Chapter 6

Construction Problems #2

WallGardens

Both the strength and beauty of a dry wall may be enhanced by using it as a wall garden. It may acquire a mossy and aged appear­ance simply by green-planting in the soil in the crevices. A greater degree of color can be obtained, however, by planting any of several flowering plants, whose strong roots will serve the additional function of holding the wall together. Typical plants which may be used to good effect are: such flowering types as azaleas, alyssum, evergreen candy­tuft, heather, phlox, garden pinks, sedum, snowy rock cress, and creep­ing veronicas; such spreading plants as lavender, moss, phlox and hardy verbenna; small rosettes and little tufts that need sun and room for roots like sempervivium, dwarf iris, dwarf pinks and yarrow; and the plants you can grow from seed sown among the rocks such as bleed­ing heart, some ivies and varieties of poppy and phlox. Sempervivi-ums, azaleas, prostrate junipers and dwarf azaleas keep a bank or rock wall green all winter.

Mortared and Concrete Walls

Mortared walls involve some­what simpler construction problems than dry walls. The mortar serves as the bond and it is not as essen­tial to match the stones. For the masonry wall, a cement mixture of 1 part Portland cement and 2 parts sand is a good bonding agent. Mor­tar should be liberally applied to form a bed for each stone as it is added, and the chinks between stones should be well filled with smaller pebbles or gravel. The mor­tared wall is much more permanent than a dry wall and easier to build.

A concrete wall has greater strength than either a masonry wall or a dry wall. It requires the build­ing of forms however, which is a somewhat more technical job. The forms should extend well below the frost line. They can be constructed of 1 x 6 scrap lumber, held together by any length lath or 1 x 2 that is handy. Wire screening is inserted in the concrete to add strength and prevent bubbling or cracking. Such a reinforced concrete wall can be much thinner than either a dry wall or a masonry wall. The inner surface of the concrete wall should be sealed by using a waterproofing compound or tar paper.

The top of every wall, whether concrete, dry wall, or masonry, needs protection. This is afforded by using broad, flat stones as cap­stones to the wall. These can be slate or flat stones acquired in the course of collecting the material for the wall.

A retaining wall solves the garage grading problem. Foundation planting links it to house visually.

Steps

Steps present as ideal an oppor­tunity for beautifying the outdoors as any other item on your land­scaping agenda. Materials which can be used vary from round-cut logs to concrete, brick or stone.
Standard step dimensions for outdoors should be the same as for indoor steps, particularly in areas frequently used. The tread should be 10 inches deep and the risers about 7 1/2inches.

Treads should be 1/4inch lower in the front than they are in the back to permit drainage. For any steps other than those made of rounds of logs, a good foundation is essential. The founda­tion should extend 6 inches below the frost line.

Concrete is an often-used ma­terial for steps, although it is not always the most attractive. A simple form can be constructed of a series of boxes, of lx 6- or lx 8-inch scrap lumber, each box the same width but 10 inches shorter than the box for the lower step.

The boxes are placed one on top of the other, and held together by outside lathing cleats. Corners should be well braced. Use 1 part Portland cement to 3 parts sand and 6 parts gravel. The cement is poured and the step tops are leveled by using the flat edge of a board.

Brickpath cross section

If you use precast concrete blocks, the need for forms for step construction is eliminated. The cost is about the same as building steps of poured concrete, although the job—especially for a one-man op­eration—is easier. It is important to bond the blocks together well and you can obtain good appearance by applying a thin overall coating of concrete.

Brick steps are built in the same manner as concrete blocks, although more masonry skill is required. A layer of gravel is first laid over the subsoil as a foundation. The weak­ness of brick steps is the many joints that are required.

