So I've decided to do a courtyard reno

Reluctantly.
But the courtyard is looking a bit tired and we have more and more people passing through it given my wife's ceramics studio is getting busier.
I'm over pot plants, so I'm going to make a raised garden bed along some of the orange wall.
The bed will be about 600mm high.
I'm planning to put a tree in the bed, so I cut a hole in the slab below where the tree would be. I dug down 500mm and guess what I found?
Another slab.
Sigh.
Goodness knows how old it is. It's going to have to stay there.
The new design will also have some better display area for the ceramic totems - there are a fair few of them hanging around.
Scott

 

I am yet to see anything lime green. Maybe you could plant some limes?

 

Or some chokos might suit the theme??

Live the token witches hat safety third

Also a post hole shovel is a worthy investment

 

Maybe just jack-hammer the second slab ,because looking at the fill not much would grow in that small area depending on the sun-light ..imho..every Man should have an elec jackhammer..

 

Maybe just punch a couple of holes through the second slab so your tree doesn’t drown.

Excellent safety cone!

 

The token safety cone was hanging around the carport not doing anything. That courtyard is a bit of a thoroughfare because it's the access to the airbnb pads and the studio. During the course of a week, up to 40 people would pass through the courtyard - and the lighting isn't great.
That hole is pretty big - 1500 long x 800 wide. And there will be a 600mm high garden bed that extends out from the orange wall about 1400 and along the orange wall about 3 metres. So where the tree will be, the soil depth is going to be over 1 metre. But I will get the concrete cutter back on Friday to cut a hole in the lower slab and wake up the neighbourhood.
I had another disappointment yesterday. I use those 1 cubic metre bags instead of skips. I put them up the end of the driveway near the house and half fill them. Then I drag them out the front with the car and finish filling them.
On the weekend, I went a fair bit past half way and then thought, 'Bugger. I forgot to drag the bag out.' It took a bit of effort with the car to get it out there. Then I booked the pick-up.
The driver called me yesterday morning to tell me the bag was splitting and he wasn't going to be able to pick it up. The office then called me for a chat. The bloke said, 'You shouldn't have dragged that bag.' (The drag marks were a bit incriminating.) I said, 'Possibly. You'll need to point me towards the bit on your paperwork that says dragging the bag is not ideal.'
He said he would send a truck this morning with a low sided skip and we might get lucky. We didn't. It went as badly as it could. The bag split and everything ended up beside the bin. Me and driver both sighed. I went and got changed and we shovelled it all into the skip.
And I still managed to get to work before anybody else showed up.

 

@Depreciator. Bugger!

 

Got that one in the bag

 

Should be a big enough drainage hole. I'll probably put a milk crate in there full of rocks so the hole doesn't silt up.

 

Water feature with lillies ?

 

Got a water feature in the courtyard.
So I dug down into the smaller hole till I hit sandstone. Then I bunged in a milkcrate and put an upturned plastic bucket in there with rocks around it to stop it filling up with dirt. Drainage sorted.
Then I filled up the big hole with dirt and started on the 600mm high wall. The row of pavers on the bottom is so I could create an overhang. The garden bed will also sit 40mm off the orange wall so it will sort of 'float'. I'll be putting concealed lighting down the back and under the front when I can work out how to do it.
I don't mind laying bricks and I'm pretty good at it - those curves were tricky, though. It's all going to be tiled when it's done. I won't be making the tiles, but I suspect I'll be bunging them on the wall.

 

Got back onto this project on the weekend. The big garden bed is done. Next comes some sort of seat along the wall from the thin end of that bed and followed by that a smaller bed for a grape vine. The whole thing will be about 6 metres long.
The maker of the tiles is starting to realise how many tiles she'll have to make. We often have locals over at our place hanging around the ceramics studio so I suspect those idle hands will be put to use.
I'll put a tree in there before the tiling happens. I'm thinking a Robinia.

 

Done. Well, the wall bit is done. It looks very organic - sort of like a shoreline. The bit where it dips in like an inlet is where the timber seat will go. That needs some thought because it's out in the weather and will get wet when the garden gets watered so I'll need to make the seat so it drains well and won't rot.
Production of the tiles will start soon. I might take some photos of that - it's going to need a few hands and some experimentation.
Scott

 

Now, where was I.....
The timber seat is next - the timber seat I want to make sure won't rot.
It's going to be about 150mm below the top of the wall.
I'll have some concealed steel brackets that I have welded up out the back. Hope they hold - it's going to have a fair bit of weight when three people sit on it. I don't want a leg on it going to the ground.
I bought some 90mm hardwood decking - $240 from memory. It's going to go on edge with stainless threaded rod pulling it together. Between each piece of wood will be a 10mm spacer.
The plan on Saturday was to make them out of 10mm sections of copper pipe. That was a complete fail - too hard to get them exact.
Plan B was gal washers glued together in sets of 5 then painted. It's the same detail I used on a deck I built 20 years ago and amazingly I still had some of the paint. It's called micaceous oxide. It's a long lasting paint for steel with tiny metallic specs in it. They used to paint the Harbour Bridge - not sure if they still do because it's a bugger to paint.
Once the rods are in place, I'll mark where to cut the ends and sit it down on the brackets.
I had a reluctant helper yesterday. It went like this, 'Hey Lulu, you know how it's Fathers' Day today...'

 

I'm so not handy. I would've outsourced this completely.

That said, I'm also a tight arse....potted plants would've pushed the boundaries.

 

The only things I outsource are some electrical and some plumbing tasks. I like getting the tools out. Though I did outsource yesterday the gluing of 255 washers into sets of 5.

 

The seat is done. It looks great and is very sturdy. Table is next - I'm toying with the idea of making one that can be lowered and raised from coffee table to dining height. The planting in the garden beds is temporary - we had a party on Saturday night and the beds looked a bit bare so I threw in some plants at 5pm. I need to get that tree ASAP. And repaint the orange wall. The tiling of the garden bed sides won't happen for a long, long time. The in-house ceramicist has an exhibition coming up and a few commissions. Sigh.

 

@Depreciator
You know what would look fantastic? A pink toilet and a beige toilet. Great for fixed seating. I got two in my front yard which you can have

 

They might make good planters - the pink more than the beige.

 

Do it!
I have the matching cistern as well.