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dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45460
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 20 3:40 pm Post subject:
i would get that top slope between the house and where you have cleared stabilised first. once it it has dried out , got wet again etc it might move a bit or erode as mud or whatever. it looks more than a meter drop between your fresh cut and the house, i know it is a gentle slope but it looks like it is bulging the timber retaining thing and as though is mostly topsoil over something

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28111
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 20 4:55 pm Post subject:
I don't think there is a bulge, I think that area is the stable part really.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45460
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 20 5:51 pm Post subject:
might be ok then until you get back to it

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28111
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 20 5:54 pm Post subject:

Before we started it was very hard to judge levels, and it still is beyond this area, but here it seems to we lining up well to the design, we are down to another layer that taken another couple of inches deeper should extend all the way as a solid base. We can't go much deeper than that without the raised beds being lower than the deck above them. Posts for the beds due in a day or two.

On another note the sleepers behind the work area are a semi circle of sleeper, so at angles.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45460
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 20 8:07 pm Post subject:
the last sentence covers the "bulge" that worried me. that sorted tis looking promising for a level with raised beds and cold frames etc.

jema
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28111
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Mon Mar 16, 20 9:07 pm Post subject:

dpack wrote:

the last sentence covers the "bulge" that worried me.

that sorted tis looking promising for a level with raised beds and cold frames etc.

I figured that was likely what you were seeing

I think I would have been panicking if that was real. Reminds me though of I guess three years ago now glancing up at the greenhouse on the top deck and thinking oh that's sloping , OH SHIT THAT REALLY IS SLOPING...
Followed by a major exercise in shunting greenhouse to a safer position, dense blocks, jacks and a dozen new posts as the deck the greenhouse was on was only saying up through sheer force of will as there was almost nothing else really holding it up

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45460
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 20 1:03 am Post subject:

to get the small patch of sun available my "raised bed" is 6' high on top of the wood shed thing.
i can stand on it or use it as a potting bench standing on the folded steps

it might seem odd to some but fish boxes , pallets and a few odds n ends etc works

i use the shed roof as well but worry about a collapse if i get enthusiastic.

as you have a natural drop which is either an asset or liability in terms of lighting, how would the beds best be placed and heighted(if that is a word, good, if not you know what i mean)for direct sunlight and light in general?

i could not work out the aspect or how much shade the tree, topography and buildings cast.
it might be that checking the lighting could confirm or lead to amending the basic layout
you are putting a lot of effort in with this so i guess it is a do it once job

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28111
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 20 7:21 am Post subject:
Light is not much of an issue, the beds will be 75cm high, and will be in the sun from I guess mid morning, the semi circle of sleepers surround "the pit" which is a great sun trap. Not much digging yesterday, but a bit of raking did turn up this! We are now at the point of fine tuning the level and considering more the next drop.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15575

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 20 7:40 am Post subject:
Is it real or a toy?

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45460
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 20 2:46 pm Post subject:
toy by the look of it but confusing to most even in a good snap, i would expect in an unfriendly hand i would treat it as real until i had possession of it for a close look.

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28111
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 20 3:47 pm Post subject:
It is a cap gun, but was handled as if real until observations like "no safety" were made. Didn't fancy a Darwin award epitaph and I know I know very little about guns.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45460
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 20 7:55 pm Post subject:
always wise with firearms and ordinance to assume it is A live, B potentially faulty and C do you want your dna on it? eyeball will sort some stuff or you can dig big out bits of an odd sized cast iron pipe with a pick until you find the fins of a 25 kg HE courtesy of albert and hermann

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45460
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 20 12:00 am Post subject:

modern archaeology aside and back to the landscaping.

how steep and stable is the slope from the level between the house level and your new dig bit down to the "lake"?

if that is stable so long as you make sure that stays put whatever you do below along a descending curve is "cosmetic" at least as far as the house goes.

if you can get a decent look/prod at it and then decide it is stable i recon all is going well and not causing a big problem later.
if it is untouched from before the houses were built chances are it is pretty stable even if the topsoil is a bit like an ice climb but with leaf litter over a solid slope of whatever rather than snow on rock dont worry so long as the base is fairly solid. if it hasnt slipped so far it probably won't, although it looks like quite a steep drop from the tree in the snaps.

tis odd trying to work out your contours, ooh err sir

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28111
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 20 7:28 am Post subject:
A blast from the past. Bits for the raised beds due today

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28111
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 20 12:35 pm Post subject:
Have all the wood now, and am tinkering with the precise design of the roof, but not a lot actually getting done. Basically I want to actually enjoy building this and for me that requires a certain number of degrees Celsius!

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