Our new brick and stone footpath project continues in the goose and peafowl enclosures.
If you follow my blog regularly, you may have seen my recent post showing my outdoor grounds crew using dozens of pressed red clay bricks that once surrounded my pool at my former East Hampton home to line a footpath inside and outside my Silkie chicken pen. I also instructed the crew to do the same from the entrance of the goose yard all the way to the peafowl coop. This path allows visitors to walk through easily even on the muddiest of days.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Earlier this month, I decided I wanted to create proper footpaths inside my bird pens. Doing this would look neat and tidy, but also provide good, sturdy, and hopefully dry footing for anyone who enters the enclosures. Here, the sod was removed from a path in front of the goose pen to the front of the peafowl pen – it measures 36-inches across.
I have thousands of these red clay bricks. “Pressed red” is the general term given to solid red bricks traditionally manufactured from clay, pressed into individual molds by hand, and then heated at very high temperatures. Each of these antique and vintage bricks measures about eight and-a-half inches by four inches.
Before each brick is put down, Pete creates a narrow trench just wide enough for the brick and about five inches deep.
And then one by one, he angles the bricks and positions them in a sawtooth style, laying one on another at a 45-degree angle. It isn’t hard to do, but it must be done carefully, so everything is straight and perfect.
Pete uses the end of the hammer to gently tap the brick into place. In time, the soil will fill in any gaps and keep the bricks secure.
From this angle, one can see how helpful the twine is to keeping the bricks straight. Using bricks to line the footpaths handsomely defines the boundaries between the grass and the path.
This sawtooth brick pattern is ideal for edging garden borders or pathways. It is easy and quick to do. I have a large supply of these bricks, but if doing at home, one should have about 10-percent extra materials in case of breakage – clay bricks can break.
Pete works on both sides simultaneously.
Here he is almost done putting down all the bricks.
Once the bricks are in place, the weed cloth is cut to size within the path and carefully put down between the bricks.
Pete hammers in sod staples at various points to keep the cloth secure.
The geese see all the activity and want to know what is going on. These two are walking over to check it out. The birds are always so curious.
And here are the Chinese geese. Because these birds are exposed to a lot of activity around the farm, they are not fearful of the noises or the movements.
Stone dust is a non-porous material, which is good to use under the gravel. It will stop heavy rain water from seeping below and reduces the risk of shifting or damaging the stones. A layer of gravel is placed on top of the weed cloth.
And then the gravel on top of the stone dust. All around the farm, I like to use quarter-inch native washed stone. Each stone is about the size of a pea. This same gravel stone is also used to line the paths in my flower cutting garden. It s nice to keep everything uniform when possible.
Here, one can see the stone dust beneath the gravel stones – the layers should not be too thick. Pete and Fernando only dropped about two inches of each along the path.
The gravel is spread evenly with a hard rake.
Afterwards, Fernando goes over it with a gravel tamper. A tamper is a tool with a long handle and a heavy, square base used for leveling and firmly packing gravel, dirt, clay, sand, and other similar materials.
The path looks good – now onto the peafowl extension.
Once the path in the peafowl pen was all done, the peacocks and peahens all walked over to inspect the new addition to their enclosure. In the wild, peafowl forage for plants, insects, and other small creatures which they can find on the ground. They are omnivores, which means that they eat both plants and animals. This peacock is probably looking for worms.
In all, I think they like it – they all walked over right away to check it out. They seem to like the feel of the gravel under their feet.
Most of them came over, except for the peacocks who had other things on their minds. This peacock is showing off its long and colorful tail feathers. It is the beginning of mating season for these birds, and he is doing his mating dance for the peahens. I am glad this stone path project is done – there are so many more to do at the farm.
On this St. Patrick's Day, a mix of sun and clouds is expected over Skylands, my well-loved home in Maine, with temperatures in the high 30s - hopefully melting more of the snow from this week's nor'easter.
The recent storm which covered my Bedford, New York farm with several inches of white also hit the Seal Harbor area - residents there got a total of about seven to eight inches. Cheryl DuLong, who helps me care for Skylands, takes many pictures around the property, especially in winter when I am not able to visit as often. She sent me these images yesterday, showing the beautiful snow around my home.
Enjoy.
Further up north at my home in Maine, the nor’easter dropped several inches of snow over two days. It was also quite windy, so the snow came from all directions, sticking to nearly every surface and every side of the trees.
Very similar to the conditions here in New York, the snow in Maine was heavy and wet. In this photo, one can see some of “Rockefeller’s Teeth” – large blocks of granite lining an edge to serve as guardrails. These coping stones are cut roughly and spaced irregularly to create a more rustic and natural appearance. This area includes hemlocks, spruce, and cedar trees.
This is a bench just off my back porch. I like to put the asado grill here during summer to use for our outdoor dinners.
Here is a little fir tree just outside my laundry room window. Beyond this tree is a pool where my grandchildren loved to look for frogs when they were younger.
The snow weighed down many of the branches, but fortunately all remained intact. We always try to dust off any snow where we can.
These steps are from the main terrace and join the path to my guest house. The wooden box above covers and protects the ornamental urn inside during the cold season. This photo was taken around 11am on the first day of snow.
The snow drifts made it hard to decipher these narrow stairs leading to the West Terrace. To the left, one can see some of the high bush blueberry branches – the fruits from these bushes are some of the sweetest I’ve ever had.
Here are more of these native blueberry bushes. In summer, we try to harvest as many as possible before the birds get to them.
