Past Projects

Ken Larson's Alternative Site is just for fun.
Kenneth A. Larson has a quarter century of experience in design and construction of scenery for the Entertainment Industry and Theme Parks using Computer Aided and Traditional approaches to Design. Also experience in other areas of Design.

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Progress with New House

Getting the new house ready and moving was a pain. I spent the first year moving and unpacking. I also finished and built a number of pieces of furniture and book shelves (2007). The second year was spent mostly on the front yard. I had a team of gardeners for four days removing trees and stumps, reshaped the hill after I removed the small retaining wall, and they left a huge pill of dirt and debris on the driveway and a huge pile of firewood in the back yard. (2008). The third year I mostly worked on the side hill. I cleared the side hill, added sprinklers, and built planters and steps on the hill. I enhanced the cactus garden and planted California native plants on the hill. I continued to the back hill adding more planters and steps. Then I cleared along the back fence, extended the vegetable garden to the back, and did some clean up. I started a wall part way around (3/4) the future water garden. After a year and a half, I finished clearing the huge pile of dirt off the driveway. I finished designing the studio which would have looked like a miniature mill, but Building and Safety would only let me build it full size and the structural engineer gave me such a hard time that I just gave up (2009). Year four I mostly pulled weeds and rebuilt the front sprinklers, created planters, added stepping stones, and then planted California wild flowers around the stepping stones. The only accessories to the back yard were some half-size farm fences at the front of the garden and a 9-foot decorative windmill (2010).

Year five I worked at my job a bit more and so got less done on the yard. I made progress in the mild winter and early summer. I got an early start on weeding after a week of rain ended Christmas Eve. I built additional planters at the hill along with bubbler sprinklers. I added sprinklers to the enlarged vegetable garden. I was making progress until I learned that my wood working class might not be offered the next year and I accelerated work on the only woodworking project that was mostly designed, a car bard for the future garden railroad. Once that was finished I got back to weeds. I dug up the ivy on the back half of the side hill and cleared more trees and shrubs. In July, just as I started a new job with lots of overtime, I installed sprinkler valves and a little more pipe. In early October it rained and the weeds started growing again. (2011)

As of today, January 23, 2012, I have pulled all of the new weeds but still have three patches of old weeds. I've made some repairs to the patio roof, touched up some paint, and have repaired, or installed new, rain gutters.

January 8, 2007.

August 29, 2007.

January 5, 2007.

June 25, 2009

January 8, 2007.

June 25, 2009.

August 29, 2007.

June 25, 2009.

December 2, 2006.

June 25, 2009.

May 5, 2007.

June 25, 2009.

August 13, 2007

June 25, 2009.

December 1 ,2006.

June 25, 2009.

December 2, 2006.

June 25, 2009.

December 2, 2006.

June 25, 2009.

November 30, 2006.

November 30, 2006.

November 30, 2006.

November 30, 2006.

April 15, 2009.

November 30, 2006.

April 15, 2009.

November 30, 2006.

April 15, 2009.

November 30, 2006.

June 25, 2009.

November 30, 2006.

June 25, 2009.

November 30, 2006.

November 30, 2006.

December 2, 2006.

June 25, 2009.

December 2, 2006.

June 25, 2009.

December 2, 2006.

June 25, 2009.

December 2, 2006.

July 2, 2009.

December 2, 2006.

July 2, 2009.

December 2, 2006.

June 25, 2009.

March 3, 2008.

June 25, 2009.

December 2, 2006.

June 25, 2009.

December 2, 2006.

June 25, 2009.

December 2, 2006.

June 25, 2009.

December 2, 2006.

June 25, 2009.

February 12, 2009.

October 4, 2009.

July 12, 2009 with backyard landscaping well underway.

October 4, 2009

Water Shortage, 2009

LADWP won't let me water my grass.

LADWP won't let me water my grass.

LADWP won't let me water my grass.

My neighbors waters their grass.

My neighbors all have nice yards, but I can't do mine.

