Labyrinth in the Lower Yard!

My parents have been undergoing a transformation of their property, and this last week, my mom and I installed a Labyrinth.

Not including the leveling of the ground, (because it was done by a bobcat during some earlier landscaping work) we spent about three hours total including deciding on a design.

Here's how we did it!

WHAT YOU'RE GONNA NEED:

A hoe

A shovel

A rake

A friend

Flower seeds (choose something low-growing with little flowers, we used pink soapwort flowers)

Grass seeds

Rocks

Some sticks or garden markers

A long string

A design (check out old art books or look online)

(I edited an image i found online, the pink will be flowers, the green will be grass and the path that you walk)

WHAT YOU'RE GONNA WANT:

Bug spray

Garden glove

STEP ONE: Decide on the diameter of your Labyrinth. Level the land and add dirt if you need to. Remove large rocks or pieces of debris from the site to make the next part easier!

STEP TWO: Make concentric circles, about a foot and a half or two feet apart, either eyeballed or using a pivot in the center of the labyrinth. Easiest way is to place a large stick in the middle of the Labyrinth, and tie a loop in the string to hook over the stick. Hold the string in one hand as you pull a hoe along with the other.  Move down one and a half or two feet on the string, and make your next ring.

STEP THREE: Using your design and a friend, determine where the 'bridges' need to be, the lines that go from ring to ring, and where the terminal lines need to go, the areas where the rings don't continue. 

We placed grey rocks at those points, then used the hoe to make the bridges and our feet to tromp the ground down where the terminal lines went.

We also used peices of an old venetian blind to mark the lines, in case it rained and we lost the stones.

Work in the cardinal directions, to make sure you're keeping in line with the design.

STEP FOUR: After you've made the bridges and terminal lines, walk the labyrinth to make sure it works! Don't step over any lines, and make any fixes that need to be made.

STEP FIVE: Plant groundcover seeds (we used pink soapwort, and a LOT of it, about 30 packets!) in the troughs, make sure to get something that doesn't need to be buried deeper than 1/16th of an inch because you're not going to want to disturb those lines!

STEP SIX: (optional) Plant your grass seeds in the pathways-once again, sprinkle them on the ground, and lightly rake them in.

STEP SEVEN: LET IT GROW!!!! Make sure to water as needed, but don't drown your seeds or your lines! Keep your markers in place so you can weed the flower seeds that have gotten into the paths. I will post pictures as the labyrinth grows!

June 04, 2008

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