In constructing stone steps, the principle difficulty is finding the stone. While this presents no prob­lem at all in some areas, in other areas stone must be purchased, and when this is true, stone steps are by far the most expensive type to build. They are also among the most attractive. Stone steps can be built without masonry bonding, if large enough stones can be found. The principles of dry-wall con­struction will apply. If steps are freestanding, mortar must be used. The foundation must be prepared as for brick steps. The concrete used to make beds for the stones must be placed carefully to keep a good pattern. Leveling must be done pre­cisely (the string level is recom­mended ). It is best to remove spilled mortar from stones while it is still wet, because when it is dry it pre­sents a problem. Dry mortar, how­ever, may be removed by using muriatic acid.

Wooden rounds cut from large logs make a beautiful and easily constructed set of steps. The bot­tom round is set in the earth, and the next one placed to partially cover it, leaving a riser. The ground is filled in under the upper round and firmly tamped, and this procedure is followed to the desired height.

Informal wooden steps can be used for long slopes where there is no need for real steps but it is too steep for just a path. Ramp steps can be made with risers of large stone flags, logs or squared timber. The paths that lead to the steps should have the same width as the steps. The ramps should not rise too rapidly, the largest rise being 3/4 inch per foot.

Fences

Fences are either open, to use as a trellis for roses or other plants, or they are closed to serve as a wind, sun or privacy screen. The materi­als will depend largely upon the use to which the fence is to be put. The most popular, and probably the most attractive, fences are built of wood in various forms, but newer fences of asbestos-cement and cor­rugated sheet metal are colorful and stand up against rot better. Because they are heavier, they are usually erected in a zigzag design, the bet­ter to stand up against prevailing winds.

The major problem in prolong­ing the life of a fence stems from rot at the ground line, for here it is susceptible to alternating wet and dry conditions. Among the best woods for withstanding rot are Cal­ifornia redwood and Southern cy­press, white cedar and red cedar, chestnut, locust and arbor vitae. While painting the wood with pre­servatives often lengthens the life of your fence, this will do no good un­less the preservatives penetrate.

Six flagstone steps and a short retaining wall improve the appearance of these grounds and even of the house itself. Set off by rhododendron bushes and other low planting the grounds now have an organized and livable look. Pipes have been inserted at intervals to permit drainage through the wall.

That's why a post that has been machine-creosoted will resist rot, while a hand-creosoted post will not. However, if you use a good pre­servative on a clean, dry, unpainted wood, and give the wood two or three coats, you can do a good job.

Among the commercial wood pre­servatives you will find those of pentachlorophenol, copper napthe-nate (which has a green color) and zinc napthenate, a clear solution.

In addition to the point where the post hits the ground, any place where two pieces are nailed to­gether on a wooden fence is subject to rot. Therefore, it is wise to treat the wood where the members are joined before you put up the fence. This will preserve it much better than painting afterward.

Set your fence posts deep enough in the ground to resist the prevailing winds, at least 2 feet and even deeper. Set heavy posts in con­crete. Tamp firmly in place so the fence will not wiggle. Hardware used should be galvanized.

Among the most popular types of fences are the traditional picket, the post-and-rail fence and the hurdle fence, but with increased stress on privacy screening, the louvered and lattice types are ever more popular.

The post-and-rail fence is made of posts spaced at 10 foot intervals with large slots cut in them. The 11-foot-long rails are tapered to flat ends, which are inserted in the posts. The hurdle fence has split rails built into a braced frame and nailed together, with the end pieces of each panel becoming the posts.

The picket fence, traditionally white, has posts spaced from 8 to 12 feet apart, rails 3x4 inches, and pickets 2 to 3 inches wide, pointed at the top. The pickets should be 2 inches off the ground at the bottom and extend well above the top rail. The spindle fence is a kind of picket fence with round spindles that pass through holes in the rails.

There are many possible variations of board fences used for screening. A broad rail may be al­ternated with a narrow rail, or the boards may be applied vertically, like palings, with, perhaps,
a stag­gering of the boards on either side of the rail. Boards may be slanted in a louver effect to give privacy while admitting air and sunlight.

A basket-weave fence can be constructed of thin, flexible boards and provides total screehing and a handsome background for planting. It is somewhat difficult to build yo-urself, however.

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