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S Landreth

We are attempting to build a Low Maintenance Garden in Khon Kean.

The girlfriends Aunt has a nice plot of land that she used as a garden area years ago before she let it go. Because the Aunt is a little older now she doesn’t want the daily duties of caring for a garden so we approached her about a low maintenance garden that would brighten up her yard, again.

To start, the yard was a mess with overgrown vegetation and concrete that was spewed in depressed areas that had to be removed during the clearing stage. It was difficult to walk around the property.

The garden started with a simple plan,……. to use a variety of rock (some ground cover), two small ponds (with water plants and minnows), a Gazebo (4 meters by 4 meters), walkways (with stepping stones), existing concrete patio table with benches (Aunt says it has to be a part of the plan), a stand alone bathroom and plants that will need minimum maintenance. On one side of the property, 3 existing mature mango trees will remain and we will not construct or do we plan on planting anything within/under their cover.

At this time we spend a few days each month in Khon Kean so the process has been slow. The structures should be started in September and finished by October. We intend to be finished with the landscaping by the end of December 2009.

I did not want to post this thread until the garden was completed, but I think there might be some horticulturists on TD that might be able to guide us when we start our planting.

I will post contact information for the contractors/suppliers that we were satisfied with.

__________________
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

S Landreth

Cost/schedule to construct a low maintenance garden.

Clearing:

1) 5/9/09, 5/10/09, 5/11/09 clearing vegetation and a small amount of concrete debris (and trimmed three mango trees that will remain on the property),.hauling away debris included. 5 guys working three days and one small pick-up,………8,000.00 baht

2) 6/14/09 (1/2 day), 6/15/09 (full day) finish clearing vegetation, small roots and the rest of the concrete (6 people and one small pick-up hauling trash away),………5,000 baht

Clearing cost: 13,000.00 baht

Underground Utilities/Earth Work

1) Purchase Filter Fabric (Geotextile material, Premier Lining Interplas, Premier Lining Interplas Co., Ltd.) two rolls (800 sq. meters). Cost of two rolls and delivery to KK site from BKK: 24,500 baht for two rolls, delivery to KK 1,000 baht, 7/1/09

2) Purchase water/electrical pipe (Global 609.00, Homepro 80.50, Small hardware store next to Aunts 140.00) and a wheelbarrow (Large independent hardware store close to girlfriends KK home 1,060.00)

3) Dig trenches and place excavated material around site (so the property will slope/drain towards the walkways). Three man excavation crew for two full days 7/6th and 7th/09, 1 woman backfilling pipeline ½ day 7/8/09 (I laid the PVC pipe),….total 7,100.00

4) Lay Filter fabric and washed rock (600 baht deliver per cubic meter) in trench/walkways

5) Purchase two small prefabricated ponds, delivered 3,500.00 (paid 1,500 depo on 7/5/09)

Construct Structures (Gazebo and Single Standing Bathroom)

1) Requested quotes (gave them a two week due date) from two contractors on 7/6th and 7th for building a Gazebo and stand alone bathroom [first contractor phoned in a quote at 113,000 baht (88 for Gazebo, 25 for bathroom, we provide toilet/sink/tiles) on 7/15/09, will fax quote later]


Landscaping (hope to finish all landscaping by the end of December 2009)

S Landreth

Start pictures were taken February 28th, 2009




Start 1




Start 2




Start 3




Start 4

S Landreth

2nd Stage Clearing Pictures were taken June 15, 2009




2nd Stage Clearing 1




2nd Stage Clearing 2

S Landreth

These set of Earth Work Pictures were taken July 7th and 8th, 2009



Earth work 1, drainage pit under Gazebo and walkway/water line trench




Earth work 2, 2 meter by 2 meter pond pit (38cm deep)




Earth work 3, water lines in and soil sloped towards walkways




Earth work 4, water and elec lines in and my helper (she backfilled the lines)

Spin

So far so good, I can see the Sofitel/Pullman hotel in the background so you must be pretty near to the city centre there?

S Landreth

^ Yes Sir,.the Aunt owns a couple of nice pieces of property in the area she rents out to vendors (she lives behind one of them).

Propagator

Quite a clearance job there. Landscaping - if you have transport would suggest a trip up to the Phu Rua area for shrubs etc, could buy up there for a quarter of the cost that you would pay in Khon Kaen.

Planting would be best around Nov/Dec. What sort of low maint stuff are you thing of putting in?

I would have thought it better that drainage went away from the walkways

S Landreth

To answer your question about what type of plants/vegetation we want to plant,…..plants that will not need too much care, will not shed too many leaves and that will require a minimum amount of sweeping up after. It is a pity but we have to keep away from large shade trees that lose leaves.
Our first plant/s we will purchase will be a heavy climbing vine to put along the length of both street walls, to cover the walls. We know the vine we want to use, but haven’t found it at the few nurseries we have looked in.

We have started to price some plants out and have been looking around the Khon Kean area comparing. However after being quoted on a couple of plants and misinformed about what type of light they would need to survive, we think taking our business elsewhere might be a better idea than what the Khon Kean city area has to offer.

One of the vehicles the girlfriend owes is a small pickup, so we will be traveling to get our plants. Thank you for your advise on a where to look for plants. I am sure the next time we are in Khon Kean we will be visiting.

About the comment you made about water draining towards the walkways,…..As a rule/county ordinance/law in South Florida, industrial sites/property have to deal with their own water. Which means industrial property owners (not residential property owners) can not drain their storm water (rain water) into the public streets, right of ways or public storm drains. I think it’s a good ordinance and should be followed and that’s why I will incorporate that type of construction on this property. I don’t think what the Thais do here (draining their rain/storm water into the streets) is a good idea. I am not going to add to the problem of street flooding if I can help it.

