The terraces had to slope gently in towards a 'stone river' we had to create. So Fiona and I decided we would capitalise on this requirement and gravel all the terraces and create walk ways across the stone river. We wanted this area of the landscaping to have a bit of a Japanese garden feel about it without actually creating a Japanese garden.
The rain let up a bit this afternoon so I did what I do when I not doing work work and can't really disappear and do art - I went out and worked on the terraces for a few hours. I often think of the terraces and other landscaping as sculpture on a grand scale. As you can see from the photos below, after almost three years of carting about 80 cubic metres of 20mm gravel, in the main by hand in buckets and a small cart, the stone mulching of the terraces is almost done and the trees and shrubs are bursting forth.Good contrast of the green and reds of the camellias and maples with the grey-blue of the gravel.
The aim is to locate some of my bigger pieces of sculpture on the terraces; and set up posts and fonts. But at the moment all there is is the 'happy budda' below (given to me by my brother Neil) sitting amidst the dwarf agapanthus blossoms.
Your terraces are an amazing achievement and the thought of carting all that gravel and stone is mind boggling. The colours are beautiful.
ReplyDeletei have been curious about your stone moving and the terraces, so this is very helpful. and obviously a LOT of work.
ReplyDeleteThat does look steep, beautiful though. Great planting too, for our climate.
ReplyDeleteThankyou for the kind comment you left at my Mosaic blog. I have to say I found the night slightly nerve wracking. I'm not sure that I like being around when people are looking at my art!
Planning and creating your gardens and terraces to become a home for your sculptures sounds like a great plan.
ReplyDeletelovely to see some of 'your place' x
ReplyDelete