Cart-Away®

The “Staycation” Trend is Growing

The trend toward staying at home rather than traveling to relax on vacation is growing again.  People who used to take a week of vacation to relax have begun to see the advantages of staying at home.   

To enhance the home “staycation” the boom is on for upgrading home and garden living spaces.  In 2007 for the first time ever, the home improvement sector was a larger part of the economy than new home construction.  Much of this was in the form of outdoor rooms, patios, decks, and new landscaping.
Here are links to some recent articles that both confirm this trend and which give some interesting information about the market opportunities that this trend will create:

“Tired of mowing the lawn? Pave it over”

“From ho-hum to Wow: 4 hot backyard trends”

“Garden Surfaces Review”

“Latest Trends add Outdoor style”

This is just the very tip of the iceberg.  It seems that almost every home oriented magazine has published an article recently about improving outdoor spaces.  Why not?   The appeal to staying home grows with every increase in gas prices and every new hassle with air transportation.   

Contracts for Landscaping Work

This starts with a personal story but, there is a moral and a tip worth reading.

Two years ago, my wife and I decided it was time to take the next step with our property.  We had taken out most of the bad trees and underbrush, planted our small vineyard and were ready to tackle the garden around our home.

We searched for, found, and hired a very competent Landscape Architect.  We hired an architect for the outdoor room we wanted to build.  We worked well with both and came to a consensus of what we wanted to do.  Since we both have day jobs (the 12 hour kind) we decided to hire a landscape contractor to do most of the work.  It was a combination of hardscape (paths, patio, pond, etc.) and irrigation, and lawn and lots of plantings.

We got recommendations locally and decided to interview and get quotes from three landscape contractors.  We liked all three when we met but the combination of price and our confidence level brought us to choose the middle of the three quotes.  Okay so far.

They started work in September.  They tore out all the old landscaping, got busy with another job and we lived in mud until they showed up again in the Spring.  >Error number one – no performance clause in our contract.

They finally finished the job in May and by June, plants were starting to die, the pond was not working right, and the landscaper was unresponsive.  On a couple of occasions they came out and did minimal fixes on things that weren’t right.  Each time it was harder to get them to come out.  Each time we heard that it was our fault.  We hadn’t watered correctly,  We had probably driven a car over the sprinklers and that’s why they were leaking,  Etc., Etc.   Since I have personally done irrigation systems in the past and my wife is a Master Gardener, we were convinced that they just wanted to get down the road to the next job rather than complete the one we had paid for. 

When we started replacing the many dead plants, they uniformly came out of the ground easier than they had come out of the pots.  In other words, the landscaper had dug minimum size holes, done no prep, and just shoved the plants in the ground.  It was very fast work but also very bad work. 

In discussing this with many people who have also had landscaping work done, we have come to the following conclusion (and our hot tip of the day):

Have the contract with the landscape contractor include one year of complete maintenance of the garden. 

As our contract was written they claimed they stood behind everything for a year but everything that died was just another battle to get any help.  The fact is they just wanted to get the job done and move on.  They know that plants can look great for a month or two no matter what you do.  By that time they can claim it was their customer’s fault. 

If there is a contract that has them doing the maintenance, they have an incentive to do things right to save them the cost of replantings, etc.  Without that clause, who knows?

This will cost you more money at the outset but I'm convinced it will save money in the long run and get you a much better job.  If the contractor knows that he will have to maintain things for the first year, he will do everything he can to minimize the maintenance and lower the cost of replacement plants.

Building My Waterfall-Part 1 - a Guest Post by Scott Crist

For the last 3-1/2 years the corner of our backyard has been dirt. It’s the kind of place that attracts leftovers from other projects: the last wheelbarrow of dirt removed to pour some concrete, the remnants of some sod pulled up to make sprinkler repairs, etc. This year we vowed that something was going to be done and we decided on a water feature with a waterfall and small pond.

