by Tony Heath, Project Engineer
This post covers Friday, September 6.
Howdy,
Short update today since I’m about to head to Indianapolis for a tournament this weekend.
Today was a solid day at the garden wrapping things up as we prepare for the final week of construction before planting on September 16th. The weather has been perfect for working outside. We spent most of the day installing steel edging and backfill along the north sidewalk in preparation for the decomposed granite edging in this location. The topsoil that they brought in to backfill was from the softball fields and was quite light and fluffy – which is good. The one downside was that it contained a fair amount of grass seed in it. I pointed this out to Eliana, who mentioned that volunteers will have to be particularly careful about weeding this area in the spring. She’ll see about calling a volunteer work day now to remove the seed heads.
Once we’d made it down to the northwest corner, we started working back the other way placing decomposed granite. We should finish getting it installed next Monday or Tuesday (they may not be on-site Monday due to another project) and once that’s done the last big task is to drill the footings for the bridge.
This afternoon Wayne Bugaj, Facilities & Services Grounds, stopped by the garden to arrange time for the Grounds crews to be on-site next week. Starting Tuesday, they’ll use a sod cutter to remove the last sections of grass from underneath the Red Oak without getting into the root layer. They’ll also be on-site throughout the week to help with the final pieces of fine grading and then mulch spreading to prepare for planting.
Siltsoxx note: erosion control is holding up very well and doing its job. At the beginning of the week (Sept 1), Eliana tweeted this photo showing evidence that the Siltsoxx was indeed protecting our soil.
Everything’s coming along. Can’t wait for the final week! Spoiler Alert: plants will be starting to arrive in the U of I greenhouse next week. Thank you to Kimberly Lomax-Cobb, Erin Harper, Clint Shipley, and Heather Lash, who have been helping us with these arrangements. Phase I is almost over and while Phase II prep has been happening quietly for several months, its nearly time for it to start. Check back for all the latest!
redoakraingarden.org 