Drought tollerant, fire resistant, weed controlling ground cover and California natives. Needs water to be established and LADWP won't let me. LADWP told me to check with the Fire Department about brush removal.

Then one day, amid all this saving water and watching my landscape die, up the street a water main broke and all this water was wasted.


A river of escaped water rushes down the street.


The break was under the intersection, but most of the water escaped at the corner.

General Shots of the House and Yard

Dusky Rose colored California Poppy by the cactus garden.

They just finished blooming, but were pretty a few weeks earlier.

Roses, three were moved from the side hill, three were new.

I added three sets of steps to the three planters on the hill side.

I added rocks and cactus and rearranged the existing cactus.


Cactus flower.


This is not a cactus flower, the top of this cactus is bright red.


I filled this 10-ton dumpster with rocks and branches.

The pile of dirt that took two years to move.

June 25, 2009.


The swing set going away. It has stood here for 42 years, but hasn't been used in the last 20.


The swing set going away.

A minute before I took this shot of a hawk, there were two hawks on the branch. I always keep a close eye on our small cat when the hawks are out.

The New Windows

In March 2009, I had the front windows replaced with more energy efficient windows. I am hoping to do extensive work to the back in the future, so I held off on the back.

Work room.

Office.


Living Room.

Upstairs window.

Rain

Rain may not be unusual in much of the country, but in Los Angeles, we get about 10 to 20 inches a year. On March 20, 2011, we received about 6 inches of rain, most of it in only a few hours. I discovered several problems that would require attention when things dried up, such as damaged, clogged, or missing rain gutters and a patio cover without a water tight connection to the house.

As I looked out across my flooded back yard in the fading light, I was glad that I had spent so much time in recent years building up the dirt berm around the edge of the yard, otherwise all this water would have run down my neighbors' hills and eroded deep gullies.


Rain in garden.


Rain in garden.


Rain in garden.

Rain in garden.


So much rain came down so fast, the future pond site became a temporary pond.


The rain fell so hard, the rain gutters overflowed.

The car tire is a few inches off the curb, yet, so much water flowed down the hill, it still backed up behind the tires.

We heard a car alarm and looked out to see the neighbor's car was hit by their trash can washing down the hill.

Wild Flowers


I photographed these wild flowers in the front yard.


I allowed several lupin to grow in the back yard as I pulled every other weed. I saved as many of the seeds as I could to plant in the front yard next year.

April 16, 2011 and April 17, 2011.

April 24, 2011

May 7, 2011

May 28, 2011

The Patio Repair

When I bought the house, dry rot was found in the patio cover. It wasn't until a few years later that I noticed rain water pouring in through the repair. It seems the termite company (who shall remain nameless [WEC]) sawed through the roofing material to remove the boards in three places, then left the two foot long by 1/8 inch wide holes for the water. Finally I had time to make a proper repair.


These are the rotted and warped boards after I removed the roofing material.


These are the rotted and warped boards after I removed the roofing material.

The Vegetable Garden

When I say I planted a garden, think of Green Acres. The Walla Walla onions were the size of green onions and the green onions were the size of toothpicks. The carrots were as big around as a pencil. Potatoes ranging from marble to gold ball. The pumpkin was the size of a tennis ball. The squash did well and we got a lot of lettuce. Only the yellow cheery tomatoes did well, but then only 2 of the dozen seeds I planted. Still it wasn't a bad start for the first year. Maybe with more compost and fertilizer and more water, next year might be better.

Potato harvest, June 25, 2009.

Potato harvest, August 8, 2009. For a size comparison, those are 4 inch tiles.

As always, agriculture gives way to progress.

July 12, 2009.

This turned into a perfect pumpkin - about he size of a baseball.

The only yellow squash.

Our only zucchini


The garden took a lot of work and there were some rewards, but the harvest was small.

Double carrot...

...and very small carrots.

The 2011 garden

In 2011, I installed sprinklers and fencing. I cleared some of the firewood at one side and more weeds. The schedule got away from me and I only planted half the area, but that half did well.