The storm water that is not soaked up (through the filter fabric, that will be placed around the site to keep weeds from growing) into the open plant areas will drain towards the deep walkways (that will also have a layer of filter fabric placed down first before the washed rock/stepping stones is/are laid down) which will drain towards the seepage pit (under the Gazebo) and will slowly seep back into the ground (water table).

As you are aware (I think you’re still in Khon Kean?) last week there was a hell of a down pour in Khon Kean,..maybe 5 hours of non-stop heavy rain. The streets were flooded,…………….but not the new garden area. The rain water that did not seep directly into the ground where it landed drained into the walkways and then into the seepage pit. When we rode by after the heavy rains subsided that evening to see the damage/results I was pleasantly surprised to see that it worked so well. The next early morning before leaving for BKK (less than 12 hours after the rain),…the seepage pit was ½ empty from the evenings rain fall. It worked well, better than what I had anticipated.

I have a question for you. I will be staying in Khon Kean for a period of time. You have a thread titled “Khon Kean”. Would you mind if I contributed to your thread about Khon Kean related subjects?

SunTzu

Nice job.

Few coments :
- ponds do need maintenance
- i wouldn't design/build a garden for somebody who doesnt care about it (cf before clearance pictures). But then, she might be delighted, and hire you to do the maintenance every month, + have you build more on her other properties !
- good comments from Propagator.
- storing water in on-site drainage trench is good for environment, and wil help keep the area fresh
- I'm curious to see in time if drainage capacity sufficient. There doesn't seem to be an escape route.


Good luck

S Landreth

^Thanks,...we'll see how it works as times goes by and everything is growing.

Propagator

Unfortunately back in the UK

Please do

Thanks for your detail about the drainage.

S Landreth

^Thank you

S Landreth

Received the second quote, by fax. It is at,….114,556.00 baht

Both contractors were read the same basic things we wanted with the Gazebo and Stand Alone Bathroom, from the same page. Both contractors had some suggestions and we told them to price it according to what would be best for them to get the work, using some minimums we had told them we wanted.

Two quotes we will be using are:
a) 113,000.00 baht
b) 114,556.00 baht

If the quotes would have had a 10% difference in price, I think I might have asked for a third quote from another contractor.

We’ll discuss both quotes (with a breakdown and pay schedule) with the contractors to make sure everything is covered before we let the job go.

S Landreth

These past few days (August 8 – 11) were spent working on the walkway and driveway areas. We removed the last bit of soil in the driveway area, laid some filter fabric, set the prefab ponds in place (paid the rest owed to the pond guy after delivery,…. 2,000 baht of the 3,500.00 original price) and placed the ¾ inch rock in the driveway and walkway.

We picked up three guys Monday morning at the Khon Kaen railway station (day labor) and after getting to the garden area one guy left, because he thought the work was too difficult. Tuesday we had three guys working for us and were able to finish the work we had planed for this trip.

We used 16 cubic meters of 3/4 rock to fill the walkways and (extended) driveway area at 600 baht per cubic meter delivered. Cost of rock delivered 9,600.00 baht.

Name and Telephone number for the pond fabricator is: Tong at 0874386168

Labor costs for two days was 3,500.00 baht. Two guys for the first day at 1,500.00 baht, second day three men at 1,500.00. We also supplied them lunch each day, estimated cost of 500.00 baht (includes water/ice and M-150 at site).

We purchased two spaded shovels and one hoe for 1,094.00 baht for the work this past weekend.

This is where we purchased the ¾ inch rock:
ช่างยงค้าไม้และวัสดุก่อสร้าง
ที่อยู่ :267-73 เทพารักษ์ตำบลในเมือง อำเภอเมืองขอนแก่น ขอนแก่น 40000
โทรศัพท์:043237290, 043239779, 043243766
โทรสาร :043332762

Chang Yong
267-73 Thepharak Road, Nai-Muang Sub-District, Muang District, Khonkaen 40000
Tel.: 043237290, 043239779, 043243766
Fax.:043332762

Hardware store where we have purchased some of the hardware and tools needed at the site:
Khon Kaen Thai Pipat
39/2 Srichan Road, Muang District, Khonkaen 40000 Tel.: 043-224693

Head Office :
บริษัทไทยพิพัฒน์วิศวการโยธา จำกัด‎ Thai Pipat Civil Engineering Co.,Ltd.
71-75 ถนนหน้าเมือง, ตำบลในเมือง, อำเภอเมืองขอนแก่น, จังหวัดขอนแก่น 40000
โทร.043-247006-9
71-75 Nhamuang Road, Nai-Muang Sub-District, Muang District, Khonkaen 40000
Tel.043-247006-9

S Landreth

Progress pictures taken August 8 – 11, 2009




Small pond area with filter fabric




Small pond in place




Large pond area with filter fabric




Large pond in place




Walkway before fabric and rock was placed




Placing rock




Placing rock




Rock in place




Rock in place




Rock in place




Site ready for next phase (construct bathroom and Gazebo). The large square piece of filter fabric you see in the picture above is the footprint of the Gazebo.

Tao

Good thread, i'm hoping it will inspire me to do my own garden... someday.

S Landreth

BKKBILL

You seem to be building this to industrial standards not often seen in LOS. Good job so far and thank you for the links will bookmark for my build in Chiang Mai.

S Landreth