The Great Wall of the Corner

For most of this past week, Rick and I have been debating on what to do with the corner part of the yard.  We have an off-center gardenia tree and lots of weeds in the northeast corner, and we wanted to do something with that area to make it pleasing to view. The gardenia tree is the only small tree left that was originally growing in the yard.  When we bought Gladys, we could not even see the tree for all of the overgrown bushes, but once we removed the brush and unwanted trees, I asked the tree service to spare that one.  It is our survivor, and I am happy that it still stands.

We had some edger blocks that we bought a couple of years ago to edge around the house or the fence.  Doing so would have involved many more blocks, and they have risen in price to the point where that plan is almost cost-prohibitive.  So here we sat with lots of blocks, paver base, and some stone.

Our initial view to see how the blocks
looked standing up next to the fence
and stacked on their sides.

Last week we tried putting a line of the blocks across the corner.  While the idea was good, the uneven terrain (due partially to roots from the neighbor's tree) and the fact that the blocks had an uneven top prevented us from stacking the blocks to get the look we wanted.

Back to the drawing board.  We scrapped that idea and went back to Lowe's and Home Depot to see what other kinds of cement blocks we could use for a convex garden wall.  Sadly, we did not like anything they had to offer.  The blocks were either too big or were the wrong shape or color.  We kept gravitating back to the same edger blocks we had at home.

While we were at Home Depot, though, we found a display of our blocks that someone had put on their sides and built into a wall.  H-m-m.  That was a possibility.  We came home and experimented a bit before deciding to try it.

Yesterday Rick dug out the trench for the first row of blocks.  We got halfway done and then stepped back to look at how the second row would rest on the first.  Because of the convex shape of the wall, the blocks left gaps between them.  We were not sure we liked how they looked.  By that time we were hot and tired, so we decided to "sleep on it" and take a fresh look at the wall in the morning.

We were part-way finished but still undecided.

This is where we left our project for the night.
We needed fresh eyes in the morning to decide
if we should build more or tear the whole thing out.

This morning we got up and decided that the wall would be quaint and rustic.  It would suit our needs, add some visual interest to the area, and would suffice for now.  We did not want to spend any more money at this time, and the wall allowed us to use the materials we had on hand.

The finished garden wall.  Now all I have to do
is put in lots of hard work to turn the surrounded
ground into a real garden!

Will it last for the next 20 years?  Probably not.  Perhaps in the future we will take it down and try something else if we ever find the perfect cement block.  Until then, I look forward to pulling out all of the weeds within the garden, adding some dirt and landscape fabric, planting a couple of flowers, adding some interesting pots, or adding a small fountain, and topping it all off with some pebbles for good drainage.

That will keep me busy until we tackle our next project which Rick already has planned.  He wants to  re-attempt to put down a patio foundation for a someday shed. Now that the weather has started to cool down, we will have the perfect temperatures in which to work. Sigh.