Old garden walls

[a twig]

Even though you’ve pointed it out I’m struggling to see the height issue - looking really good!

 

[stuart45]

Looks really good to me as well.
One of the things that often gets forgotten with arch construction is the gauging of the bed joints. If the brickwork finishes slightly higher, you get a really thick bed joint over the top of the arch. With some arches, like segmental ones, there aren't enough courses to adjust the joints, so it's up to the designer to adjust the radius of the arch so it works out in brickwork.

 

[Flyfisher]

Magnificent!

 

[Cubist]

As the First Lady and I were both frequent business travellers and, more often than we would like, to different destinations, we each dropped into the habit of leaving little notes for the other when leaving the house. Whist these began as small billet-doux, after a time they morphed to include little memory joggers or tasks that one would like the other to deal with before the absentee came back home. This morning I was, as always, pleased to find a small note to tell me.. well I won't bore you with the superfluous details... but suffice it to say there was a rather odd and cryptic message that required further clarification - which I have now received. As a consequence I have resolved, yet again, to ensure that I log off completely when I leave the pc at any time. You see, since visiting the Lost Gardens of Heligan many years ago she has had a hankering for a walled garden of her own and clearly she now finds, courtesy of perusing @overlander matt 's building efforts, that the wooden fence boundary I previously constructed for her vegetable garden is no longer suitable.

The cryptic message on this mornings note reads - "Reclaimed bricks/stones - how many?"

Thanks Matt.

 

[Flyfisher]

The First Lady clearly has good taste In fact, that wall has rekindled my own constructional urges as its a lovey thing to behold and even more so, I'm sure, for Matt as he has the satisfaction of being the creator of something that should stand the test of time. Sadly, I really have no need of such a project though I've long wanted to find an excuse to build a crinkle-crankel wall. The main excuse is that it would need far fewer bricks than a doubled-up straight wall and that's about as far as I've got, but I keep looking.

 

[paulc]

The cryptic message on this mornings note reads - "Reclaimed bricks/stones - how many?"

Surely the answer is "all of them".
That way, you know you'll have enough to build the wall to the First Lady's specification.

 

[overlander matt]

As the First Lady and I were both frequent business travellers and, more often than we would like, to different destinations, we each dropped into the habit of leaving little notes for the other when leaving the house. Whist these began as small billet-doux, after a time they morphed to include little memory joggers or tasks that one would like the other to deal with before the absentee came back home. This morning I was, as always, pleased to find a small note to tell me.. well I won't bore you with the superfluous details... but suffice it to say there was a rather odd and cryptic message that required further clarification - which I have now received. As a consequence I have resolved, yet again, to ensure that I log off completely when I leave the pc at any time. You see, since visiting the Lost Gardens of Heligan many years ago she has had a hankering for a walled garden of her own and clearly she now finds, courtesy of perusing @overlander matt 's building efforts, that the wooden fence boundary I previously constructed for her vegetable garden is no longer suitable.

The cryptic message on this mornings note reads - "Reclaimed bricks/stones - how many?"

Thanks Matt.

I'm very pleased to hear the wall has met the approval of the First Lady. There have been times over the past three months when a fence would have been a more popular option here.

Approximately 4500 went into this section of wall, of these 1000 were replacements - some courses used larger 75mm bricks and others 60mm. It worked out in the end. Not that it is the end just yet!

The question is when to do the next wall?

 

[Cubist]

Surely the answer is "all of them".
That way, you know you'll have enough to build the wall to the First Lady's specification.

No! I've only ever made one open ended commitment to the First Lady and she already takes full advantage of that.

I also may be conflating a few unrelated things here but at present she's in Texas negotiating a new piece of business and I understand that someone has a rather pointless wall they are wanting to build there. My guess is though that the new tariffs could put the kibosh on that - with any luck.

 

[overlander matt]

With the children heading back to school again, it's time to get back to the garden wall, window maintenance and maybe some repointing if time and weather permit...



I'm pretty much out of bricks for completing the inner side of the wall so it's off to the reclamation yard tomorrow. 80 bricks should hopefully do it.

I am wondering what the best approach is to creating an opening in the wall for the tree trunk. The existing wall on the left side of the tree (looking out from the garden) is just built up to the trunk. I wondered whether I should try to lay a brick on edge to close the void between the two leaves of brick work at the lowest part where the trunk passes through the wall then a vertical wall or maybe have a couple of steps up before raising the wall to its full height. This second approach might help to keep the gap smaller between tree and wall. Not sure if I've managed to explain that clearly. Any suggestions on how to finish this off would be very welcome.

