Michael Cooks Senior Project Report Week 4

Reflection

The last week of my design phase has come to an end. I am quite proud of the progress I have made. As I predicted, there is still more that needs to be done but I know enough to begin implementing my plan. Lots of the planning was not so much for me but for the client and for practice in professional landscape design. Having said that, I really have no idea how professionals make their designs. Make such a concise plan helped me pin down exactly what I needed to buy and how many. It was a difficult process for someone as spontaneous and free-flowing as me, but that's why I feel it was so valuable. 

Local Landscapers

Last weekend I mentioned that I had finally contacted some of the landscapers that I wanted to talk to. I ended up only talking to one this week and have been unable to get a hold of the other two. This is probably because I am very passive and have a hard time requesting things of people. Im sure that that want to talk with me but are also very very busy and if Im not determined enough to pin them down then they're not going to go out of their way to meet with me. Today I plan on being more assertive. There isn't too much I need to figure out, but I want to get some sort of confirmation that my plan will work and some tips on the best way to execute it. I should have enough time to finish everything, but it would be nice to have more time. This week I created a table of all the things I would be doing this month, how long they would take to complete and what their prerequisites are. 

Plan of action

ID task                   eft(days)   prereqs

a purchase seeds   0.25

b clean up yard       0.5

c remove sod          2              b

d work soil             2               c

e sow worm casting 0.25          d

f sow seeds            0.25          e

g lay mesh              0.25          f

h get mulch             1

i buy plants             0.5

j plant plants           0.5           i

k mulch beds          1              j

l make wood frames 1

m rebuild shed       1              b

n carve rabbits       2

o stegosaurus        2

p build bird village  2

q build picnic area   2

r vegetable bed      1

s plant trees           0.5

total time: 20 days

So 20 days of work. Thats five days a week for four weeks. I plan on things taking longer due to weather or complications or stupidity on my part. Some of the tasks have no prerequisites and can be done if the weather is bad or if I have to wait for some reason. So there should be something for me to be doing everyday. 

Progress

I didn't get everything done that I had been planning on doing, but I did make good progress. Besides filling out my timeline I also greatly increased the specificity of my plant list and more importantly, their place in the yard. Its now much more simple and concise. Here is the map:

Native Perennials

The native perennial arrangements are going to be very fun. I have been collecting and will continue to collect large slices of tree trunks which I plan to hollow out and fill with soil. They will then be arranged in the mulch beds and have the native perennials planted in them. The plants that I will be using include:Lavender, Camomile, Sage, Fennel, Yarrow, Comfrey, oregano, tarragon, Burgmont, and Lamb's Ear. Some of these plants I will be gathering from the woods, some from friends and some I will be starting  from seed. 

Bulb Arrangements  

The bulbs have also been refined. I spent some time researching each specific bulb that I had on my list for each season and pruned it heavily, keeping on the hardiest varieties. Once I was down to one or two per season I then made a little diagram to show how they will be planted. I have animated it to show which plants will be visible during the course of the year.

these are the flowers that will I will be using:

early spring:

Glory of the Snow

mid spring:

hyacinth

daffodil

late spring:

allium

summer:

Day Lily

iris

autumn blooms:

meadow saffron

The placement is rough as I have not taken into account each plants specific size and planting guidelines, but this should give you the over all idea.

Remaining Tasks

There are still a number of things I have yet to figure out. But I will still have a couple days next week to figure them out. Pricing is one area. I wish I could have reached a more precise budget, but unfortunately I have been trying to comprehend so many different aspects of the project that my mind is filling up and when that happens my way of coping is to lay off the details and focus on the wholeness. I am still confident that The project will cost no more than $400. No matter what the cost is, my plan is still to charge $1000 for the whole thing and subtract the costs from that (that would be approximately $6 an hour assuming the $400 cost and 100 hours of work). 

The other issue I have been tackling is how to smooth the boarder between the wildflowers and the lawn. I had originally intended to use some sort of boxwood or evergreen shrub but soon realized that at $15 a plant, it would be waaaaaay to expensive. The next idea was to find some native early-green-turning shrubby-bush-leafy plant. But I and the people I have talked to have been unable to think of something that would be cheap and easy to plant. I was feeling down in the dumps so to speak. I was also having a lot of difficulty trying to figure out how to seed the grass and the wildflowers and the boarder plant with out getting them mixed. And there were many more complications. Then, today at lunch I spoke with Dawn Hunter, a local gardener, and asked her what see would use for the boarder. She thought for a bit and then suggested Buffalo grass. I laughed, that was silly. "Buffalo grass is what's in the lawn right now!" And then it hit me. Buffalo grass! Its already in the lawn! Buffalo grass is a hardy, clumping, non-spreading prairie grass that reaches a maximum height of 1ft. Using buffalo grass will save a lot of time and money and make the entire lawn and wildflower seeding process much much easier. I will simply leave a foot wide strip of the grass along the boarder of the wildflower bed. This way I will be able to walk around the lawn without disturbing the sprouting grass and wildflowers and there will be a lower chance of having the seeds getting mixed up. It will also catch soil and seed runoff when it rains. I am very happy with this solution. Do less and accomplish more right?! 

Conclusion 

Ive had a lot of fun designing this landscape. I enjoy being able to express myself creatively in a way that brings nature and society closer. Next week I begin by cleaning up the yard and then start removing sod. I intend to continue figuring things out as I go. I also intend to write up a more professional design proposal in the next couple days.