Welcome to February’s article. It was a difficult decision for me to either show a completed landscape or to show one of the current jobs we are working on. I eventually decided upon the later however, if you would like to see completed landscapes, please go to our website, executivecare.com, and click on “publications”, or “gallery”. You can also view them at https://www.thmnorthernca.com/, which is the website of this magazine. This should help you with ideas and looks that you might be considering.
Now for the article. When you look at the before pictures, you will see that our task was to convert a weedy hillside and a run-down garden into what you see now. I am a big advocate of having gardens and some fruit trees. This job is located in Fair Oaks. I love having gardens, we have twelve at the shop. I always marvel at how via Creation all our needs can be met. Many of our clients prefer to buy their food, not believing they know enough or have time to grow a garden. It always saddens me a bit because of the missed opportunity to educate the children or grandchildren. It is a super lesson for them to learn, and to pass the skill of growing food on so that they in turn can provide for their families is a huge benefit. There is no substitute for the gratification experienced by working in the garden, getting your hands dirty, and eating food that you have had a hand in growing. As my life slows down, and I turn the reigns of Executive Care over to my Foremen, I want to start teaching classes at our shop. For now, when Executive Care is hired to do a job, and the client is wanting a garden, or if I can convince them with just a little arm wrestling, 😊 I will educate them on gardening. For those of you that do not need a landscape but want a garden, call me. If there is enough interest in gardening, I can post “Gardening for Beginners” on my website.
Like most of us, we barely have enough time to do more than just the basics: work, raise a family (or a grandchild as in our case) and tend to the most immediate needs of the home. Our clients Jason and Kristy have a young family. They are both working, and when not working, Jason spends time working on their home. The time to improve their land, which is about ½ acre, is just not there. Also, it is mostly sloping, so it’s more than a one-man job. I am only showing the slope closest to the home. Other projects will come later, but the garden and lawn area projects were priority for them. Jason in particular shared my sentiments on gardening. Coming from a background of having gardens, this was important to him. I agree with them in using the sloping areas for the gardens when level ground for lawn is limited. However, as a disclaimer, know that the more difficult the terrain is to modify, especially if it must be enclosed because of the deer, the project can become a bit pricey. There is a lot that goes into building what you are seeing. Drainage, irrigation, lumber cost, tons of brackets, poles, and fixtures etc. All these things are part of doing it right. However once done, it will easily last 20 years. That is a lot of grocery savings, not to mention super healthy food.
The challenge of building the garden is obviously the slope. Not only did it slope from top down, but it also sloped away from the house (from east to west) making it a bit more challenging. Kristy and I had an appointment a year ago to discuss their project and to give her a “gut” estimate of cost. As of a month ago she called us to start. I was grateful that she remembered us. As mentioned, we needed to enclose a portion of the garden because of the deer. This area will be for the vegetables. The open area is for fruit trees, flowers, and bushes. We will deter the deer by using impact sprinklers that “see” and come on when critters are present. Bordering close to the American River, they have no lack of nocturnal animals. The project has been great, but it has had its share of surprises. Like any slope job, until we put a laser to it (for grading), it is difficult to see how unlevel it is. And by the time you add your first set of boards, you become acutely aware that you are dealing with a greater slope than what was initially seen. This is especially true when weeds are masking the slope, which is what I saw and made the estimate from. In doing landscapes, especially slopes, I like to make sure that the clients understand that costs can increase. Most slopes have problems with soil content. Folsom, El Dorado Hills, and Rocklin can have very rocky ground, and even underground boulders which at times have caused us to redo an entire terrace. However here, the soil is just soil, which is a nice break for the guys.
As of this writing (1/20) we still have the lawn area to finish. Currently, it is just a retaining wall with soil spread out. This upper corner of the property is the most level area, and the easiest area to add a lawn to. By building the lower retaining wall we can bring in enough soil to raise the grade and get close to having a level playing area. More soil, sprinklers and sod have yet to be added.
Gardeners, it is now early spring, and you should be thinking about carrots, kale, lettuce, beets, spinach etc.- all the cooler crops. If you like these, you can start them via seedlings in egg cartons or peat containers. It is still too early for the nurseries to be carrying vegetables. You want to start them in a green house, or a south or western facing window. Keep the seedlings moist, not wet, and as soon as they are about 3” tall, put them outside next to the house (for radiant heat, place them west or south wall). This will start hardening them off PRIOR to planting them in the garden. Until next time, Good Gardening. 😊