Tom Binkley

Hey Folks,

I heard somewhere that wild blackberry used to be used as a natural border/barrier.  I've been thinking about bordering my property in NW Ohio with something less dramatic than barb wire or concertina, but still effective enough to deter casual wanderings  I grew up with woods and fields that had some pretty thick  patches, and I remember never having any desire to try and force my way through one, but I was really hoping not to have to wait 20 - 30 years.

I have no problem with attracting four legged critters visiting to feast on the berries.  I don't even mind the two legged critters, as long as they don't try to push through into the property interior.  

I was hoping somebody might have some knowledge on quickly propagating the blackberries along my property line and getting them tall and thick enough to be effective.  I'm hoping to get them about 15 - 20 foot wide in just a few years.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Semper Fi,

Tom

Howdy!

I have been thinking about potentially building a home combining a conventional basement/foundation, scoria filled earth bag exterior walls, and then face the scoria walls with slipform stonework.  My goal is really thick, well insulated exterior walls, providing a large thermal mass and then combine this with a relatively conventional basement/foundation and interior wall faces.

Has anyone seen or heard of anyone having already done this type of thing?  The building site is in northwest Ohio so frost heave is definitely a major issue.

With the really thick exterior walls (stone, paneling, or drywall interior; scoria, stone exterior), do I need really thick basement walls to support them, or is there some sort of hybrid foundation that will provide the required support for these walls?

Other than needing to keep critters from nesting in exposed earth bags, are there other considerations in a prolonged build that isn't going to stucco over the bags?  Should I just plan on using stucco to prevent critter damage and then lay the stone over the stucco?  I was hoping to avoid this in the interest of time and cost.  Also it would make it much easier to tie the earth bags into the stone work and thus build a very strong wall.

Any wisdom and/or guidance toward other knowledge sites that anyone can provide is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!