Rocks

When our deck and screened porch were built, they didn't do anything under the deck to the graded ground.  It looked sloppy to us and the grass and weeds were starting to spread under there.  They were a pain to weed whack and were getting unreachable.

So we decided to put rocks under the deck and screen porch like we had done at our last house.  The deck was a lot higher there though (you could almost stand unright under it on one side).  Because everything is a lot lower at this house (and a lot bigger) we decided to only put rocks about 6 feet deep instead of under the entire area.  It would have been extremely difficult to spread rocks that far and a lot more expensive.

Last weekend we (mostly me while Brian worked on another project) installed black plastic edging around the screened porch and deck.  Then last week I pinned down landscape fabric.

 

This weekend we went to Beasley's Yard just south of Spring Hill (about 20-30 minutes from our house) to check out their rocks.  Someone Brian works with recommended them for rocks and mulch and we were very impressed.  They have everything and at a really reasonable price.

We decided on the 2" Autumn Sunset rocks and scheduled them to be delivered at 8 am this morning.  Brian took the morning off from work so that we could get all the rocks moved to our yard.  Two cubic yards was $218.50 and delivery was $100.  This was a lot cheaper than the other places we checked out.

Carter and I watched the dump truck dump out the stones in the alley beside our house.

The boys couldn't wait to get outside and "help" us.  We asked them to collect the stray rocks and add them to the pile here - they did a pretty good job.

Carter actually did help a lot.  He was an extremely hard worker.  I was actually a little worried about him because he was dripping sweat off his face and really flushed!

Carter started by helping Brian fill the wheelbarrow (which Brian would dump along the edge of the screened porch or deck and then I would spread the rocks with a rake).

Carter eventually remembered that he has a wheelbarrow too and started filling it himself and bringing me rocks (and dumping them for me).

Rylan tried to help a little but he mostly played on his own and got in the way :)

It took us about 2 1/2 hours to move and spread 2 cubic yards of rocks.  We are sore and tired but very happy with the results.

The rocks are really dirty right now but as they get rained on, they should be a nice mixture of brown, red, and gray.  Here is a section I wetted to see how they will eventually look.

We have several other projects planned for the yard that we hope to get to soon (including adding the black plastic edging around three beds in the front, building 3 berms in the backyard where we'll add trees and shrubs in the fall, seal the aggregate pad that the a/c and heating units sit on, add lighting to the deck, replace a few bushes in the front yard, and possibly move one of the large maples in our front yard over several feet - I'm sure there is more I'm just not thinking of right now).