Thanks!

 

[Cubist]

I think I understand what you want to do Matt but have you considered that the trunk will be moving and perhaps more so in some places than others? The land around it appears to be fairly open and therefore its canopy will be affected by wind. Whilst most of that movement will be handled and absorbed by the trees main boughs some very small amount will be transferred toward the ground. At the risk of appearing more of a tree-hugger than I actually am; when the wind is blowing strongly around here, I can sometimes be found near some of our taller and older specimens listening to the creak and groan of the main boughs and will on occasion place a hand on the main trunk while observing the root bole and watching for signs of movement - it could have been my imagination I suppose but in high winds I believe I have felt some very slight tremors. Another consideration is that the tree is still growing and its girth, and those of its boughs, will increase. As a consequence I think you would be wise to ensure you leave a healthy gap of at least a couple of centimetres between the trunk and the wall - you can then monitor those gaps and taken appropriate action in the future if the tree threatens the wall - as it surely will.

 

[Stevers]

Possibly time to add an inverted arch to your repertoire - 'round' rather than giving an even gap - of several inches not cms. It'll need a fair bit of brick cutting to a suitable form, and even that will be tricky to do because there's that da*n great tree in the way.

 

[stuart45]

An inverted arch would look good. I've only done them when building a bull's eye, but it's a lot easier when you can rest a scaffold board on the brickwork and use a trammel to mark and set the bricks.
I've never had the problem of working around a tree, so need some fresh ideas on this one. You could draw it out full size on a board, although you could still do with a trammel to lay them. Maybe fix a template to the wall to lay the bricks to.
A simpler method would be a V shape which would have straight lines. You'd only need to run lines down to get the shape then.

 

[overlander matt]

Thanks for the replies. I'm a bit torn on the best approach...

From a time perspective, I feared that the internal arch was going to be mentioned! I agree it will look good if executed correctly. I'm not sure how best to approach it given the irregular shape and angle of the trunk. There would be quite a lot of brickwork to consider on the existing side. Would you suggest a flatter/larger radius arch rather than more rounded?

I could do with making a bit more progress on the wall before embarking on this one - my wife may not appreciate the distraction!

 

[stuart45]

It could be a segmental arch as well. The easiest solution would be to have 2 stopped ends, and lower the wall inbetween to clear the tree. The only problem with that is you will look at it in the future and wish you'd done it differently. Plus you will disappoint all your followers on here.

 

[overlander matt]

A slight problem to report on the arch - a crack has appeared suggesting a bit of movement... Just wondering what can be done to fix this if anything... I would prefer not to rebuild it!

 

[overlander matt]

It could be a segmental arch as well. The easiest solution would be to have 2 stopped ends, and lower the wall inbetween to clear the tree. The only problem with that is you will look at it in the future and wish you'd done it differently. Plus you will disappoint all your followers on here.

I fear disappointment is inevitable! I shall have to have a careful look at how this will all work out given the existing brickwork to the left and below. I think I'm after an easy life.

 

[overlander matt]

 

[stuart45]

Slight cracks often happen, especially on single ringed arches. I wouldn't worry too much, as you have some masonry at the sides and over the top. It's the ones with nothing at the sides and over the top that are most at risk. If a joint opens up too much on an arch, it can either have a bit of grout pumped in or a slate banged into the joint. The strength of an arch depends on the abutments at each side and the more weight on top the better.

 

[stuart45]

Thanks for the replies. I'm a bit torn on the best approach...

From a time perspective, I feared that the internal arch was going to be mentioned! I agree it will look good if executed correctly. I'm not sure how best to approach it given the irregular shape and angle of the trunk. There would be quite a lot of brickwork to consider on the existing side. Would you suggest a flatter/larger radius arch rather than more rounded?

I could do with making a bit more progress on the wall before embarking on this one - my wife may not appreciate the distraction!

Maybe having a shape like this as a compromise. Cut the angles to lines, and lay the brick on edge to lines. For the brick on edge at the angles the cut should bisect the angle by half, and the other face should be a whole brick. Work out the brickwork so that all the brick on edge are whole bricks.

 

[stuart45]

This shows the angles better than my drawing.