Gray Gravel
I'm so sore. I've been hauling gravel.
The construction crew did a wonderful job installing our vigas over the patio -- I'm really pleased with their work. And, using pickaxes and big shovels, they took out and hauled away eight shrubs that I could not have managed to remove. That was a huge improvement.
But we miscommunicated on refreshing the gravel all around the house and I'm not happy with how it came out.
The old gravel can be seen next to the house. It's small, multi-sized pea stones in browns and tans and earth colors. What they installed is light, all gray, and it's bigger stone -- it's the looser area to the right of the river rock drainage path.
I had asked Luis to refresh areas where landscape fabric or dirt was showing, and add height where dips had formed and fill in where the former owners' dog had dug. He said he'd bring 4 yards -- two to spread around the back and sides, one for the front, and then a yard of stones to leave in a pile in the driveway for me to use for filling as needed around plants.
I thought that meant he would match the same color and size to what was there, and would "fill" and "refresh" and "add to areas as needed". Not blanket the whole space with another color and type of stone.
When the truck came I could tell right away he got a different type of gravel. I commented to him and he said "it's what they had" --- all the projects were underway at once, there was a lot going on, and I really do like and trust Luis --- he's been great to work with. So the gravel was unloaded and his crew went to work.
Instead of refreshing and filling areas, the crew used almost all the gravel to completely cover the back courtyard several inches deep. Yes, it filled the bare areas, but it also covered everything in a deep layer, very loose to walk on, and piled up in some places.
The big Spanish broom is now sitting in a hole, and the lower part of the stone patio now sits below the level of the mounded gravel.
After spreading such a thick layer of gravel in back and at the sides, there wasn't enough to do the front or even to leave a small pile for me to use around plants.
It's just all very odd looking. Too much. Too deep. Too gray. Too different from the areas that still have the old gravel.
I paid Luis, thanked him for all the hard work (the crew really did work hard on all the projects) and decided I could live with it. I figured my eye would get used to it in time and it would settle. But it really isn't what I wanted.
So I am digging out where it's too deep, hauling it by hand in my trug and moving it elsewhere. It's a lot of rocks for an old lady to tote. It's heavy. I'm raking it out to even things, and taking away what is too much, and trying to get a more cohesive look blended with the older gravel.
I maybe could get some darker, brown, small pea gravel (in bags that I can handle, hopefully, at Home Depot) and sprinkle that over the gray rocks to add a little color contrast. That might help.
I thought a lawn was a lot of work, and was happy we had gravel landscaping that needed so little care. Oof. Boy, am I sore. . . and there's still a lot of gravel to move.
The construction crew did a wonderful job installing our vigas over the patio -- I'm really pleased with their work. And, using pickaxes and big shovels, they took out and hauled away eight shrubs that I could not have managed to remove. That was a huge improvement.
But we miscommunicated on refreshing the gravel all around the house and I'm not happy with how it came out.
The old gravel can be seen next to the house. It's small, multi-sized pea stones in browns and tans and earth colors. What they installed is light, all gray, and it's bigger stone -- it's the looser area to the right of the river rock drainage path.
I had asked Luis to refresh areas where landscape fabric or dirt was showing, and add height where dips had formed and fill in where the former owners' dog had dug. He said he'd bring 4 yards -- two to spread around the back and sides, one for the front, and then a yard of stones to leave in a pile in the driveway for me to use for filling as needed around plants.
I thought that meant he would match the same color and size to what was there, and would "fill" and "refresh" and "add to areas as needed". Not blanket the whole space with another color and type of stone.
When the truck came I could tell right away he got a different type of gravel. I commented to him and he said "it's what they had" --- all the projects were underway at once, there was a lot going on, and I really do like and trust Luis --- he's been great to work with. So the gravel was unloaded and his crew went to work.
Instead of refreshing and filling areas, the crew used almost all the gravel to completely cover the back courtyard several inches deep. Yes, it filled the bare areas, but it also covered everything in a deep layer, very loose to walk on, and piled up in some places.
The big Spanish broom is now sitting in a hole, and the lower part of the stone patio now sits below the level of the mounded gravel.
After spreading such a thick layer of gravel in back and at the sides, there wasn't enough to do the front or even to leave a small pile for me to use around plants.
It's just all very odd looking. Too much. Too deep. Too gray. Too different from the areas that still have the old gravel.
I paid Luis, thanked him for all the hard work (the crew really did work hard on all the projects) and decided I could live with it. I figured my eye would get used to it in time and it would settle. But it really isn't what I wanted.
So I am digging out where it's too deep, hauling it by hand in my trug and moving it elsewhere. It's a lot of rocks for an old lady to tote. It's heavy. I'm raking it out to even things, and taking away what is too much, and trying to get a more cohesive look blended with the older gravel.
I maybe could get some darker, brown, small pea gravel (in bags that I can handle, hopefully, at Home Depot) and sprinkle that over the gray rocks to add a little color contrast. That might help.
I thought a lawn was a lot of work, and was happy we had gravel landscaping that needed so little care. Oof. Boy, am I sore. . . and there's still a lot of gravel to move.
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