Asheville landscaping: Dry Stone Walling

We have been working hard this week to complete a natural stone, dry stacked retaining wall. 

Dry stone walling is an ancient craft. Some say it dates back to more than 5000 B.C. 
This is a picture of a dry stacked wall in Peru, laid by the Incan people.

Dry stone walling is a technique that requires no concrete or mortar. The stone is stacked tightly together and gets strength from the connection each stone has with each other.

A properly built dry stacked wall can last for hundreds of years. 

Below is a video from the landscaping and dry stone walling project we just completed. We used a Moria Ledger stone that was capped with an Autumn Flame Select stone for this wall.



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Landscaping in Santa Cruz: The Evolution Of A Mailbox

~I got a call from a client of mine in San Jose last month to re-work his front yard landscape.
We installed this waterfall into his pool last year and he was very happy with our work.


In the design phase of his new front yard landscape, we noticed his mailbox could use an upgrade.

He had installed this mailbox in the early 1980's. It had since become overgrown, and almost hidden, in the Juniper hedge.


We decided to remove the hedge and build a new veneer stone mailbox pillar. 


We also designed a front entryway staircase using dry laid natural stone.


The new design will open up the front of the house and make it feel more welcoming.

With all the clearing done we start with the excavation and foundation for the pillar.
This picture also shows the new entryway steps. We used large Mossback slabs to create this custom and natural looking staircase. Some of the Mossback slabs weighed more than 800 pounds! 


The footing for the pillar was 18 inches deep and two feet wide with a rebar every 8 inches. The footing for the pillar is very important. Make sure you do not cut corners on this part of the project, if you are building a pillar yourself. If you are in an area that freezes in the winter, you will need to put your footer below the frost line or the ground will heave and your pillar could fall over. Check with a  local contractor in your area to get necessary depths for concrete footings.


After the footing has set, we begin the block work.


The finished column will be 4 ft tall. 


Block is mortared together with rebar laid on the top of each corse of block to create a grid of rebar throughout the column.

The mailbox was then installed into the column. 


After the block is laid and filled, we install the stone veneer. We chose the El Dorado 'Durango Mountain Ledge' stone for this project. 


We used a 'dry stack' walling style with this project. 

With the dry stacked style, we 'back mortar' all the stones in place using a polymer-modified veneer mortar. This way there are no visible grout joints. 


Each stone is individually cut to create a custom fit and a very natural look.

With the stone work done, we cap the column with an El Dorado Chiseled Edge Textured Column Cap.

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Landscaping in Santa Cruz: Bonsai in the Garden

Asheville Landscaping: Japanese/ Bonsai Garden

I recently revisited a project we worked on a couple years ago to see how it has looking.

In this project we teamed up with a Bonsai artist to create a beautiful Japanese style garden. 

We installed a large pond and waterfall with a meandering stream that was framed with lots of stonework. We then accented the landscape with both potted and planted Bonsai trees. Some of the trees are nearly 400 years old!

Adding Bonsai to a garden gives a newly installed landscape an established look and feel.

Working here in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where this project was done, allows us to use a variety of plants and trees in the landscape. In the Santa Cruz Mountains we have a diverse selection of ecosystems, from Riparian corridors to Redwood forests and Chaparral hillsides.

With few days of freezing temperatures and the costal fog, we can play with lots of plantings in our projects. 

   Using potted Bonsai in the project gave the garden points of intrest to to stop and see as you walk through the yard.

We made Redwood pedestals for some of the potted trees to keep them out of the soil and aide in visual interest.

 Adding wood elements to your garden brings a wonderful harmony and contrast to the stone and plantings.

Along with the Bonsai Pedestals, we have a custom Redwood fence with a traditional Japanese Shoji entry gate as a backdrop. 

We also constructed a wooden bridge over the stream, and a Redwood viewing bench at the edge of the patio.

We added the planted Bonsai along the edge of the patio as an anchor and focal point to the garden.

Please visit our website to see more projects we have worked on in the Santa Cruz Mountains:

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Pondless Waterfall Rebuild in San Jose, Ca.

Santa Cruz Landscaping: Veneer Stone

When choosing a veneer stone for your retaining wall or other masonry work, be sure to look at your options to make sure you are geting the look and feel you desire for your landscape.


There are many types of Faux Veneer Stone products to choose from. 
ElDorado Stone and Cultured Stone make some beautiful products. 


Faux veneer stone is a lightweight concrete product that is cast into a variety of shapes and colors that mimic actual stone almost identically. Faux stone is easy to work with and can be installed much faster than natural stone veneer.


However, there is nothing that compares to the beauty and color of Natural Stone Veneer.
The project featured here was constructed using a Natural Stone Veneer.
We used Wolk Creek and Autumn Flame stones for this wall.

 Stones are carefully selected and cut into place to create a one of a kind piece of functional art. 


Natural Veneer Stone is slightly harder to work with because of its weight and its density, which makes it harder to cut. 
Natural stone can be more expensive than faux stone, depending on the stone you choose to work with.


This project called for a 'Dry Stack' look. This means there are no grout joints between the stones. The result is a more naturalistic feature.


After all the stone is mortared to the wall, we cap it with a bull-nosed cap stone and seal the entire wall with a semi-gloss laquer finish.

Vanishing Waterfall in Bonny Doon

Here is a Vanishing Waterfall we are finishing for our client in Bonny Doon, in the hills above Santa Cruz.


The waterfall was the first phase of this project. In the spring, we will be finishing the rest of the landscape. A flagstone patio, outdoor shower, Mexican tile entryway, native plantings and landscape lighting will accent the the area around the water feature.
Check back in with us next spring for photos and videos of the completed project.

Scotts Valley Retaining Walls

When you are choosing material to build a retaining wall in your yard or garden, there are many different choices on the market.

Wood retaining walls, like the ones we just finished in the picture to the right, are low cost and very sturdy. 


For this retaining wall job in Scotts Valley, just outside of Santa Cruz, we used 6x6 posts with 2x12 boards. When building a wooden retaining wall make sure to always use pressure treated lumber. 

Drainage is also a crucial part in the design and installation of a wood, or any type of, retaining wall construction.


Without drainage, the retaining wall could fail due to hydro-static pressure. Hydro-static pressure is caused by over saturation of water in the soils behind the retaining wall.


A French Drain in the best way to ensure proper drainage behind your wall. A French Drain is constructed using a perforated pipe behind the wall, at the base. The pipe is wrapped in filter fabric and back-filled with drain rock. Although you can't see it, we installed a French Drain behind each retaining wall in the construction of this project.

Another drainage system that we use in our retaining wall construction is called EZ-flow. This system uses perforated pipe wrapped in styrofoam and geo-textile fabric. It can hold more water than a traditional French Drain, and it much easier to install. We used the EZ-flow system on the wood retaining walls we just finished. EZ-flow is great for retaining wall projects with difficult access.