Done!
What a busy day, lots of little loose ends to tie up and cleanup. We’ve managed to stay pretty organized, but our mess pile outside the hedge is ever increasing. The biggest task of the day was edging—no simple task. Wood planks were delivered to our plot by Gigi and we proceeded to saw them in half length-wise. To anchor the edging we also had to make the wooded stakes to screw into. While laying the edging, we discovered that we had prematurely cut short some of the turf quilt squares—ugh! This meant either patching in scrap pieces to extend the squares (not easy), or cut new pieces from our leftovers (which were few and far between). At this point our bodies ached and our backs and knees felt broken, BUT the adrenaline of needing to finish on time kept us going. After installing all of the edging we then added mulch (made of coconut fibers) under the hedge.
What a busy day, lots of little loose ends to tie up and cleanup. We’ve managed to stay pretty organized, but our mess pile outside the hedge is ever increasing. The biggest task of the day was edging—no simple task. Wood planks were delivered to our plot by Gigi and we proceeded to saw them in half length-wise. To anchor the edging we also had to make the wooded stakes to screw into. While laying the edging, we discovered that we had prematurely cut short some of the turf quilt squares—ugh! This meant either patching in scrap pieces to extend the squares (not easy), or cut new pieces from our leftovers (which were few and far between). At this point our bodies ached and our backs and knees felt broken, BUT the adrenaline of needing to finish on time kept us going. After installing all of the edging we then added mulch (made of coconut fibers) under the hedge.
Next major task, quality control. Natalie and Katie made
sure the turf on the sides of the berms was securely fastened and that there
were no screws poking through the back side. I was in charge of the ground
plane. My obsession for perfectly taped squares got the better of me and I ended
up ripping out and re-taping several squares, to ensure they were fully secure.
After re-taping I started adding 3-1/2” screws into the corners of each square
to make sure they wouldn’t pop up. Such rigidity, I feel sorry for whoever has
to deconstruct this thing! In the end the squares were very well tacked down.
In addition to the screws, in areas of potentially high foot-traffic, I also
added lawn stakes along select seams. My hand wore out quacking during that
process, but luckily Rod stepped in to help me pound the remaninging ones down.
The last, and most exciting task, was to remove the covering
from the gazing globe. WOW—what a fun treat to see how beautifully shiny it
was, and without a single scratch. The reflections were just as I imagined—a beautiful
mixture of greens from the turf and blues from the sky.
By 4:30 PM we were magically in good shape! Gerard came
around for a “final inspection” and that was it—DONE! Gigi came by to lend us
the power blower and we made sure all debris was cleared. Once cleared it was photo
shoot time!
Truly unbelievable that the design came out exactly as I
imagined it. Standing in the garden almost felt like standing right in the
SkechUP model. Most delightful was how well the garden photographed. The contrasting
colors were studding and most dramatic in overcast skies. I hope the festival
visitors are able to get some good pictures, especially of their reflections in
the gazing globe.
After we finished ooing and aweing over our beloved Plot 22
we decided to take a final tour of all the different plots and see how they’ve
progressed of the past two weeks. We were so busy we hardly paid attention to
our neighbors!
In the end a huge sigh of relief and an overwhelming sense
of joy. What an amazing experience! This project would never have been possible
without the team’s hard work and dedication. We finished on time, without any
major trauma or drama to report. Though we are TOTALLY exhausted and extremely
sore, we are all in high spirits and thankful to go home tomorrow!
Truly a dream come true. Thank you Rod, Tom, Katie and
Natalie! Go team Green!