As with any job, preparation is key. As this was going into the corner of a fenced yard I needed something that would keep the weight of the dirt away from the fence. I accomplished this by building two walls, one nineteen feet long and the other fifteen feet long, out of old railroad ties.

Railroad ties are excellent as retaining walls, planter beds, and my use, supporting walls. Often called “cross-ties”, they can be found at many landscape supply locations. In the yard that I ran in northern California we sold them from $10 for a medium grade tie up to $20-25 for ties in good or excellent condition. Fortunately for me, the railroad that runs through our town piles used ties up in different places along the tracks and they only cost you the labor to get them home. If you are looking for ties, check into this option.

In order to keep the ties from resting against the fence, I used t-posts. I had to put them at varying heights so that the stair-step look I wanted to create with the ties would still hide them. Once the posts were in, I began to lay in the first row of ties. Because of the lengths of the walls and because I was going to stagger the ties (like laying bricks) for strength and stability, I had to get out the chainsaw to cut the ties.

Cutting railroad ties can be hazardous. Nails, rocks, even broken glass can get imbedded in the wood over the years. Therefore never cut a tie without wearing safety glasses, or better, a face shield. In addition to the safety issues, be sure to take precautions with your cutting tool. I used a chainsaw for my project and before I started I sharpened the chain and made sure I had plenty of bar oil in the reservoir and that the oiler was functioning. Cutting railroad ties is very hard on the saw and the chain, so you’ll want to make sure the saw is in tip-top shape.

Some other notes about cutting ties with a chainsaw: First, the chain will dull quickly, so be prepared to sharpen it often. Second, railroad ties are soaked in creosote. This is a very oily substance used to preserve the wood. This oil will gum up the chain and will also smoke quite a bit while your are cutting. Remember to stand upwind of the smoke.

The picture below shows my wall about half-way done. I angled all of the posts slightly inward.  I did this to counteract the pressure of the dirt against the ties.  The downside of this angle was that the taller the wall became, the more likely it would come tumbling down. After a couple of rows, I used bailing wire to hold the ties to the posts until I had dirt against them.

And there was a lot of dirt to be moved! But that’s another story…  (part 2 coming soon)

Honda Pilot Pulls Cart-Away Style Concrete Mixer

Just learned that Honda has a new ad campaign - started Monday the 19th of May. It features a man who didn't quite learn how to use a concrete mixing trailer. Honda is doing a promotion with Last Comic Standing. We are glad they thought so much of Cart-Away to do this ad for us!!!!!

Here it is:

Find more videos like this on AdGabber

As the guy on television says, "Kids, don't try this at home." The Pilot with AWD has a 4500# towing capacity which is great for empty concrete mix trailers - not for when they are full.

More Aliens

Here is the second video of the Cart-Away and Cart-Away Supply floats at the Alien Daze Parade on May 17, 2008.  After the overwhelming response to the first video (19 views in only 12 hours), I thought I better put this one up as well.  Who knows, it might go viral and we might have 25 or even 30 people view it.

Also, while I'm at it, I might as well show the only other picture I took of the crowd before the parade started.

Back to landscaping and hardscaping a little later in the week.  Thanks for indulging with us on this little bit of fun.

Alien Daze Parade

McMinnville, Oregon, Cart-Away Supply's Home Town, was the location of a famous UFO sighting in 1947.  Now, each year to celebrate the sighting a two day festival called "Alien Daze" is held in downtown McMinnville.  Each year, Cart-Away's great crew puts together a float and joins the parade.  This year's theme was Cirque So Alien and had one trailer, surrounded by aliens with a large cage inside of which were imprisoned the last few humans on earth.  This was following a cannon from which an alien was shot.  The cannon, of course, was a Cart-Away Concrete Mix trailer, modified for the parade.

If anyone has more photos of the parade, email them to me at [email protected] and I will post a few here as a followup.

Below is my first attempt at a Youtube video:

Below is a shot of downtown McMinnville in the hour before the parade as the crowd started to gather.

Best Garden Path

Having tried about a half dozen different types of paths in my garden I can confidently recommend one as being the best.

