The Dirt Diaries

A couple of days ago a Dirt Diaries reader visited my posting Leading You Down the Garden Path and commented that my new trail would look fabulous once finished.

That post was written on March 13th.

It occurred to me that between gardening, writing, golfing, traveling, entertaining guests and demolishing the kitchen I hadn't updated the progress of the project since then.

So thank you Karen from Australia, author of the lovely blog A Gardener's Life, for giving me a dope slap and reminding me I needed to tell the rest of the story.

Getting from here to there

The plan was to build a walkway from the house down to the waterfall. The hope was to get from here to there without falling down the mountain or ruining my jeans slip-sliding my way to the bottom.

There was no official design design aside from some rough pencil sketches. I explained my vision to our builder Alfredo and he took my thoughts to places I had not even envisioned.

He started by leveling out some natural walkways that would become the path and created a more gentle slope in the steeper areas.

He used 6" by 6" pressure treated spruce to build the steps and filled the interior with creek stone.The posts and hand rails are crafted from local locust. Pine bark mulch was laid down between step sections.

I could not have imagined how amazing it would all look in the end.

The first few steps are built to begin the project

Ferns and hostas now line the steepest slope of the trail

Alfredo and his helpers dug out the area that would become the patio


A stone wall is build around the entire patio

The view from across the stream. Ferns, impatiens and a turtle cocktail table!


The trail begins next to the house and winds down to the stream


Steps had to be built from the driveway to the path

Another stone wall was built to keep the hillside from eroding


The view of the completed path from the deck

A clematis likes its new home on one of the posts

Nameplates mark plants of interest along the trail

Chickadees soon took up residence in one of six birdhouses

The trail is now finished except for new plants I'll add as time goes on. More ferns and natives (including Doll's Eyes and Pussytoes) are on the wish list.

Next spring we will hold a little dedication ceremony and christen "Curly's Trail" to honor my Dad who loved the mountains, wildflowers, birds and birdhouses.

I think he would be pleased.

It's August and for most people that means vacation, staycation or as they say in the UK, summer hols.

Unfortunately, the Hunts aren't taking any big trips this year. The pocketbook is still recovering from our month-long adventure Down Under, but that's no hardship since every day seems like a vacation here in the mountains.

My mother and a Daytona friend are coming up from Florida this weekend for the first time since we moved to North Carolina. I'm anxious for them to see as many of my favorite local haunts as possible and I thought I'd invite the Dirt Diaries gang to tag along.

So, welcome to my world. Enjoy your stay.

I'll be back soon with postings on an exciting new rose, dahlias, fairy gardens, terrariums and much more.

In the meantime, be sure to let us know if there is anything we can do to make your mountain holiday more enjoyable.

Moonshine, shower caps and bear repellent are available at the front desk.