Spring Cleaning & The Grand Terrace

Spring cleaning in the yard can produce dramatic results, as demonstrated by my last big project on the property. Before and after photos render such an interesting, and for me, satisfying look back. Along the south western edge of the property is part of the old Catalpa Road that had not been uncovered in many years. Trees had fallen, the prior owners had used it as a dumping ground for branches, and vines had grown up over everything. It was a mess.

Despite not looking attractive, behind the jumble was a nice stone wall marking the edge of the old road. For the past two years, I have imagined this area cleared.

I began cleaning this area last year. There was a mound of dirt that had been pushed into place when a turn around, many years ago, was made for the driveway,. Wheel barrow load after wheel barrow load I moved this dirt elsewhere. It wasn’t a simple task. I used a screen to separate rocks from the dirt, in order to be able to use the soil in two raised beds I built by the stone picnic area. There were three small Norway maples growing in the mound of dirt. I cut these down to open the road again.

I started at one end of the road and began to clear al the debris up to the stone wall. I made a huge pile of trees, branches and vines.

In late winter I bought a small chainsaw. I had always been reluctant to use a chainsaw, after having seen the gruesome shower scene in Scarface, with Al Pacino wielding a chain saw. Just the sound of a chainsaw made my skin crawl. Just as I have become more accustomed to seeing the garter snakes in the yard, I have become used to using the saw.

It took me a week to clear out the old road. I hired Lynn Warren Landscaping to come and chip up the big pile of branches. I had carried branches from other parts of the yard and had a pile that was about 30 feet long, 12 feet wide and 10 feet tall. It is always amazing to me how quickly a pile this large can be reduced to wood chips. Within 2 hours of their arrival we had chipped the entire pile.

The large downed tree, laying across the road was too big for the chipper. I cut it into a single 10 foot section. Even though it weighs a significant amount I was able to take a metal pool and slowly move it off to the side of the road. It now makes a spot to sit down and look out onto the rest of the yard.

The road is elevated roughly 3 feet above the rest of the yard. The enormous sycamore tree dominates this part of the yard (an arborist recently told me he believes it may be a plane tree and not a sycamore – I cannot tell the difference). When I first bought the property there were thick vines threatening the tree. These vines were some of the first things I cut down in the yard. They had been allowed to grow for decades and looked almost prehistoric. Unchecked, they would have killed the tree.

Andrew and I recently re-stacked the stone boundary wall. Over the years the falling trees had knocked many stones off. We were surprised to find enormous stones buried in the ground, where they had fallen after the trees knocked them off from their impact. It was arduous work, but we managed to unearth all the big stones and replace them on the wall. An irony about the project is my property boundary is only about a foot past the sycamore tree. Ultimately, what this means is all the work I did was technically on my neighbor’s property. However, it is an area I see each day and having it cleared has improved my yard exponentially. I told one of my neighbors that as the old road is flat and elevated above my yard, it forms what we will call the “grand terrace.” A fitting name for a regal sycamore, an old road and a lovely vantage point.