This is one of Cheryl’s favorite views – the reflection on the dining room window showing the trees and the ocean. It’s hard to see, but yes, all that white is the ocean.
This sundial was installed when the house was built. It is above the doors of the Living Hall, which open out to the main “cracked ice” terrace. The surrounding kiwi vines are original to the house and have grown so beautifully all these years.
Even when it’s snowing, my outdoor grounds crew is hard at work. Here is our new Kubota tractor moving some old stone and debris from a current project. This tractor is so helpful around both my farm and this home in Maine – it’s one of my favorite pieces of equipment.
Even in the coldest of winter, the mountain laurel holds onto its leaves, categorizing it as an evergreen. Here, the leathery deep green foliage stands out among all the surrounding bare tree branches.
Hard to identify some of the plantings under all the snow. This is a tree peony on the main terrace just outside the living room window.
This view is of Skylands’ front circle and the center garden planted with hay-scented ferns, purple smoke bushes, and spruce trees, Picea orientalis ‘Skylands’. When I found these trees, I got many to plant here in Maine. This entire day remained cloudy overhead – everything looked very gray.
This is large black urn we use for planting small trees in the summer. It is covered to keep the inside from falling rain and snow. One can see how much snow has accumulated so far.
Cheryl also does a thorough tour of the house every day to make sure everything is in good, working order. Here, she checks the gutters. They are clear of any leaves – crucial during a storm, so water drains properly.
This is a view looking out from an upstairs window down at the Counsel Circle where my family enjoys gathering on summer nights. The snow was really coming down harder by early afternoon.
From this terrace, one should see Seal Harbor and Sutton’s Island beyond the trees, but it is so cloudy and foggy, it’s hard to see anything – but it’s all there. Cheryl says this terrace had already been shoveled once, but the fast snow quickly covered it all over again.
Here’s another second floor view looking down at the main stairs of the large terrace. I am already looking forward to my spring visit to Skylands when I plant all the outdoor containers. It’s one of my favorite times of the year.
On the calendar, winter turns to spring in just a few days. In fact, Skylands is expecting a warmer weekend with temperatures in the mid-40s and possibly some rain next week – only “Mother Nature” really knows. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Today we're expecting partly cloudy skies in the area with temperatures rising to the mid-50s - good conditions for melting the snow from this week's nor'easter.
The day after a snow storm, I always enjoy touring the farm early in the morning to take photos and to see the picturesque winter scenes across the landscape. I did just that yesterday as the sun was rising. Here in Bedford, New York, we got a good amount of snow that stuck to everything. I hope you saw some of my images on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48.
Here are more, enjoy.
Early in the morning – around 5:30 – I ventured out to see how the farm was doing after the storm. I like to do this before anyone arrives. It was so peaceful and pristine, and there was snow everywhere.
We all know “the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.” But actually, it is only a generalization. The sun only rises due east and sets due west on two days of the year — the spring and fall equinoxes! Here I am looking east toward the gardens behind my Tenant House as I drive down the carriage road. The farm is covered with a new layer of glistening snow.
This weather system left all the tree branches heavily dusted with snow. Thankfully, none broke.
Here’s the entrance to my living maze. All the young trees are intact. All my garden trees are always well-mulched to protect the roots from winter damage.
This is one side of my peony bed – a small pathway leads to my stable in the distance.
The fresh layer of untouched snow looks so pretty atop my herbaceous peony beds. The pattern left on the burlap shows the strong metal frames we used to cover the boxwood. They are the frames of a hoop house. They work perfectly to accommodate the growing plantings.
This area is where I planted my azalea grove – hundreds of colorful azaleas on both sides of this carriage road. One can see the outlines of the still small deciduous shrubs covered in snow.
Snow stuck to nearly every surface. This is the fence of the coop outside my stable.
The snow even stuck to the branches of the climbing hydrangea on this tree trunk.
And yet the majestic eastern white pines still stand tall and bold green in the distance. These trees can be seen towering from nearly every vantage point on this side of the farm.
At one end of the Boxwood Allée is this beautiful weeping copper beech, Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea Pendular’, an irregular spreading tree with long, weeping branches that reach the ground.
Here is my expansive soccer lawn, where my grandson Truman loves to practice when he visits. He is a very avid and skilled soccer player who just celebrated his 11th birthday.
Nearby, my boxwood border along the winding pergola is well-protected under burlap. The snow almost covers the entire row.
And here is a view through the pergola – such a different look from what it will be like in just a couple of months when the garden is filled with colorful spring blooms.
Hard to tell when the trees are so bare, but this is my grove of American beech trees, Fagus grandifolia. American beech trees are slow to grow, but can live up to 300-years.
Snow and snow drifts piled on top of the burlap-covered boxwood shrubs in the long allée – and the great pines can still be seen.
As many of you know, I planted a few different allées at the farm. This is the south section of my allée of linden trees leading to my carport. An allée is a walk or passage, especially one between two rows of evenly planted trees.
And looking north, here is the other section just across the carriage road. This allée extends all the way to the chicken coops. The fencing casts wonderful shadows.
These trees are in front of my Winter House – covered in crisp, clean white.
The upper terrace parterre outside my Winter House is also buried under the snow. I am thankful the snow weighed down on the burlap and not on the precious plantings underneath.
And here is the nyssa tree in front of my lower terrace parterre outside my Winter House kitchen – disguised in white. Birds love to perch on the top and watch all the activity around the farm. Nyssa sylvatica is a small, slow-growing, stately, deciduous tree with a dense, pyramidal habit. Were you affected by Winter Storm Sage? How much snow did you get? Share your comments in the section below.
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