Home Renovation II

Morning 'till just past noon.

The first coat of stucco went on the sunroom and sheds today.

Richard, what do you do for soil in the beds? That grey stuff that makes up the ground there is very different from the stuff we call soil here in Iowa. :wink: Looks like Portland cement to me.

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Hi Richard
That’s a nice renovation project you’ve got going. What state are you in? Arizona? My brother has some citrus trees in his backyard in Phoenix, AZ. Your climate is obviously much drier than here in Virginia – almost seems like a different country where you live. Love the windows in your sunroom. A dumb question – are the sheds for garden tool storage or will do serve as an outdoor work space? Your irrigation project is interesting. Here, if we have a drier spell, I especially hit the peach trees to let them soak up water. Errr – actually I think it’s time to thin my peaches out! I think one hand width is the standard.

I am contracting a local soils firm to produce 25 cu.yds. of mix mostly containing horticultural sand and peat moss.

I’m in northwest Vista, California.

The shed on the right is for outdoor tools, the one on the left is for fertigation. I employ 3 formulas of water-soluble fertilizers on different irrigation circuits in my yard, and occasionally chemigate as well.

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For those of you following the plight of my Midknight Valencia Orange … it too has become part of my renovation project.

So this morning a few guys came over with a 90-lb jackhammer and spade attachment. They dug a 1-foot diameter hole down another 30" or so below the 32" inch depth of the craters we dug last week. What they found was about 10" of semi-permeable caliche sands followed by an undetermined depth of thick dark muck characteristic of marine estuaries.

Since there is a steady downward gradient to the east, I’ve decided to install a French Drain from each of these 4 tree holes towards my retaining wall which has a gravel backing and drains leading to the property behind me about 5 feet below.

What is the elevation of your property? Brady

It just looks so foreign to what my yard looks like, and amazing that trees grow out of sand! Here in Virginia, we’re made fun of for having red clay soil, and I find lots of rocks every time I dig a hole. I’ve got a lot of my trees circled in rocks to keep mowers away! Although SOMEBODY (no one has claimed responsibility) hit my Carmine Jewel bush with the weed wacker – it was still a whip I planted last year. Everything above the whack died, and I’ve got some growth at the very bottom.

Digging in Virginia is almost always a great workout.

Marine regression sequence for the win! Yay geology!

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About 460 ft.

Progress …

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Richard! Your trees are exploding out of the ground. It is unbelievable to me as to how fast your trees grow! I have so much to look forward to. :heart:

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I was thinking the same thing then I read your comment, lol! It must be all the love Richard gives them in his Cal. environment.

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I think that is a testament to how well Richard irrigates and fertilizing his plants because the soil looks horrendous. Looks like moon dust to me. In the east we typically seeing darker soil with more organic matter. That looks like grey gravel and dust.

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While lots of down & dirty tree ring installation is going on in the orchard, the carpenter/electrician has been busy with the house. Today an outlet was placed in front that is switched from the inside and dedicated to holiday lighting. Also, a recessed power outlet with cable conduit was installed directly behind where our wall mounted video screen will be placed.

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while the walls are open, are you pulling cat5/fiber?

Actually I installed conduit in the walls and then pulled cat6 in places, speaker wires in others, etc.

Are the stone tree circles for decoration or do they serve some other purpose?