Palms and rockwalls

[bgl]

As a continuation of my 'Rooftop' thread (and thanks to Larry, who gave me the idea!), here are a few photos of rockwalls and palms. First some background:

Two types of rockwalls: dry and wet. The old Hawaiians were masters at building dry rockwalls, which means they piled the rocks on top of each other without using any mortar, or mortar equivalent. There is a VERY impressive dry rockwall at Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park on the Kona side (about 10 miles south of Kailua-Kona and pretty close to Al in Kona). Today, you don't see too many dry rockwalls being built, probably for two reasons: very few who know how to build them, and because they require so much precision it would be much more expensive to build a dry vs. a wet one.

A wet rockwall is obviously one that's been built using cement, to hold it together. The Tongans are really good at this, and after a few somewhat inferior rockwalls back ten years ago, we found a Tongan, Lakina, and he & his crew built all our rockwalls since.

A high quality rockwall should have as many large rocks as possible, and as few small rocks as possible. It doesn't take much skill to pile small and medium sized rocks on top of each other, but it takes a LOT of skill to make larger rocks fit together.

First, a picture of one of our first rockwalls, which is NOT a very good one (and we also ended up firing the guy, unfortunately too late - he was almost finished!). Lots of smaller rocks.

[bgl]

This rockwall runs 200 ft along Malama Street (I'm standing in the street), with Dypsis lutescens planted 3 ft behind it. I bought all of these D. lutescens five years ago and they were about 6 ft tall at the time. I planted them 3 ft center-to-center to make a real thick "wall of palms" behind the rockwall.

[bgl]

And taking a dozen steps back, this is the corner of Malama Street and Kumakahi Street. The Dypsis lutescens in the previous photo are to our immediate left. The taller palms are Clinostigma samoense, all planted in Oct 2001 from 5G pots. They were about 5 ft tall at the time. In the back, and running to our right are 92 Areca vestiaria, planted 2 and 3 thick for privacy. They were planted at the same time. I actually had 100, but ended up selling 8 of them to neighbors...

About the rockwall: there are three REALLY large rocks, and normally you would not use rocks this size because they are obviously very difficult to work with. We had just cleared this acre a few months earlier, and found a number of nice rocks in the process and saved these two for our corner rockwall.

[bgl]

And this is the rockwall that I also posted a photo of in the Rooftop thread. I designed this wall specifically as a backdrop for the stage that we have in front of it, and to the left is our pavilion, which we use when we have parties here. The stage can be used for hula dance or any type of entertainment. The rockwall is 24 ft long, 10 ft tall at the ends and 9 ft tall in the center, with rebar inside. It's going to be there for a VERY long time! The two palms in the foreground are Metroxylon warburgii.

[bgl]

And this is our most recent rockwall. I designed it as a combination planter and seating area, and it's in a perfect U shape. The palms are all Dypsis sp. "Orange crush" and in another 3-4 years they should provide a perfect canopy. They're a little bit on the yellow side. Had forgotten to fertilize them... (but took care of that last month).

[Dypsisdean]

Bo,

I never get tired of seeing all of the countless rock walls all over this island, from the ancient to the new. You mentioned the skill envolved, but while obvious yet perhaps overlooked, is the muscle needed and the care to not smash one's fingers.

I found out the hard way that I am lacking in the skill and the muscle, which will result in hiring someone next time I need a wall.

[bgl]

And finally, this is heading down our driveway, away from the house and towards the street. The red rock is my wife's idea, to add a little bit of color, and you can actually see the rock in Post #1 in my rooftop thread. The palms are all Cyrtostachys renda of course. The different looking rocks that are piled on top of each are all from the ocean. We don't see rocks like that up here, away from the ocean!

[Urban Rainforest]

Bo, I remember when you gave my wife and I a tour of your garden what caught my eye almost as quickly as the palms was your lava rock walls and how strikingly beautifull they were! Those Tongans really know what there doing. I've always admired how ancient civilizations like the Maya, Inca and ancient Hawaiin's were able to build there walls, fortresses and buildings with such precision without the use of mortor or modern day tools for that matter. It's too bad the old school craftmanship is being lost in todays hurry up and slam it out society that we live in.I hope you still have these guys number for when we move over there   . Steve

[Zac in NC]

Wow. Beautiful shots. Nice walls too.

Zac

[galveston1602]

These pictures are great, I am always amazed by the palms in your photos....

the walls are nice too

[bgl]

Steve, Zac and Allen,

thanks for your comments! And Steve, yes, I do have Lakina's phone number (he likes to go by the nick-name Kinna). We've recommended him to number of people, some here in Leilani Estates, some elsewhere, so he has built quite a few rockwalls in the area. Some of them are visible from the street, so you can just drive by and stop and admire them!

