Category: Hugelcultur Beds

Food Brings a Sense of Community

9/28/2017

The Nature Conservancy recently did a piece on our design work at Paradise Parking Plots at Kent Hillside Church in Kent, WA. We couldn't be happier! It is such an amazing project, and so many amazing people are involved in making it happen.

"The day to day uncertainty of being a refugee and immigrant can feel more manageable through the visceral feeling of smelling and tasting familiar food. By creating this community garden, Hillside Church and World Relief Seattle are giving refugees and immigrants a renewed sense of belonging."

Read all about it here:
http://www.washingtonnature.org/fieldnotes/kent-community-garden-immigrants-refugees

To find out more about Paradise Parking Plots, follow their Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/HillsideParadiseParkingPlots/

Our own Stone Soup Crew went to help with the depave project - check out our recap of the events of the day here: www.stonesoupgardens.com/blog/depave-party

Let's go on a Hugel Hunt!

6/22/2017

KCD has prepared a self-guided tour map of Hügelkultur sites across King County, and one of our Stone Soup client gardens is on the map! Now the Hugel-curious can see different forms of Hugelkultur (from urban to rural, from in-ground to raised containers). Visit 6 of the 10 sites and receive a Hugelkultur t-shirt (while supplies last).

Click here for the map!

David Bowie Tribute Garden Check-Up

5/22/2017

The sun has come out and our gardens are growing! Here is a look at one of our jobs last year where we installed a David Bowie mosaic flagstone patio into the garden. This was a great project with a large raingarden, we planted out the front rockery, and created a dog zone outside the front door with a gate and pet friendly plants. After all this rain, it is great to see the plants filling out, blooming, and coming into their own. Take a look at how it looked last year.

How is your garden looking? Are you in need of any early summer maintenance? Stone Soup Gardens is here to help. Let us get your garden cleaned and primed for your beautiful summer enjoyment! Give us a call, or email our maintenance lead Jesse Barber at jesse@stonesoupgardens.com.

An AirBnB Retreat

9/19/2016

This was a great little project we just completed. Our clients wanted to create a more hospitable space in the backyard in order to attract more AirBnB guests, as well as for themselves. The backyard used to be a sloped, weedy, wet mess. We leveled the space, and created a nice flat gravel patio for outdoor fires, complete with fire pit. Leveling and using the gravel will help keep the space from becoming oversaturated with water during the rainy winters. We also used varying colors and textures of bark to delineate spaces and to add a nice aesthetic appeal in the garden.

To further assist with drainage, we built a dispersion swale which will direct the water as it flows through the gravel. The swale is also a nice visual feature, as we used river rock to mimic the look of a stream bed and logs as a foot stepping path to the outer reaches of the yard. Our clients also qualified for a rebate on a cistern, which we installed along the side of the house. Since the cistern isn't located in a place that creates great water pressure for watering the backyard, we installed a small pump to assist with building pressure, so our clients can water their new space using rain collected from their roof.

The best feature of this yard, however, is really our Hugelculture raised bed made from repurposed logs. This arc shaped bed is a lovely focal point for the space, while creating additional seating for that outdoor fire.

Hellooooo Instagram!!

6/9/2016

We are embracing the digital age here at Stone Soup Gardens with our mighty new Instagram Account. Come on over and follow us and see what we are up to. Photos from life, love, landscaping, hardscaping, permaculture, events, and more!

@stonesoupgardens

Finishing Touches - A West Side Permaculture Paradise

10/19/2015

That's a wrap! We've completed this awesome permaculture paradise in West Seattle. It was a great deal of hard work, but a really rewarding process. The plants have been installed, the barked pathways and retaining walls are sculpted, the irrigation lines are set, the lawn has been seeded, and the owners are moving in!

We'll be checking in again on this client after the new year, so stay tuned as we watch this outdoor space develop and grow!

A West Side Permaculture Paradise - Patio Positioning

10/2/2015

The patio installation for the project is a wrap! Well, wrapped around the side of the house anyway. A fairly major installation, we laid the pavers from the paved driveway, around the side of the house leading to the kitchen, and along the back of the house overlooking the raised beds. The kitchen doors slide open onto the patio, which will provide an excellent outdoor space during nice weather, and a permeable surface for walking and drainage during the rainy season.

We finished by putting in a small pad next to the backdoor for the garbage and recycling bins. The front flagstone walkway is also completed and looks great with the house paint colors.

The yard space has been completely regraded, we've buffered the rockery walls, and created some log barriers to use as small retaining walls. Next up is the sprinkler installation, planting, and all the finishing touches.

A West Side Permaculture Paradise

9/4/2015

Over the last month, Stone Soup Gardens has been immersed in a new construction job on the west side of Seattle. We came to the project when the new house was 90% complete, and began working with the owner and designer to create a gorgeous garden and outdoor retreat. The design was done by Jenny Pell, a well known and respected founding member of Permaculture Now!

When we began, the landscape was a giant dirt pile.

Our first week on the job involved grading and prepping the area around the house for the Desert Stone Patio installation. We prepped and installed a flagstone pathway from the driveway to the front door, and we began the process of grading and prepping the different areas of the garden, including a rockery, raingarden, and raised beds.

Next up is laying the Desert Stone patio, completing the rockery and log accents for the beds, as well as building the cedar raised beds for the side of the house.

There are more pictures to come as we progress on this awesome project. Stay tuned!

Lots of Logs

8/17/2015

Logs are a misunderstood garden tool. Logs can be used in a variety of ways, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes to create unique eye-catching elements in any garden. They are also affordable, long lasting, and readily available.

For this client, we installed a lovely raingarden in the front yard to catch the roof runoff. It was a great way for the client to take advantage of the RainWise Program rebate, while also having space in the budget to create more usable area for gardening.

For the edges of the yard, we created a tiered raised bed system using a variety of logs, both large and small. We incorporated a log pathway from the sidewalk into the yard to make the beds more accessible, as well as several round logs within the bed to use stepping stones.

It was great to see all of the edible plants flourishing in the newly installed beds. I must say that the tomatoes looked scrumptious, and the cucumber I was given by the owner was an excellent addition to dinner that evening!

2015 COOP TOUR!!!

7/3/2015

Come one, come all and see Stone Soup Gardens coop! We will be hosting this year and have lots of new elements in our yard to explore. Hugelculture beds, bike wheel arbors, a kiwi arbor, mushroom beds, a newly installed cistern, and a laundry greywater system, not to mention all of our wonderfully edible native plants!

Purchase your tickets today! See you on Saturday, July 11th!

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