Artichokes are not quick. This is my first good artichoke, over two years after plating the seed.

A month after I took this photo, the pumpkin was in the compost, consumed by mold.

Strange carrot.

My first cabage.


Spaghetti squash.

The Studio

In the spring of 2009, I began site preperation for the studio. I wasn't ready to start and was still working on the drawings to show Building and Safety, so I continued on the general site. Building and Safety twice rejected my drawings, mostly because they won't let me build it as a miniature. I paid a structural engineer to sign off on the parts that were not Type 5, but we had a falling out and I gave up on the project. So this is probably the end of the story.

I needed to build up the ground around to allow for a finish floor 6 inches above the surrounding grade.

I began by building the surrounding garden wall. I could then use the wall for reference for locating the foundation of the studio.

Water Garden and Garden Model Railroad

In the spring of 2009, I began building a low retaining wall around the water garden to keep the turtles in and run model railroad track on top. I wanted the wall to be perfectly level and also comply with the railroad track standard sizes, which I later found were a little shorter than expected. I had to leave four sections undone for a time because two sections would run over a utility trench that wasn't ready to start, one section had a cucumber plant in the way, and a large section would remain unfinished until the end to allow better access during later construction.

I began by installing the end blocks of the straight sections of the surrounding garden wall. I used these 2x10s to level the wall.

Once the ends of the straight sections of the wall were in place, I filled in the straight and curved sections between.

I hadn't decided where the track was going when I started the garden.

This temporary pile of dirt was in the way so I had to cut a pass through it.

Although the wall was close to level, the surrounding grade was not, so next I had to move a lot of dirt around and also remove more stumps.

The wall is 3/4 finished, leaving a section open for access. The strip between the wall and fence is almost cleared and contoured and I have cleared more weeds within the wall. October 10, 2009.

With most of the weeds pulled, in early January 2011 I began installing sprinkler pipes from a plan for over 1000 feet of pipe. I first added sprinklers to the vegetable garden and the base of the hill, 5 zones.

In October 2009, the first rain of the season resulted in an excess of weeds that took months to control. In late May of 2010, I met with Greg of Urban Aquatics for the second time to design the pond. I got only some of the weeds under control before they released new seed for the next year. I cleaned up the front yard and added sprinklers, grass on the slope, stepping stones, and wild flower seeds.

By October 2010, the front yard looked better and I moved back to the back yard. Aside from pulling weeds, the only work I did in the back yard in 2010 was to install a decorative windmill. I pulled the new weeds and a lot of old weeds, started adding sprinklers to the hill and vegetable garden, rebuilt the eight planters for fruit trees on the hill, and built and installed fences around the vegetable garden, then planted vegetables. In mid-February, I went back to work and for the next several months, I tried to keep up with the new weeds. Since my wood working class was not be offered after this semester, I accelerated my work on the wooden parts of my landscaping. In March 2011I started the foundation of the model railroad car barn, finishing it about June. I got about half the sprinkler system installed, but since it ties into the water supply for the water garden, that project needed to move forward.

With the fall 2011 rains, the weeds came back and all else was put on hold until they were pulled. As of early January 2012, the water garden was still on hold.


The floor of the car barn. Eventually there will be two storage tracks on the green area.


The walls were built like a full-size building, the studs were just shorter.


The roof being built at left and the finished building at right.


In summer of 2011, I cleared more weeds and resumed working on the sprinkler pipes, finishing another 60 feet of trench and started connecting valves to the pipes.

This site is a light hearted alternative to my commercial design portfolio site. This site's only purpose is for your enjoyment. There is no paid advertising and I make no profit. If your are in need of a designer, please check my commercial site www.kesigndesign.com. A non-tax deductable donation to help cover the costs may be made at the Contact page.

This site maintained by Kenneth A. Larson.
Copyright © 2000 - 2012, Kenneth A. Larson. All Rights Reserved.
Website content including photographic and graphic images may not be redistributed for use on another website.

This page last updated: Monday, 23-Jan-2012 03:01:29 PST

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