LilRaverBoi

Wow...that's a really cool/unique way to terrace your yard! Gives it some nice organic flow. Well done!

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BANANA RAVE!
Feel the beat from start to stop, dancin' and movin' from bottom to top!
lilraverboi@genxglow.com
RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

tophersmith

RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!

Wait a minute I've been gone for a couple of weeks and something happened to Tog?

harveyc

Someone else has already probably told you, but I've sent you a PM Chris.

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Bananaman88

That's a great layout...I love the meandering path!

TommyMacLuckie

I would probably have a hard time keeping it minimal. You have all that room!

That's awesome! It will be interesting to see after everything has flushed out.

Are you gonna throw in any cool palms to bring out the nice difference in textures with the bananas?

ShearMe

So those are the big 75-pounders? We redid our retaining wall with those, but nothing as big, fancy, or nearly as creative as you.

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Richard

Nope, they are 55 lbs straight from the manufacturer. After they sit around in our dry climate for a summer, the weight drops to about 50 lbs.

I mainly grow edibles. Further, it was my job as a child to pull up the thousands of palm sprouts that came up every spring from the palms surrounding our property in Redlands, CA. I don't mind other people growing them -- especially 10 miles away, but you will not find one planted in my yard.

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ShearMe

Well if no palm, how about some loquat trees? I have seedlings I wish to rid my yard of.

Interesting about the blocks losing weight, the yard looks great with what you've done.

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Richard

Ha ha! I have met others with the same problem. Who knows, in another life I might have despised loquats! If you are industrious after fruit-set in the fall, removing 3 or 4 out of every 5 fruits will result in fruits with a bit more flesh than an apricot.

I have been collecting the white-fleshed dessert-quality loquat varieties available here. I'd like to put one in the ground before fall.

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ShearMe

They're not a big hassle, I just have about two dozen sprouting up and don't want to throw them away for nothing. I have read about removing fruits for larger ones down the line too, but I'm allergic so I like to eat them before they're ripe - taste like warheads candy at that point.

I bet they are great with whipped cream, and I know they will do spectacular in your San Diego garden.

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TommyMacLuckie

Let me guess - Washingtonias were what you had to pull up. I have a Robusta in my back yard. But mostly around here are Filifera. They don't seem to make many babies.

Sabals do though. Sylvestris - forget about it. Carpet.

Butia's don't. Majesty's don't either. There are some tall ones in New Orleans. Well, not like they get where they are native but tall enough. Pretty.

My goal is to inundate New Orleans with many more kinds of palms and bananas! No more gingers and NO MORE CRAPE MYRTLES. I HATE those things. They're EVERYWHERE now!

Agaves are starting to show up in a lot of places though, which is really nice.

Richard

Actually every kind imaginable. There are jays that "store" the seeds for later ...

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Richard

Tony (sunfish) came by Thursday morning and spent 4 hours leveling out the base course of this planter wall (THANKS ). I had the easy part of laying in the rebar and putting down the top course of bricks, then pouring the 11 bags of cement. Only the center of the cinder blocks were poured, leaving the seams open for drainage. The wall is 2 courses high everywhere except in the immediate foreground to allow for a staircase landing. I hope to finish the other half of the planter wall next week.

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momoese

What is the purpose of this wall you guys are building. Will there be another running parallel to it making a raised bed? Knowing you I'd guess you probably have a blueprint of the final design?

Richard

It's a partially raised bed for my bananas. I hope to finish the other half of the planter wall next week.

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momoese

What is the reason for a raised bed, erosion control, or maybe corm control? Why not just ammend the soil and plant the bananas?

Richard

That portion of the lot was graded to bedrock, which is metamorphized clay (Gneiss) with a basalt intrusion. There is at most 10 inches of media on top of the bedrock consisting of 50% cobblestone and 50% loamy clay. I will construct a french drain along the bottom of the plat, about 8 inches below the present soil line. It will be serviced by an existing 3-inch drain pipe, currently buried under the orange bucket at the far end of the bed.

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Want Them All

How far is that brick wall from the wooden fence? Doesn't look like there's a lot of room for the roots of the banana plants. Will the roots go over to your neighbor's yard?

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Patty in Wisc

Looks to me like a lot of unnecessary work. My Fiance'/husband is a mason. Nothing wrong w/ a raised bed, but why such a permanent thing w/ the block walls? Esp if you have decent soil around.
I also noticed that some blocks looked filled in w/ soil -- a waste of $$$.

I didn't read thru post # 57 to see good reason for a raised bed. I couldn't understand why someone would go thru all that work just for a raised bed. The bad soil/rock under it is a good reason to raise it. Sorry.

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Patty in Wisc has sadly passed away 9/05/11. We will miss you Patty.

sunfish

There is at most 10 inches of media on top of the bedrock