Dean,

good point! And Kinna actually made an interesting comment when he was done with the 24 ft long massive rockwall above. Normally, when they build 2-3 ft tall rockwalls it's not a major challenge. They just have to make sure the rocks fit, and then put them on top of each other. With the big rockwall, he and a crew of 3 began on a Monday morning. They put up scaffolding, and obviously had to lift these heavy rocks all the way up there. When they were done Friday afternoon, 4 days later, I took a picture of Kinna and the 3 other guys in front of the rockwall. They were VERY proud because they had never before built anything of that size. And Kinna said "never again, too much work....". Now, for the right price, I'm sure he WOULD build one like that again, because he takes a lot of pride in his work, and he is particularly interested in building rockwalls that are different from the run-of-the-mill!

Bo-Göran

[Utopia Palms]

Hi Bo,

I love your rock walls and they do highlight your palms and many other plants also look very good planted in or around them, I know only to well the work they take to build, as I have had to build many! Mainly because of the amount of water that runs down this valley in the wet season and without these everything would be destroyed! if I did not retain the roads and tracks that were needed to make use of this land.

95% of my walls are dry walls there is over 5500 plus meters of them some up to 3.5m high this has taken the best part of 15 years to build, and there are more still needed.    Another part that people don’t really think of when they look at these walls is the gathering of these rocks, this is harder than putting them up most of the time and is just as much work if not more.

At first I kept them nice and straight like your ones but as time went by I tried to make them look more natural (if that is possible with a rock wall) I tended to use the round side of the rock rather than the straight or flat sides, different to the ones I used when I first started, in this way I could put other plants, ferns, Tillandsia, broms, orchids etc in there at a later stage, when the palms started to shade these walls. I will list some photos if you like.

The battery is flat at the moment so I might have to do this tomorrow.

Clayton.

[Dave-Vero]

I think those walls would impress fussy Japanese visitors (for some reason, even routine retaining walls in that country are often magnificent).

The University of North Carolina used to have some dry walls (yellow volcanic rock), but they seemed to slowly get rebuilt with mortar, pretty much like bgl's.  Not to mention that the grounds people evidently liked to build them so as to discourage students from ruining the grass.

In Portland, Oregon, modest middle-class retaining walls were usually built of slabs of old sidewalks (the city government was fanatical about replacing even slightly faulty walks, so there was plenty of material to be had by wall contractors).  The upper crust went for real stone.  I saw some lovely ones being installed.  

The Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden was in a class by itself--they installed massive stoneworks including walkways and steps.

[Kris]

Dear Bo Goran  

Hey that rock wall & the palms neatly lined up,

shows & speaks your taste_just fentastic !

And if i have to say more_them..i can just dream

the garden you are living in.With Sp reference to

the C.Rends palms.

Great work.

Love,

Kris.

[redant]

Rock's are nonexistent in my part of the woods. I would love to use some in my landscaping but the cost is shocking to have them brought in.

As always Bo, I am left with palm envy from your pictures and now rock envy as well.  :laugh:

[bgl]

Clayton, Dave and Kris,

thanks a lot for your comments! And Dave, we've actually had a fair amount of Japanese visitors because a couple of our neighbors are Japanese (born in Japan) and on a regular basis they have friends and family visiting from Japan. They always come over here for a garden tour. Which they certainly seem to enjoy!

And Clayon,

5500 m of rockwalls?? That's incredible!!! I would love to see some pics.

Bo-Göran

[bgl]

Doug,

thanks! Saw your post after I had put up my post above. The funny thing with the rocks here is that initially we simply used rocks from our property when building the rockwalls, because rocks are REALLY plentiful here. Then to our surprise we actually ran out of suitable rocks (they need to have one side that is fairly flat) so we had to BUY rocks! But it's not too expensive. About $200-300 for a truckload. They get them from undeveloped lots that are being cleared for construction, and they always end up with a whole bunch of surplus rocks. All sizes and shapes.

Bo-Göran

[BigFrond]

Very nice Bo!  The SD Zoo would envy your garden.  The rocks and stone would cost a fortune over here in Cali let alone building the wall.

[Al in Kona]

Rock walls or rocks used in retaining slopes are found everywhere on Hawaii Island - all types, all kinds.  Here's an example of a homeowner in Waiohinu (SW corner of the island) who put up an informal dry rock wall to retain his groundcover of epidendrum orchids.

[Zac in NC]

(Dave-Vero @ Jan. 08 2007,03:32)

QUOTE

I think those walls would impress fussy Japanese visitors (for some reason, even routine retaining walls in that country are often magnificent).

The University of North Carolina used to have some dry walls (yellow volcanic rock), but they seemed to slowly get rebuilt with mortar, pretty much like bgl's.  Not to mention that the grounds people evidently liked to build them so as to discourage students from ruining the grass.

