Low Maintenance Country Drive

How do you deal with a driveway and entrance way that has been overtaken by ivy? The owners wanted a tidy, formal and low maintenance country drive way leading to their rural property on the outskirts of Albany.

The first stage was to clear everything out before we could even begin to visualise what might be. The owners were wanting a stone retainer wall and plantings along the length of the driveway. Low maintenance was a definite requirement.

This was very much a project that evolved as we went. It was impossible to plan this from the outset as we had no idea of what we would discover under the matted ivy.

The entrance before work commenced.

The drive before work commenced.

Making a start – clearing out the ivy

The clearing involved removing the boundary fence and old retaining wall which was falling away. At first we were unaware that it was in such a state as the ivy had covered everything and was making great advancements into the neighbour’s property.

We cleared the foliage with chainsaws, then cleared the roots out with the digger. It was important to get rid of as much of the ivy as possible.

The ivy was cleared by chainsaw.

The ivy growing very well in the retainer wall!

The digger at work.

Building a new retainer wall and fence

Once the area was cleared, it became apparent that the existing retainer fence would need to be replaced. The ivy was clearly well entrenched within it. A new retainer wall and fence, (all in one) was erected. The fence was stained black in keeping with the fence at the front entrance.

A new retainer wall and fence.

Building the stone retainer wall

Black matting was laid over the cleared areas and large paddock rocks were brought in and placed using the Tatonka crane truck. The placement of the rocks was very important so that they were very stable and looked natural. The stone was dry stacked around the larger rocks creating a natural stone retainer wall.

Laying the rocks into place.

Coir matting was used to help create a stable base for the mulch due to the slope. The mulch was placed behind the rocks using the crane truck and bin. This method saves hours of work. The well rotted mulch when applied thickly provides an excellent base for planting.

Coir matting placed under the mulch.

With rocks and mulch in place, the owners chose to complete the project with their own planting.

Low maintenance country drive before and after photos

Siting of the ‘Seat of Life’ Sculpture at Sanders Reserve

On the 8th August 2016, Phil Bonham’s almost completed seat sculpture was carefully transported by Tatonka to it’s final resting place next to the Faraway Tree at Sanders Reserve. Now fully sited and fully completed, the Seat of Life is ready for all ages to discover and to enjoy.

If you are venturing onto the Reserve, the sculptured ‘Seat of Life’ and the ‘Faraway Tree’ are must sees. The official opening for the Seat is planned for October 2016.

About the Seat

The seat was created as an object to sit on, to play in and to let your curiosity go wild. An old macrocarpa tree, sourced from the same area at Sanders Reserve as where the Faraway Tree stands, the log was cut down in early 2015 in preparation to be sculptured into the magical ‘Seat of Life’, that you see today.

As Phil carved the seat, many images emerged. Nothing was planned, the creatures you see became very clear to Phil as he stripped back the bark and began carving into the outer wood.

Below, Phil describes the features and forms…

The strange bird headed figure is a tree nymph or the hamadryades from Ancient Greek culture that were of the trees. She is pregnant because this sculpture is about the life force within things…an egg shape sits in the window under her side.

Finishing touches to the nymph on the ‘Seat of Life’

Some of the bird heads are specific and two are named, in reference to the recent pukeko culling fiasco when three takahe were shot. He mauri to nga manu, he mauri to nga rakau, he mauri to gna tangata.

Pukeko Heads on the ‘Seat of Life’

There are many other forms and references that passed through my mind and hands as it was made and hopefully there will be even more that are seen and felt by those who go to Sanders Reserve and walk down to Library Point, where waka and launch were launched.

Placement of the Sculptured Seat

Loaded on to the back of the Tatonka truck, at the yard at 389 Paremoremo Rd, the beautifully hand crafted seat was carefully manoevered into place in preparation to be moved to Sanders Reserve.

The sculptured seat on the back of Tatonka, note the back wheel!

The short trip to Sanders Reserve took little time, and before anyone even had a chance to notice, the seat was being unloaded in a position close to the Faraway Tree.

Arrival at the site, next to the Faraway Tree

Unloading was quick, the seat was set down on the ground in a temporary position while the site was prepared.

Tatonka going hard out to unload the sculpture!

Several basalt rocks were placed on the ground as a solid base to secure the sculpture in its final resting place. The tail, (the second half of the sculpture), was moved onto site and carefully glued into place.

The tail had to be glued into place on site

There were still many hours of final finishing for Phil to complete once the carving was on site. To complete the picture, matting, cushion fall and a timber edge were installed by Sustainable Landscapes.

It has been an absolute pleasure having the opportunity to get to know Phil throughout the process of creating his art sculpture. We have seen the long hours Phil has poured into this sculpture which has turned out to be a labour of love. To visit you will see for yourself, the wonder of his creation. Dave and Barb, Sustainable Landscapes.

Creating a Low Maintenance Country Drive

When clients asked for a makeover of their entrance and drive way of approximately 120 metres, they had low maintenance as a prerequisite. The drive way had been kept under control mainly with a weed eater, however it still presented as a high maintenance job and it always looked messy.

The entrance way before work commenced.

The shrubs along one side of the drive had been competing for food and had become quite leggy and unattractive. There was an open culvert running the length of the driveway, half covered in grass with a generous scattering of agapanthus that had randomly seeded throughout it.

Before – the left hand side of the driveway was always difficult to maintain.

To begin, we had to remove the trees. This is where the front winches on the Tatonka truck are very useful! The trees were mulched on site.

With our little digger, we created a swale down the length of the driveway. We removed all unwanted organic matter piling it up for decomposition.

The swale area was then covered in a mud stop matting.

Preparing the mud stop to go over the newly formed swale area.

River stone was hand placed along the length of the swale. No need to go to the gym when you are doing this work! River pebbles were added later.

Hand placed river stone.

Rustic items of wood were randomly placed to add interest and replicate a river bed.

Creating the natural look.

A hedge was planted along the length of the driveway to provide privacy. The popular native ‘griselinia’ was planted.

The area around the plantings was thickly mulched. As part of the banks were relatively steep, a fibre matting was used to hold the mulch in place.

Using the bin to fill the areas requiring mulch enables us to work quickly, efficiently and cleanly.

Red native flaxes were planted to add interest along with the very popular and hardy Australian lomundra grasses.

Fresh plantings of flax, lumundra and griselinia.

The entrance reconstruction involved replacing the old fence and gates, and continuing the river boulder theme. Interest pieces of drift wood and large boulders completed the overall natural look.

Boulders,drift wood and plantings in the new entrance way

Solid new gates with a light oak coloured stain, along with a matching new letterbox complete the project.