The Grotto - Part I (Foundation and Material)

The first thing to do when building a grotto is to make sure you have a good foundation. Since the ground expands and contracts quite a bit, it is imperative to lay a foundation to keep the grotto from cracking. I dug a semi-circular trench a foot deep and 6 inches wide and filled it with concrete. The next step was to gather the stone. Fortunately there was some in the front yard that the previous owners had used for edging around a flower bed. There was also native limestone laying around that had been dug out of the ground as well. So the cost for the grotto was minimal - only some bags of ready mix concrete.

Measure and mark...

Pour the concrete....

Gather the stone...