Landscaping

Mar
27

Japanese Garden’s Centennial Toast

Today, the Huntington Library held its exclusive preliminary viewing commemorating the Japanese Garden’s centennial year. The curator said that they don’t know the exact date of the anniversary, but it might as well be today. On the upper level of the garden, a new tea house and water feature adds to the existing mature landscape. [...]

Tue, March 27, 2012

Landscaping

Jan
8

Gazebo Framing

Since starting the framing process in late December, the gazebo is finally taking shape. The fanning rafters were a little tricky to design and calculate, but everything is coming along well.

Sun, January 8, 2012

Landscaping

Dec
22

Starting the Gazebo

It’s been more than two years since the deck has been sitting empty. The pond was filled in late 2009, and having procrastinated, I finally took the time to design the gazebo. Today, the preliminary framing was done.

Thu, December 22, 2011

Landscaping

Dec
9

Moonrise Viewing from the Pond

It has been several weeks since I last crawled underground into the plumbing system of the pond to clean out the leaves. Autumn and the strong winds blew a lot of debris into the pond, and it seemed like a good time to empty the leaf traps and flush out the biologic filters. This afternoon [...]

Fri, December 9, 2011

Landscaping

Nov
19

Fall Colors

Although fall started nearly two months ago, yesterday felt like the first day. The sun hid from view and caused a drop in the thermometer. I was indoors most of the day performing surgeries. Today, I have the chance to take the stroll outside. Patchy clouds meld together to form this impenetrable layer even though [...]

Sat, November 19, 2011

Landscaping

Apr
24

Spring Landscaping

There was a lot of work this year. First, we decided to extend the bridge to the other side, and that involved draining the pond somewhat. Also, for the platform above the vault, I finally got around to drafting the plans and getting the framing underway. Constructing the gazebo took some thinking and planning, but [...]

Sun, April 24, 2011

Landscaping

Sep
10

Landscaping

The pathways project is becoming more rewarding as many of its parts are taking shape. The project is going slowly though, since it’s mostly done piecemeal, an hour here and an hour there, mainly after work. The first part was the path along the hillside along the south bank of the pond. Here, large boulders [...]

Fri, September 10, 2010

Landscaping

Jul
30

Pathway

I’ve started working on a different type of project. This time, it’s making gravel and flagstone paths around the pond. Working on this is quite strenuous, especially when trying to wrestle boulders into place and making stair steps out of them. I set the flagstones in mortar, and then the spaces in between were filled [...]

Fri, July 30, 2010

Landscaping

Apr
24

Buds and Blooms

So many plants are blooming or budding at this time. Our garden has come to life, after some dormancy during the winter months. Spring is in full swing now, and there is so much color all around.

Sat, April 24, 2010

Landscaping

Nov
8

Pond Construction

After several months of work, the pond is finally done and filled to the right level. Everything seems to be working well. The only thing left to do is to perfect the level mechanism to autofill and to finish some of the edging detail where there is exposed liner.

Sun, November 8, 2009

Landscaping