Saturday, August 7, 2010

Stone Steps deep in the heart of a Redwood Canyon.

A couple years ago we designed and installed a set of stone steps in a deep dense redwood canyon in Marin County.

These redwoods, not too far from Muir Woods , are very dense in this steep front yard and there is always a fair amount of redwood debris falling on the steps, stone side walls and the understory plantings of ferns, rhododendrons and japanese maples.

It would be almost impossible to get a clean looking photo. So this is what you normally see when approaching the steps.

The stone is from the mid west. It was extremely dense and hard to cut but the color was right in regards to the continual staining from the redwood tannins.

We installed a raised overhead sprinkler system due to the steep slope. It is hidden inside that 4x4 just above the copper lighting fixture. When the automatic valve opens, the head pops up out of 4x4 and waters the woodland landscape.


From Hillside development

6 comments:

Lisa Port said...
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Lisa Port said...

Really, what does it mean to be 'clean' in a garden? I think the color of the stone, the debris from the trees, and the aged look of the whole shot make this a beautiful rendition of a garden in it's natural state. What a wonderful stair!

Pam/Digging said...

Beautiful stonework, and I like the creative way you masked the sprinkler.

Donna said...

Beautifully installed steps. Masking the sprinkler was a good call. I live at the Niagara gorge, and the walk to the river has steps similar, built long ago. Both drylaid and not. I love photographing the stonework of masons long gone.

danger garden said...

Hidden sprinkler jumping out of a 4 x 4....genius!

Tom in Denver said...

That is a beautiful set of steps and works so well with the boulders. Nice job!