Maintaining the Pink Granite Gravel Roads at Skylands

October 14, 2017

Maintaining the Pink Granite Gravel Roads at Skylands

Autumn in Maine signals several important maintenance chores at my home, Skylands.

Because winters can be rather harsh in the Northeast, I pay very close attention to the preparations made before the season’s arrival. This includes the meticulous care of the landscape, and the carriage roads that meander through the woods. Danish landscape architect, Jens Jensen, designed the grounds at Skylands for the home’s original owner, Edsel Ford, in 1925. Not only was the main house constructed out of pink granite, but the driveways and all the carriage roads were laid with the same finely crushed stone.

To preserve the pink granite gravel, which is very common on Mount Desert Island, I make sure it is removed and stored before winter every year, and then sifted and cleaned in spring before it is laid on the roads for the summer season. My outdoor grounds crew at Skylands took on the task of removing the stone this week. Here are some photos showing this fall process - enjoy.

: My main circular driveway and all the many roads at Skylands are covered in this crushed pink granite. Every year, all the gravel is collected and put away using a very systematic process.

: This crushed pink granite is distinct to Mount Desert Island. It is a pink coarse-grained hornblende granite that contains the mineral, biotite.

: Here is a closer look at the pink gravel – I find it so beautiful. Each of the carriage roads is 12-feet across, and is covered with at least a couple inches of the crushed stone.

: The foliage looks so pretty when the driveway is covered in pink. The process of picking up all the gravel along the mile of carriage road is a big task. Along all the carriage roads, the gravel is blown to the center – first on one side…

: And then the other. Here you can see the gravel pile begin to narrow. Underneath the crushed pink granite is pure carriage road – built using layers of crushed rock, and several inches of crown for proper drainage that are perfect for horse-drawn carriage rides, bicycling and walking.

: To help the process, Mike and Wendy go over the road in our all-terrain-vehicle with a special attachment that brushes the gravel like a broom.

: The attachment includes a large bristle brush and a protective shield, so debris doesn’t fly up while in use. It helps get the caked in pink gravel pebbles off hard to reach areas of the carriage roads.

: Wendy holds onto the special attachment, while Mike drives the vehicle. The cardboard keeps the pebbles from flying up into the wheels.

: It takes quite a bit of time to go over all the roads, but it is well-worth the effort to preserve the precious gravel.

: Here are Wendy and Mike turning another curve and pushing the gravel further into the center of the road. All the crew members at Skylands, and at my Bedford, New York farm wear proper safety equipment at all times.

: Here, the pink gravel is all gathered in the center and ready for the next phase of the process.

: Once all the pink gravel is moved to center, a tractor with a front end loader attached, drives slowly down the road scooping up the gravel.

: This shows why it is so crucial to move all the gravel into the center of the carriage road in a neat and tidy pile. The process is very streamlined.

: Here is our new Ford dump truck – ready to transport the heavy crushed stone.

: Mike and Rick continue down every road to ensure all the gravel is blown to the center on both sides. This makes the process of collecting it much easier.

: Here is another very neat and tidy line of pink gravel waiting to be removed. I like to do this process before too many of the leaves start to fall, so leaf debris doesn’t get mixed in with the gravel. This also helps when the gravel is cleaned and redistributed in the spring.

: Collecting the stone every year also helps conserve the supply – I usually get more gravel every couple of years instead of annually.

: As the tractor picks up the gravel, the dump truck moves slowly in front. And, as the front end loader fills up, it empties load after load of gravel into the truck.These Ford commercial grade dump truck vehicles are great – they can haul tons of stone.

: I also love my John Deere tractor – it helps with countless tasks around Skylands and my New York farm. https://www.deere.com/

: Rick and Mike follow closely and blow any extraneous pink gravel back into the center, where it can be collected on another pass.

: Here is the compost area where the gravel is stored for the winter.

: The gravel is dumped into neat pile on one side of the space. In spring, the pink gravel will be sifted, washed and then laid down on the roads once again.