Pastures and House Lawn, Pastures, Gardens and House Lawn

Ma finally gets her pool, and we have a beach now.

May 1, 2020 /

Pool’s open……but the lawn beach is a work in progress. And let me tell you, it was a beach to do. The area behind the house has two stands of clumping bamboo and until recently, had one fast expanding patch of noxious running bamboo between them that I had to remove. The 14′ x 48″ Bestway steel frame pool installation started with the removal and careful leveling of almost-level yard area. The leftover 18ft galvanized metal square tube from the pole barn greatly helped my four foot level do the job and double-check the work. Landscaping fabric went down the next morning and then I assembled, filled the pool. A simple but elegant DIY bamboo and shade cloth canopy is to go up over it within the week, to keep out debris and give us a measure of sun protection while swimming. The Beach at “Lake Angel” will get a planting of several queen and foxtail palm, flowering bulb plants, ground cover and tropical bushes around the pool to ease it into the landscape.

That patch of running bamboo (what were they thinking!?) we cut down in December and was just starting to make a comeback when we decided I should nix it once and for all. The Sawzall for extracting giant “brownie slices” of root mass worked out front on the other runner cluster, and by changing out dull blades more frequently, it was easier and faster this time. What just about killed me was hammer mauling and slamming the blocks of culm roots to the ground, to loosen and salvage the sandy soil so I could fill the hole.

Pool’s open……but the lawn beach is a work in progress. And let me tell you, it was a beach to do. The area behind the house has two stands of clumping bamboo and until recently, had one fast expanding patch of noxious running bamboo between them that I had to remove. The 14′ x 48″ Bestway steel frame pool installation started with the removal and careful leveling of almost-level yard area. The leftover 18ft galvanized metal square tube from the pole barn greatly helped my four foot level do the job and double-check the work. Landscaping fabric went down the next morning and then I assembled, filled the pool. A simple but elegant DIY bamboo and shade cloth canopy is to go up over it within the week, to keep out debris and give us a measure of sun protection while swimming. The Beach at “Lake Angel” will get a planting of several queen and foxtail palm, flowering bulb plants, ground cover and tropical bushes around the pool to ease it into the landscape.

That patch of running bamboo (what were they thinking!?) we cut down in December and was just starting to make a comeback when we decided I should nix it once and for all. The Sawzall for extracting giant “brownie slices” of root mass worked out front on the other runner cluster, and by changing out dull blades more frequently, it was easier and faster this time. What just about killed me was hammer mauling and slamming the blocks of culm roots to the ground, to loosen and salvage the sandy soil so I could fill the hole.

jvfreeman

James V. Freeman is an established visual artist (oil painting) with a deep interest in natural history, plants and farming. He has had numerous solo shows, a solo museum show, an upcoming museum show and his work has been featured in many publications to date. He currently has a studio in Williston, Fl at the family farm and homestead, "Cactus Island", and as a farmer, specializes in growing columnar cacti of the Caribbean and Gulf countries as well as the aquatic Madegascar Lace Plant. James and his mom Sharon manage and develop the permaculture homestead.

4 Comments

Linda Bergman

May 1, 2020 at 3:58 pm

New pool looks great!
James V Freeman

May 1, 2020 at 4:20 pm

Thanks Linda! We’ll likely use it today, or tomorrow if it isn’t that warm outside. I haven’t been out yet.
Laura

May 7, 2020 at 7:51 pm

So fun! I am sure you will enjoy it during those hot Florida summers!
- jvfreeman
  
  May 7, 2020 at 7:53 pm
  
  We have already logged some hours in the pool. I deleted the photo of the canopy I took today but if you ask your mom to forward it, she probably still has it on her phone.