projects | [ Lost in the Landscape ]

It’s done at last, the project from Hades.

Ugly wall side of fireplace demo — The ugly backside of the outdoor fireplace, a week into the demolition

What started out as this ugly outdoor fireplace with attached bench…

Finished bench from end — The finished bench, from the end.

…has now morphed effortlessly (yah right) into this new garden feature: part bench, part deck, part raised bog/planter. It’s about four by sixteen feet in size.

For the last two years my bog plants were hogging up the sunny spot in the middle of the patio. Totally in the way. The new bench needed to have a raised bog/planter detail, returning some of the hardscape to garden.

With a general plan in place we got going.

Some scenes from the project:

This act of creation began with an act of destruction. The decrepit and not earthquake-safe chimney came down a brick at a time over several weekends. We saved 350 bricks that came off in pretty good condition and hand-chiseled the mortar off of most of them. Inside the fireplace was the reason the whole thing hadn’t collapsed already: 200 pounds of reinforcing steel. At current metal recycling rates we got almost 30 dollars for the scrap metal.

Old tiles — The rustic Japanese tiles that I loved 15 years ago and still appreciate now

I had some moments of nostalgia and renewed appreciation for the little Japanese tiles that I picked out fifteen years ago to try to ornament what at the time was already a marginally attractive garden feature. The didn’t come off the fireplace easily, and the shards and even the good bits were dispatched to the dump. As much as we tried to recycle, this project is not going to get a Platinum LEED rating.

The super-story bricks removed, we were left with a long concrete bench. I like plain concrete as a material, but this bench had been formed around a wood fence that had rotted away a decade ago. We shimmed over the ugliness and covered it all with wood.

Bench detail with shimmed corner — A shimmed corner with support for the decking about to be installed

Bench with shims — The whole bench with shims in place

Bench with shims after painting it black — The bench with black paint to keep the white from showing through between the slats

The batten test_way too rustic — Before adding suppot battens for the planter we checked to see how it would look with them outside. Ugh. Way too rustic, too *Country Home*, too NASCAR. The battens are now hidden inside.

Bench with the garden beyond — With the fireplace gone, it opens up the patio to the rest of the back yard.I liked how the zones were distinct before, but the bench still serves as a gentle separator between garden zones.

Postmodern support column — The bench was poured with this Greco-Roman column for support. Were they pining for some lost ancestors? Or were they postmodern ten years before the movement caught on with architects? Whatever the case, we decided to paint it black to de-emphasize it. No way were we going to take on taking it out!

Bench ready for the pond liner — The planter nearly complete, ready for the pond liner

Pond liner being put into place. This is to protect the wood and allow the bog plants to sit in water. This could also be repurposed in the future as a raised pond, or--after punching some drain holes--a normal planter box.

Finished bence from end_showing sarracenia — ...and here it is with the bog plants in place.

A final “after” picture:

We’re going to relax some before starting the next garden project, maybe in these two old butterfly chairs John got second-hand 30 years ago, with our feet up on the new bench…

Last fall I was at the local metal supply shop where they were having a special on sheets of stamped stainless steel. About that time I was thinking of rebuilding the gates to the back yard. The stainless sheets were 4×4 feet, narrower than the opening that need to be gated. But after a little work with pencil and paper I came up with these two designs.

What you see are the back sides, the sides that have a little more detailing, and the sides that I like the most. On the second gate I spaced and cut the center support too short so that I had to fill in with another piece of wood. I wound up liking the repaired version than the original drawing. With construction and with photography, I like to plan a bit ahead of time. But accidents will happen, and they often make the outcome a lot more interesting.

Basic materials: ribbed stainless steel, ipe hardwood trim, painted pressure-treated wood structure.

[ Lost in the Landscape ]

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