Luckily we are both in our 30s and not exactly small guys so we can manage them. Any bigger and would’ve required a machine. I do have plenty of left over fabric I just figured since I was laying them in by hand I’m being extremely careful of the placement, but I agree I should be putting it down. Right now my main concern is stability for safety of children and while I’m making it so not one rock budges I still may be using something else to bond the rocks.

 

[GBBUDD]

@GBBUDD My younger brother and I are moving the boulders by hand. Used the gorilla cart to get them into the backyard and then using the old maximum effort to lift them into place. Luckily we are both in our 30s and not exactly small guys so we can manage them. Any bigger and would’ve required a machine. I do have plenty of left over fabric I just figured since I was laying them in by hand I’m being extremely careful of the placement, but I agree I should be putting it down. Right now my main concern is stability for safety of children and while I’m making it so not one rock budges I still may be using something else to bond the rocks.

one trick you can do is pull out the lower level rock fill behind it with gravel making sure you leave some of the boulder sticking up above the gravel and then place the next boulder behind it. the lower boulder will help hold it in place.

 

[GBBUDD]

have you seen us talking about using fabric as a sling to carry boulders. now mind you the thinner the fabric the lighter the boulder it will carry before ripping

 

[Rabungalow]

have you seen us talking about using fabric as a sling to carry boulders. now mind you the thinner the fabric the lighter the boulder it will carry before ripping

Going to give it a try going forward. However, I believe I need another 2 tons of boulders as I didn’t account for how quickly they’d disappear when used to stack. Now that I’m seeing it come together it’s all I’m thinking about. MORE ROCKS !

 

[GBBUDD]

Welcome to the club . I'm all about Rock the bigger the better or the louder the better with rock n roll definately an obsession with them both. I have 9 super sacs of stone in my driveway now with 7 more arriving today

 

[Rabungalow]

Progress for today. Definitely need another pallet of boulders. I tried to order today, but they were sold out. Need to keep checking back until they restock. Going to transition back to filling up the bog with rock since they aquablocks I ordered arrive tomorrow.

 

[GBBUDD]

Love panoramas ! they at least give a little perspective. Are you rocking along the ponds edge and bog walls and going with the liner below?
surprised jersey landscaper is out of rock , it appears you using native

 

[Rabungalow]

@GBBUDD I plan to leave the lowest section of the pond walls as liner as it will be hidden by the first shelf which will be completely rocked in. Not quite sure about the surrounding perimeter of the bog. I’m sure I’ll lay some stone around it, but it’s a fine line of not laying to much stone. I’ll be mulching the entire hillside when I’m finished and planting. The large boulders are Pennsylvania fieldstone. They had 4 pallets that would’ve worked for me, but someone already tagged them so I got to wait.

 

[GBBUDD]

Oh i'd be willing to bet there are other suppliers in your area who sells those. if you call around and tell them you need 4 to 6 pallets you find someone to bring them to you