In Portland, Oregon, modest middle-class retaining walls were usually built of slabs of old sidewalks (the city government was fanatical about replacing even slightly faulty walks, so there was plenty of material to be had by wall contractors).  The upper crust went for real stone.  I saw some lovely ones being installed.  

The Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden was in a class by itself--they installed massive stoneworks including walkways and steps.

Dave- You seem to know a ton about NC. You have a NC connection in your past somewhere? That UNC comment is fighting words to me though. My blood IN NCSU Red and Black, none of that Carolina Blue. The majority of the rest of my family are UNC-CH fas though.

Zac

[DoomsDave]

(Al in Kona @ Jan. 08 2007,13:03)

QUOTE

Rock walls or rocks used in retaining slopes are found everywhere on Hawaii Island - all types, all kinds.  Here's an example of a homeowner in Waiohinu (SW corner of the island) who put up an informal dry rock wall to retain his groundcover of epidendrum orchids.

Whoa!

That could work here, too.

Hmm.

dave

[Walter John]

If you don't require a retaining wall, still get yourself some rocks anyway. They look great near palms. I gathered a few from the granite belt in SE Queensland recently and placed them around the garden. Adds a nice feel.

[spockvr6]

(redant @ Jan. 08 2007,12:26)

QUOTE

Rock's are nonexistent in my part of the woods. I would love to use some in my landscaping but the cost is shocking to have them brought in.

You looked into that too huh?

I nearly fell over when I saw what it was going to cost to make a simple (and very low) retaining "barrier" for a planting bed out of rocks.  All of the palms/plants in the bed wouldnt have cost 25% of what the rocks would have  

[Utopia Palms]

Hi Bo, here are a few photos of some of the rock walls.

[Utopia Palms]

This on is over 200m long

[Utopia Palms]

A few more

[Utopia Palms]

And more

[Utopia Palms]

One more

[Utopia Palms]

This one is about 3.5m high

[Utopia Palms]

And one more

[Jeff Searle]

Al,

   I can't believe those are all Epi. orchids.!! Thats un-believable. Man, there most be thousands and lots of color.

Jeff

[bgl]

Clayton,

WOW, that's very impressive. Can't even begin to guess how many hours and how much sweat must have gone into those projects over the years!!

Bo-Göran

[palmaddict]

Bo,

I love the walls and the garden is outrageous.  I am jealous with my one acre here in San Diego and the measly 10 inches of rain we get.  One question for you is how much time on a weekly basis do you spend on maintenance of your five acres.  From your images I see a great deal of grass that must need to be cut quite often.  I'm sure there are many additional tasks as well.  Do you have someone that helps you?  Having looked at images of your garden you have me looking a real estate in your area.  I am hoping to get to the island in the beginning of March.

Patrick

[Daryl]

I love rock walls too, and have built all of mine with a lot of blood sweat and tears over the last few years. It is a very satisfying passtime that's for sure. All of my rocks have come out of my garden, and that is the real slow part of the whole process...the basalt here does not break very well, and is like cast iron, so you have to use the rock 'as is'.

Daryl

[Daryl]

[bgl]

Patrick,

Well, I used to spend much more time on maintenance etc., but now because we're in the process of setting up a palm nursery I spend 95% of my time in and around the shadehouse (see photo below), pulling weeds and potting up palms. We do have two guys who come in several days a week, and put in about 25 hours a week, between the two of them, and they take care of all the maintenance.

Let me know when you're going to be here on the Big Iskand, and you're of course welcome to stop by for an extensive garden tour!

And Daryl,

those are VERY impressive rockwalls! Looks great!

Bo-Göran

[ariscott]

Nice walls, everyone. I love the natural look of the wall too, but my block is too flat for that and the only rock available locally is laterite (I have to go bush to find them), otherwise it will be way too expensive....

Maybe one day....

[Jeff Searle]

Bo, Clayton and Daryl,

    Your walls are all extreamly eye appealing. Their all different in their own way with color, shapes and texture. I see alot of sweat dripping down them rocks.

[calyptrocalyx&licuala freck]

Great Rock walls Good work,Clayton you have about 6.000 mtrs plus, :cool:  walked the lot over the years my measurements  are over that 6 i've menitioned and you are still going ,Don't forget.Clayton I think you should a picture of the terraces give people alook at 'The Great Wall of Valdora'   Or The Great Wall of Clayton. maybe another name.  Great work 2 everyone thank you for sharing keep on going......Excellent......

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

I built this wall last winter. It's made from concrete block, and then areas are cut and chipped away to "tile" the cut bricks on. This creates a worn or tattered, aged look. It goes well with my adobe house.

Every other column has a planter, complete with drainage and irrigation. Please excuse the mess...lots of wind this week...

One of the planters...