BajaNomad

Juan builds new rock planter at the blowhole

shari - 6-6-2008 at 06:02 PM

Abalone season is over and Juan had a couple weeks off before he starts caracole next week....so we went to Playa Naranjo for a few days of disgustingly hot weather (Juan loved it) then Juan decided to do away with the shells on our patio and put laja rock in. But not until I got my new garden wall built...it's a beauty and I cant wait to fill it with colourful flowers. The rock floor will be a big improvement...much easier to clean and to dance on too next time Bajagypsy is here.

IMG_7576.JPG - 48kB

David K - 6-6-2008 at 06:18 PM

Cool! Thanks for showing to us Shari!:D

Diver - 6-6-2008 at 06:49 PM

Go Juan, go !!
Looks great; and better all the time !

Iflyfish - 6-6-2008 at 07:04 PM

Like my father said, god put that energy on the wrong end of life. Man that guy is generative!

Nice wall

Iflyfish

Bajagypsy - 6-7-2008 at 07:41 AM

As long as it's not the "special" gypsy dance!!

Love the flower bed, can you send Juan to my house (in Canada) and have him build me one!!!

Can't wait to try the new dance floor!

Nice work Juan!

ELINVESTIG8R - 6-7-2008 at 07:47 AM

fulano - 6-8-2008 at 08:51 PM

Your husband does good masonry work, but I have to tell you that planter was a big mistake. You should never have earth-wall contact with your house if you want to avoid termites and dry rot. If that house was in the US and you wanted to get an FHA or VA loan on it, you would have to demolish that planter. It would never pass a termite inspection, and that is a requirement of the loan funding.

Diver - 6-8-2008 at 09:34 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by fulano
You should never have earth-wall contact with your house if you want to avoid termites and dry rot......


Their house is concrete filled block.
Waterproofiing the inside of the planter walls should be all that's needed.

Bob H - 6-9-2008 at 05:53 PM

Yeah, a good moisture barrier will be needed... but I can just invision the beautiful plants with cascading flowers over the edge of that wall... great work! Just wants to make me come back for another visit to see all the construction progress! Well done Juan!
Bob H

[Edited on 6-10-2008 by Bob H]

shari - 6-9-2008 at 06:10 PM

OK, so we're only gonna put a few inches of new mesquite dirt in this baby...not fill it up...so what kind of moisture barrier do we need? We've had plants here for years and nothing has happened yet...whew, glad there is no termite inspector here! Although Shami is keeping an eye on Juan's workmanship.

Russ - 6-9-2008 at 07:26 PM

Shari/Juan, There'll be lots of differing opinions here. My way would be to paint it with tar. The real stuff you have to melt would be my preference but it is a pain compared to the soft stuff in a can. The hard stuff should make a stronger barrier against bugs and water over time and I believe it makes a much tighter water seal. Bugs hate tar. I don't know how the plants will do near it though.

Barry A. - 6-9-2008 at 07:29 PM

My planters are made with railroad ties, and the are heavily creosoted----they do not rot or decay, and the plants seem to tolerate the creosote which bubbles out in the hot sun and flows into the planter.

Is not creosote like tar??

mtgoat666 - 6-9-2008 at 07:49 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Barry A.
My planters are made with railroad ties, and the are heavily creosoted----they do not rot or decay, and the plants seem to tolerate the creosote which bubbles out in the hot sun and flows into the planter.

Is not creosote like tar??


"creosote" is typically primarily polyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and usually produced from coal tar. toxic to bugs, and generally carcinogenic to you. tar in cigarettes is about same as coal tar and tar in creosote - PAH tar is a byproduct of combustion. by the way, tar is actually a technical name for petroleum fraction with density greater than water, but usually mis-used to mean anything sticky/viscous at room temperature.

oladulce - 6-11-2008 at 03:50 PM

"Chapapote" has always worked ok for me on planter walls before filling with dirt.

I'm not sure what Chapapote actually is, but there doesn't seem to be any shortage of it. I probably would research it more before planting edibles, but so far it's never killed any of my trees or surrounding plants.