4 x 8 Sand for Parks

Tuesday, February 18^th, 2014

Every other Tuesday has been for the Parks department for a while, until I get done with special projects.  Then I will use that day to catch up on my own yard.  On this day, I planned to bring a load of 4 x 8 sand to the Office to finish the putting behind the fuel tanks, and take the rest to Schroeder, to rebuild the Dog Park memorial paver bed. 

It had been built with plain soil under and between the pavers, which grew loads of weeds.  A parks volunteer and some work crew slaves started weeding it one day in midsummer while I was weeding the dog park.  The work crew was brought without weeding tools, as they rarely do weeding; Community Corrections owned no weeding tools.  (They have a hula hoe or two now; see "Starting Out In the Snow.")  

I lent them some tools, but had to take them back when it was time for me to leave.  They and the volunteer left at that point, 2/3 done, and it didn’t get finished until I did it last fall over a couple of weeding visits.  I was thinking then that I should pick up the pavers, use the dirt to fill holes in the dog pen, and reset them in 4 x 8 sand, which would be much easier to weed, being looser than dirt.

4 x 8 sand behind the fuel tanks

At the office, I decided that the moss and weeds all around the fuel tanks had to go and be replaced by 4 x 8 sand, so I used a bit more time and sand than I had planned to.  But it looks good.  I also weeded a bit and blew the dirt off their concrete apron in front of the shop, reflecting that they need 4 x 8 in front of it to keep the dirt at bay.

It was starting into scattered showers by the time I got to Schroeder.  There was a lady there, reading while her dogs played.  I started picking up the pavers, laying them just far enough to the side to allow me to work, in the same pattern in which they were laid.  I rearranged a few for better fit as I went on; they were made with two different molds, and some are done portrait while others are landscape.  

Once they were out of the way, I used my flat shovel to take the dirt out that had been between them and flattened the bottom.  I didn’t need to go deeper than they had been laid; the box was deep enough to lay some sand down and lay the pavers on top.  There wasn't enough dirt to fill all the holes that had been dug in the previous two weeks; I will have to continue with the large, irritating gravel in the pen.  It's irritating because it is too large to walk on comfortably.  Some of it is large enough to turn ankles.

4 x 8 sand, screened 1/4"-1/8" rounded river sand, is great for laying pavers and flagstones because it doesn't pack like regular sand; it stays loose and pours like sugar. One can lay a rock on it, wiggle it, and it will set into the sand, filling the hollows and curves.  Laid an inch deep, it makes a great walking surface that is easy to maintain with a hula hoe and rake.  Laid deeper, it is like walking on a beach, but it makes a great driveway that eventually packs down for easy walking.

The young lady and her dogs were joined by relatives, who welcomed my latest leaflet, as she’d seen one before.  I asked her mother to take photos of me working for this post; she took a bunch.  They soon had to leave as the showers got heavier.

I got the sand laid in the bottom and started putting pavers back in, filling between them as I went.  I had enough sand and time to do about half of them; ran out of time to even lay the rest back in the box.  I had an SOS meeting to go to; no time even to go home and clean up.

I’m heading back there today, Monday the 24^th, to put the pavers back for now.  Next Tuesday, I will bring the rest of the 4 x 8, fill in between them, and spread some in the entrances to the dog parks and other muddy spots.  It’s great mulch for helping perennial grass grow, as well as keeping the mud off one’s feet.  That will complete Parks Projects for now, and I will start on my yard.