They Say That Granite Rings - Xeriscaping in the Postnuclear Free-World

That works for me on many levels. Our planet's resources are finite so re-purposing is a win.

I know you know the erosion run-off issue all too well. Thank you.
I like the fact that the pile now has a new home. I have picked it down to dirt now, and by the time this project is through, and, *what I also have in mind, I will have used almost all of that pile.
The property executor was just going to dig a hole on the land, and bury it. So, he doesn't have to do that.

As of today, I finally made it to the drain pipe clean out, which marks my vertical end goal.
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* I'm going to create the flooring/dry creek outflow on my Water Wall with the remnants that are left over. This might totally clean out the entire granite pile.

and in another note,... I also used this same granite to create a vertical extension on top of my Fire on the Mtn. Eucalyptus stump plater. I laid broken sections of the granite horizontally to create a dry-stacked ledge stone extension, around the top of the stump perimeter, that might be 12" tall? 10" minimum. No pics yet.
 
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And, we're finally topped, and, capped.
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Early on, I made a decision to not do any cutting; to use the pieces as found. That ethic workedd out well enough, until the top cap. Due to the erraticness of the different pieces, I was able to stitch together a coherent top. But, it left a gap. That gap is going to be covered by a stacked planter of this same material, like below, where I used the same material in a test stacking to see how it worked as a ledge stone planter.

The top stacked region brings us up to a level area of grade, just higher than the drop into the sump. It also conceals the clean out pipe under a slab of the cap pieces. In order to access the cleanup, that slab is removed, and, the vent on the vertical face is easily disasssembled to freely access the cleanup.

This is my Fire on the Mtn. planter, with an added foot of ledge stone stacking. I did this this past weekend, just to test theory, and I liked how it worked. So, I'll stack something like this over the gap at the top of the drain board feature.
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Agave attenuata is a favorite. I've gotten lucky on free CL and salvaged a couple of sizable patches.

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Nice MCM. Very interesting roofline! Your rooflline reminds me of the mid-stacking area of my drain board.
That is a lot of hillside behind you.

Most of the hillside is mine which is good and bad. The good is no nosy neighbors. The bad is I have to maintain it.
 
And,... stacking the main structure is finished, and functioning in todays rain.
This is the first daylight rain that I've seen (twice at night now).
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From the street view (in car, stopped on road):
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Now to the plantings, to create a backdrop screen, and soften the edges.
 
If this hasn't already been mentioned it will blow your mind.
Build a Quickrete wall by stacking bags of it in whatever configuration you like then just wet it with water. After a while the paper will biodegrade and you'll be left with perfectly stacked concrete stones that are very tight fit. For taller walls (to keep from tipping over) drive re-bar steaks through before wetting. You can even make smaller ones by filling paper lunch bags with Quickrete.
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Excellent work mfrench! I daresay if some millionaire wanted a granite countertop waterfall, it would not look nicer than that from the finest contractors, and it would cost a fortune!

If only I had a place like that to get remnants. All we have is a Brick & Block place and you can have all the broken masonry you want for fill material. Boring.
 
If this hasn't already been mentioned it will blow your mind.
Build a Quickrete wall by stacking bags of it in whatever configuration you like then just wet it with water. After a while the paper will biodegrade and you'll be left with perfectly stacked concrete stones that are very tight fit. For taller walls (to keep from tipping over) drive re-bar steaks through before wetting. You can even make smaller ones by filling paper lunch bags with Quickrete.
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Yes, that works really well. It looks a bit odd, until the bags erode away.
I did it in a headwall for my dry creek drainage system. This is from page one of this thread:
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I used two courses of 60lb concrete bags, and, for added strength, I faced them with scalloped lawn edging pieces, and then covered the entire thing in hardware poultry cloth, and, jute staples to hold it together against incoming flows from the hillside above. The concrete set the just staples in permanently. They hold the poultry mesh down, and make the thing a multi-ton barricade that ain't moveable.
This is in a remote area, and mostly out of sight. Pretty wasn't as important as function in this case.
 
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Excellent work mfrench! I daresay if some millionaire wanted a granite countertop waterfall, it would not look nicer than that from the finest contractors, and it would cost a fortune!

If only I had a place like that to get remnants. All we have is a Brick & Block place and you can have all the broken masonry you want for fill material. Boring.


Well, I thank you very much.
I'm an amateur, at this point in my life. But, in another life, I was that contractor, doing the finest homes built as a fine home finisher.
By that, I mean, I have two homes in Architetural Digest Magazine. One is a cover and featured home. The other is as a featured article. These two are amongst a string of homes that went to ridiculous levels of finishings. I did those finishes.
So, I have a bit of a background in this. Now, I just work for Sarge, the spousal unit, for $5.50 a day.
I was supposed to get a 1% cost of living increase at the new year, and was really trying to get the big projects done before that kicked in; but, times got a bit tighter, and, the union said it was OK not to increase my rates.

My A.D. cover home:
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We're just not getting it that much here. We got .8" yesterday, and, maybe .4"+ today (adding: and it did rain pretty well all night. woke up to over 1.5" in the gauge).
We're on a coastal upslope area, and usually get a bit more of a wringing out as the storms clear the mountain. But not this time.
 
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Yes, that works really well. It looks a bit odd, until the bags erode away.
I did it in a headwall for my dry creek drainage system. This is from page one of this thread:
DSCN1499_zpsbc810ab0.jpg~original

I used two courses of 60lb concrete bags, and, for added strength, I faced them with scalloped lawn edging pieces, and then covered the entire thing in hardware poultry cloth, and, jute staples to hold it together against incoming flows from the hillside above. The concrete set the just staples in permanently. They hold the poultry mesh down, and make the thing a multi-ton barricade that ain't moveable.
This is in a remote area, and mostly out of sight. Pretty wasn't as important as function in this case.
Can I ask you, did you just let the rain wet the bags or did you use a hose? I'm planning to do low retaining wall using Quickrete. I was told it would eventually harden on it's own just sitting out in the weather. My wall will be to far from the house for a water hose so I can't easily get water to it.
 
Yes, concrete is hygroscopic, taking moisture out of the air. Bags exposed to weathering will eventually harden on their own.
 
My builder told me that the strongest concrete is concrete that is hydrated slowly. You can even pour dry mix into a post hole and let it absorb moisture from the soil. Only problem is you have to wait a long time before you can remove bracing and put any stress on it, which is not usually compatible with schedules.
 
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