Actually, there are a thousand ways to skin that cat.  There are also another thousand ways to judge the result as “best.”

Your measure might be the look of the path.  The ‘best’ path might mean ten different things depending upon the look that the landscape designer had in mind.  This could involve some exotic stonework and some serious costs.

Or you could measure on cost effectiveness.  How many feet of path do you get for how many dollars?  In this case cheap is good.  That is, if it can stand the test of time.

I once laid straw paths in my vegetable garden to keep me out of the mud in springtime.  It was cheap, easy to lay, and kept the mud down, for a while.  Let’s say I was less enthusiastic after it started sprouting and I had a weed path, not a straw path.

Today my favorite path is a simple 1/4” minus crushed rock path.  It is simple.  It is easy to maintain.  It looks neat and clean.  It is inexpensive as paths go.  The path has three layers.  The bottom layer is a woven, 3 oz. Landscape cloth.  This stabilizes the path and prevents weeds coming from underneath.  Next is about a 2 to 3 inch layer of 3/4” or 1” minus crushed rock for a base.  Last is a topping of about 2 inches of the crushed 1/4” Minus rock.  I have also used 1/2” minus but if you can find it, the 1/4” minus is nicer looking, packs better into the base, and, for me, gives a better look.  I contained the path with metal edging but properly done, plastic and wood edging can also do the job.  My soil allowed me to do a small amount of excavating (about 2” below the original surface height) and virtually no tamping.  I did tamp into place the base course before applying the 1/4” minus.

The picture below shows the final result.  It is in a heavily trafficked area – lots of wheelbarrow traffic for the vegetable garden.  It seems to hold up great and requires a minimum of weeding and raking yet looks nice all the time.

Beauty and the Bedrock - Guest Post by Scott Crist

Decorative rock is frequently used in planter beds and other areas to add color and enhance your landscape. Unlike bark products which are generally limited in color and only vary by size, decorative rock comes in many sizes, colors and densities. Choosing the right rock for you can be made easier if you ask yourself a few questions first.

What look are you trying to get? Color can be important in landscape rock. Too much rock in a very large area can end up looking bland, regardless of color. Likewise, a rock that closely matches the color of your home can present a look that there is little difference from where the house ends and the flower beds bordering it begin, lending to a bland look. For areas bordering the home it’s best to have a little contrast to highlight instead of blend in. How large the contrast is your own personal taste.

Besides color, the size of the rock can offer a contrast in texture that you may find appealing. Many decorative rocks come in sizes ranging from 3/8” up to 1-1/2”. However, keep in mind that the larger the stone, the more you will need to get good ground coverage of the area.

Where is the rock going? Leaving aside rocks used for driveways, kennels, and the like, decorative rocks are usually used in flowerbeds or areas acting to accent the landscape with color and texture. When choosing a rock to be put near plants keep in mind that all rocks will hold the heat of the day, and in severe climates that can damage plants. Both the density of the rock and the color of the rock will vary the amount of heat given off. This will also be a possible factor in your home cooling bills. This factor doesn’t matter nearly as much for rocks in the flowerbeds against the fence away from the walls of the home.

Is there foot traffic in the area? As a rule, you likely try to keep from walking around in your flowerbeds. However, sometimes you may need to get to a water spigot, clean up wind-blown debris, or (if you were bad little boys and girls and didn’t use a weed barrier cloth or plastic!) pull weeds. In some landscapes, there may even be a path through a rock-covered area by design. In cases where foot traffic is probable, round rock (sometimes called river-rock) isn’t the best choice.

Round rock is usually dredged rock that is screened, cleaned and then sold in varying sizes. It’s also, well…..round! Like most round things round rock will roll: away from your shoes, away from the tire of the wheelbarrow, etc. This will cause the rock to migrate to the outer edges of the traffic area and before you know it you’re walking on your weed barrier which could cause tears.

