Don’t blame you on the lawn!! I don’t have one either….at least, intentionally. ;) I don’t have a lawn that *I* mow…that’s what the sheep and goats are for. Won’t be long before the place starts looking like a park. If you mix species when you graze you get the best of all worlds. Goats are browsers….they’ll eat brush first, forbs (weeds & such) 2nd, grass last. Sheep eat forbs 1st, grass 2nd and brush last. Cattle & horses eat grass 1st, forbs 2nd and brush if they’re starved to it. As long as you don’t overgraze any part you end up with a place that looks like you’ve hired a landscape crew to keep the place. With all the rain we’ve gotten this year I think I’ll have to borrow my neighbor’s goats because mine aren’t keeping up. ;)
The D-9 terraced the top, leaving the trees and shrubs alone that I marked with yellow construction tape. On the top of the hill there’s not any space where we don’t have a road, a building or garden. They used the big rocks (Volkswagen size and a little smaller) to support the base of the terrace. I had them put some around in the flower beds so I could create micro-climates and because I just think it looks neat. We fenced off the very top where the flowers and veggies are so the goats & sheep can’t get to them. I threw out some dwarf Bermuda grass seed (only gets 3 – 4” tall) on the slope where it gets full sun and the goats have access.
A good operator won’t make a lunar landscape. You *will* need a clear place for your house, driveway, and parking area with enough room to turn your vehicles around. He’ll probably start by heading down the hill and cutting in where you want your road. Have him put any large rocks inside the base of the terrace to stabilize the terrace then get some vegetation on it *quickly*….but getting any plant established will take some water. You *could* build a retaining wall since you’ve got lots of rock…. See if you can find a Cat operator to go out and give you an estimate. Talk to your
Good luck! It’s been a real learning experience buying property way out in the country on a hill….and well worth every frustration.
Pat
From:
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 5:32 PM
To:
Subject: [papercreters] Rocky, Wooded Slope -was- Re: What are you building with Papercrete?
Contracting out the excavation probably makes sense. It's a rural
area and it's likely someone would have to truck the machine in from
75 miles away. Even still, it might be the best bet.
I still wonder how well such a machine would work on such a steep
slope, but I guess that's the contractor's problem, hunh?
I'd like to limit damage to the surrounding environment as much as
possible. The woods are a huge reason why I like the site. I'd hate
to create a patch of lunar landscape inside the woods. I'll be
darned if I'm going to plant grass over some beaten down surrounding
ground forcing me to mow that freekin slope. Most of the vegetation
just sprang up naturally. It looks good the way it is. Nature is a
better landscaper than I could ever be.
Good point about erosion control. I need to give that some thought.
Ideally plants that are already there would grow and hold the slope.
IT AIN'T GONNA BE LAWN!
Good grief. I LOATHE mowing grass as much as SPAM. Do all that work
only to have it grow back an undo all my efforts? No thanks! Wasn't
lawn care the 2nd punishment for Sisyphus?
--- In papercreters@
>
> Hey SG,
>
>
>
> Our property is very rugged with the house being almost on the top
of a
> hill. Now, the usable area where the house is has maybe 1 acre
before it
> slopes down to
cattle so
> we graze goats if we want anything to keep the brush in control on
it. I
> wouldn't even *think* of attempting to use any kind of tractor…walk
behind
> or otherwise…on it because it's just too dangerous.
>
>
>
> When we bought the property we tried to think of another way to do
it but we
> finally bit the bullet and hired a guy with a D-9 Cat to terrace
the top so
> we'd have enough room for the house, outbuildings and gardens. It
cost us
> $1500 and he was finished in about ½ day. I've never regretted
spending the
> money even though it set us back in our time-table because we'd
kindof
> earmarked that money for something else… but now we have a good
place for
> the house & gardens while keeping the great view we bought the
property for.
> The big rocks the D-9 dug up (some of them the size of a
Volkswagon) they
> buried on the edge of the slope to help stabilize the top terrace.
They
> also scattered some around in the landscape so that I could make
little
> micro-climates around the boulders.
>
>
>
> One other little suggestion. Before you start tearing up the land,
make
> sure you have some vegetation established on your slope and get
vegetation
> planted on the part you've terraced ASAP. Even if it's rock & rock
dust the
> rain will carve valleys & small canyons in a remarkably short
period of
> time.
>
>
>
> Good luck on your quest for land!
>
>
>
> Pat S.
>
>
>
> _____
>
> From: papercreters@
[mailto:papercreters@
> Behalf Of slurryguy
> Sent: Monday, August 27, 2007 5:19 PM
> To: papercreters@
> Subject: [papercreters] Rocky, Wooded Slope -was- Re: What are you
building
> with Papercrete?
>
>
>
> I agree that a tractor is far more economical. The problem is that
> driving one on the slope would be suicidal. I'd guess it's close to
> a 100% grade. That's the catch-22. Once a house is built, the slope
> will make for a fantastic view. The price for that view is the
> difficult construction, especially initially. The very reasons the
> land is unusable for farming/grazing are the reasons it will be
> challenging to build upon desirable to live there once the
structure
> is finished.
>
> If I were to use one of those walk behinds, it would be a rental.
> I'd get some friends together and we'd try to knock out the
critical
> work in one or two weekends. I even can imagine tethering it, just
> in case it wants to roll.
>
> The other alternative would be to do a lot of hand digging. I'd
> probably need to buy a jackhammer to get the big rocks down to a
> manageable size. It's mostly limestone, so breaking it up shouldn't
> be unreasonable. I wouldn't even consider attempting construction
on
> this site if the rock were granite. Ideally I'll use a lot of that
> rock in the structure.
>
> --- In papercreters@ <mailto:papercreter
> yahoogroups.
> wrote:
> >
> > Slurryguy wrote:
> >
> >
> > Building a road and digging out for the foundation will be no
small
> > tasks. It won't be easy to use heavy equipment at the
construction
> > site. I saw a tiny tracked walk behind skid steer the other day
on
> > the boob tube. Something like that might be ideal, at least at
> > first. If it can handle the slope well, it might make things
> easier,
> > especially initially. It would be nice to excavate without
> > destroying the natural beauty that exists.
> >
> > I think after about a day and a half if you last that long the
walk
> behind
> > will drive you mad.
> >
> > They are very expensive for what you get because of their unique
> nature and
> > limited application. They are also terribly slow. I picked up a
> used 34
> > horse JD 4wd tractor loader backhoe for $18k Canadian. I think it
> would
> > likely have cost about $14K US. For another $3k you can get a pin
> > attachment if the rock is a real problem. If they are over 5
years
> old they
> > tend to keep their value very well so you could sell it when you
> were done.
> > The combination of loader, backhoe with side stabilizers make
this
> a very
> > agile little beasty. Plus there is so much more you can do with
> them. PTO
> > driven mixer? Cut the brush, dig the septic, lift 600lbs up
8'..the
> list
> > goes on and on.
> >
> > Hope you get your property
> >
> >
> >
> > Nick
> >
>
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