Caring for the Carriage Roads at Skylands

October 3, 2022

Caring for the Carriage 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. Last week, my outdoor grounds crew at Skylands took on the task of removing and storing the stone with the help of our new Kubota M4-071 and its durable front loader and bucket attachment.

Here are some photos, enjoy.

: I’m always on the lookout for innovative, sensible, and easy-to-use tools and supplies to use around my homes. I am a big fan of Kubota tractors. Not long ago, our new Kubota M4-071 arrived at Skylands, my home in Maine.

: This Kubota tractor is sure to get lots of use at Skylands – pulling and pushing, plowing, transporting, and so much more. It was also very important to have a tractor with an enclosed cab. This M4-071 offers a wide cab for increased visibility and comfort during the very cold Maine months.

: Rick Andros is my property manager at Skylands. Here he is inspecting the engine and getting familiar with the machinery.

: The new Kubota is stored in the tractor garage, where it can be kept dry and in good condition.

: Here, one can see the Kubota front loader and bucket attachment. The two provide excellent lifting power. This attachment can also be used and driven with a slanted boom, so the operator has good visibility ahead and on the sides.

: This is the compost area at Skylands. On one side, we store all the pink gravel for the winter.

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

: Last week, the crew at Skylands used the tractor to organize the piles of pink granite, so there was more room for more stone. Rick operates the tractor from inside the cab – completely free from the flying gravel dust.

: The rear wheels have about a five-foot radius with deep treads for excellent gripping and traction.

: The entire process of picking up all the granite from the carriage roads and storing it neatly takes a few days. Here, the bucket is able to lift hundreds of pounds of stone at a time…

: … and then move it to the top of the pile.

: This is what my driveway looks like in summer, when all the pink granite gravel covers the roads. Each of the carriage roads is 12-feet across, and is covered with at least a couple inches of the crushed stone.

: And here it is as the stone is blown and gathered. Peter Grubb and Amos Price are both using our trusted STIHL backpack blowers – another piece of equipment I’ve been using for many years at Skylands and at my Bedford, New York farm. The gravel is blown to the center – one operator on each side.

: … starting at the very edge and working inward.

: 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.

: 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, the pink gravel is ready for the next phase of the process.

: The gravel is scooped up and placed into the dump truck and then delivered to the pink gravel storage pile. In spring, the pink gravel will be sifted, washed and then laid down on the roads once again.

: This is what my circular driveway at the font of Skylands looks like after the pink gravel is picked up. Now the road is ready for the winter season ahead.

: 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.