Phil and I decided to go ahead with a project we had planned to complete in 2019 and we’re glad we did. We now have a nice fire pit behind Two Holt. All of our flat spaces had been claimed—- the house, the sitting garden, the potting bench, Boots’ Run, parking. So we called our friend and grading contractor, Mark Rogers, to carve a large flat area out of the sloped lot behind our house. And he agreed to the job. Mark started the job and Phil staked out his observation stations! I had walked the land with Mark and shown him pictures and drawings two or three times prior to the beginning of the job so I was fairly certain he understood what I wanted. At the end of the first day, I KNEW we were in sync. The next phase was to bring in the large stones to build the back retaining wall and a smaller retaining wall in the front. Mark worked for a week creating our fire pit and the beginnings of walking paths through the back lot to the road behind Two Holt. Mark dug down a bit for the actual pit. Phil and I tried out the fire pit and immediately knew this would become our favorite outdoor spot. We began planting our Fire Pit Garden with plants we bought on clearance at Lowe’s which included three Dwarf Alberta Spruce trees... ...a red twig dogwood... ...a Kaleidoscope abelia... ...and several Rain Forest Morning hosta. I planted three Creeping Jenny plants in the retaining wall and will add many more plants as it becomes another living wall comparable to the one we created in a front garden near the road. We also planted a white blooming hybrid rhodie, Bloom Struck Hydrangea, and a Red Dragon Japanese Maple in the Fire Pit Garden. We began a Woodland Path Garden along the lower path leading away from the Fire Pit Garden by planting one Nana Cryptermia, four Lemon Lime Nandina, and a burning bush. Creating this garden will be an ongoing project as we add shrubs and understory trees beside the paths along with benches, a swing, and chairs to create garden destinations all the way to the very back of our property. Next it was time to spread gravel over the ground within the fire pit sitting area. This was a tough job for Phil and me. We unloaded over a full ton of gravel from Phil’s truck and carried it bucket by bucket up endless steps to the fire pit area. We found comfortable Adirondack chairs on a trip to Gainesville, Georgia. We bought four chairs (two are swivel glider chairs) and two small tables. But then we had to unload that VERY heavy furniture and carry it up to the fire pit. Here’s a view of the fire pit from the upstairs guest bedroom... And here’s the fire pit as we enjoy it today. You can see the tree stump grinder has not shown up yet. Hopefully he’ll be here soon. We still have finishing touches to add. I’ve ordered lumbar pillows for the chairs and we plan to add another whiskey barrel planter to this area. I’m on the lookout for a few other large pots to add, too. Next spring our gardening efforts surrounding this area will intensify. I hope to achieve a nestled-in-the-woodland look. Happy gardening, everyone!
1 Comment
10/14/2018 08:01:02 pm
Sharon and Phil. Bill & I so enjoyed this. You two are amazing. We need y’all to come give us some ideas. 😊 Such a joy to have met you both, especially since we too are making this our new home as well. Beautiful job! I know you are so happy and proud and you should be. Now you can relax and enjoy.
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Phil & SharonMarried 40 years and hoping to enjoy many more! Archives
December 2019
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