This is a short recap of a side project which started from a simple thought: “let’s just clean the beach a little”. Somehow, as many of our projects, it turned into something much more through and extensive – a beach renovation that lasted several months, which was worked on first during weekends and then through our summer break in July. Some might say that there are more efficient ways to do this than our manual way, but hey, everyone plays in their own style!
April
So, the first step was to get rid of dead reed. Over the years, fallen leaves, reed and wood had formed a thick biomass, which covered a large part of the beach. Not only did it look uninviting, but also made the area unusable.
May
We like how reed looks like, but only when it grows in the right place and in the right amount. It is also a rather persistent plant, and that’s why we dug up as much rhizome as possible under the water near the shore. And it was everywhere! When later in May the weather warmed up and the growing season started, more and more new shoots came up from the ground.
June
Then we reshaped the beach embankment and leveled the lawn area in front of the sauna using removed biomass. The embankment will later be covered with stones, and new grass will be planted in the leveled areas.
At this point we also discovered that a thorough cleaning of the beach was also necessary for another reason. A shocking amount of glass and porcelain pieces were found on the beach (Eino has counted more than 120 pieces so far), which are very harmful to bare feet.
July
We continued to remove all organic material so that the bottom of the beach was as clean as possible before installing the separation fabric. At this point, the junior team members started to be a bit concerned that “you’re ruining the beach entirely”, probably because despite of many hours of work, there were little visible progress that would connect to their vision of a real sand beach.
Finally in mid July, the entire area was cleaned and the organic matter removed.
Next it was time for the most fun part, sand delivery – and we have a new beach!
Depending on how the sand settles and compacts in place with time, and how we end up solving the final section of the storm water route from the upper part of the property (another small side project), the rest of the sand will be leveled to finalize the beach profile. Then we will start building the stone embankment, trim and hide the edges of the separation fabric, plant some new grass and then – whatever direction the project evolves next.
But already at this point we are happy with the outcome. And fingers crossed there is still some more summer days left to enjoy our new beach!
Olive Green 