For the traffic areas in your landscape a crushed rock is better. Although some river-rock is crushed, much of it is mined or quarried. The rock, in large pieces, is put into a crusher which breaks them into small pieces. Those pieces are screened to varying sizes. Crushed rock, with it’s flat sides and sharp edges will lay flatter and pack down. Once compacted even just a little, the rock will stay in place to moderate foot traffic.

-  Scott Crist has over 20 years experience operating and setting up landscape material yards.

Lawns

Lawns usually consume more space than any other single material in a landscape.  They also normally require more water and more care than any other feature in your yard.

What can you do to cut down on the time required to maintain your lawn?  How can you use less water, less chemicals?

Consider these tips:

1. Reduce the size of your lawn by bringing in the margins.  This can be done with flower beds,  walkways, raised berms with shrubs and rocks as accents.  Every square foot of lawn that you remove saves you water (as much as 10 gallons a week in some areas), saves you time mowing, saves time and money fertilizing.
2. Raise and Sharpen: Raise your mower to cut at the 3-4 inch level.  It will make the lawn healthier.  Taller grass promotes better root growth to help the lawn win the battle against weeds.  It is also a cooler lawn and requires less water than a lawn that is mown short. Sharpen your mower blade often.  A sharp blade cuts the grass while a dull one shreds it.  The shredded blades of grass lose more moisture and require more watering.  They also look worse than blades of grass with a clean cut.  Remember when you sharpen a mower blade to take the same number of file strokes from each side of the blade.  Too much sharpening of one side can cause the blade to be out of balance which will shorten the life of your mower.
3. Grasscycle:  Leave your clippings on the lawn.  They will return nourishment to the soil and will keep your lawn cooler, demanding less water.
4. Leave the Clover:  Clover is one of the best nitrogen fixing agents you can get.  If you leave clover in the lawn, it will promote stronger turf and will make your lawn greener and healthier.
5. Moderation in all things:  Only use fertilizers when you need them.  Many fertilizer producers promote schedules for fertilizers that are more appropriate to sell more fertilizer than to promote proper growth of your lawn.  Too much fertilizer and too much water can cost you more than you need to spend.  In many cases excess water and fertilizer will just run off and go into the drain and ultimately into our waterways causing pollution.
6. Time watering:  If you water in the heat of the day, much of what you think is going on your garden is just evaporating.  Water just before dark or at first light in the morning. 

For more information, check out these websites:

www.gardening.cornell.edu/lawn
www.bewatersmart.net/conservationtips_yard.html

Plant PVC in Your Yard

Of all the landscaping advice I have received over the years, the one tip that has saved the most time and effort is this:

“If you don’t want to have to dig it up, ALWAYS plant a pvc pipe under it.”

If you are building a new natural stone path, plant a pvc pipe under it.

If you are pouring a new stamped concrete walkway, plant a pvc pipe under it.

If you are building a low wall planter bed, plant a pvc pipe under the foundation.

You get the idea.  Just do it. 

Use  3”pipe.  It is just over 3 inches inside which will allow you later to push a number of smaller pipes for water, electrical, or drainage.  You can fit up to three 1” pipes inside.  It never hurts to have more room than you think you will need. Be sure to put something in the ends of the pipe or use standard pipe caps to keep soil from migrating into the pipe.  Trench down below the lowest layer of the feature you are building.  It is best to set the pipe in a base of sand and cover it with sand.

Make sure, also,  to mark where the ends of the pipe are located on your landscape plans.  It also helps if you can mark on your new landscape feature.  For example, on a new stamped concrete walk, place a small nail in the concrete at each end of the pipe. 

The cost of a 3”pvc or abs drain pipe is only $1.00 to $1.50 per foot.  It could save you hundreds of dollars in sawing and repair.  Have you ever seen what a walkway or driveway looks like after someone had to saw across it to put a drain underneath?  Trust me.   You want to have a pvc pipe buried, not a bill for concrete sawing and replacement.   

PVC pipe won’t grow if you plant it, but, it will have you smiling from ear to ear when you decide to add lighting to that new brick flowerbed that you just finished and planted.