It's Been a Minute, Part Two

 So, where were we?  Oh, yes.  The wrap-up of the big crawlspace sealing/drainage pipes installation project.  It has been a busy five weeks since my last post.  (Dang it, that's nearly "a minute" again!)  Like I said, it's been busy.  

My husband, Herb, retired, which is amazing!  He has been working a lot in the garden (insert happy dance here), and managing other home improvement projects.  As I type this, new downspouts are being installed.  Next spring, new windows will be installed.  Woooo hooooo!!!

Even five weeks after the BIG project, we are still working toward getting things back into shape.  No, I have not begun planting the raked-over bed in front of the house.  I'm afraid that area is a bit of a lost cause, due to my naïveté in a) planting Alstroemeria psittacina 'Variegata' (variegated Peruvian lily) nearly twenty years ago, and b) allowing it to spread with reckless abandon.  The breadth and depth of soil disturbance spread it throughout the entire bed.   Many bits of its fleshy root system are emerging from the deep trench next to the foundation.  I don't think I'll ever be rid of it, no matter the eradication methods attempted.  

Attempting to remove the nearly un-eradicable variegated alstroemeria will just have to wait.

 

In the immediate aftermath of the BIG project, I decided to tackle that area at another time, and chose to focus my attention elsewhere. 

After the BIG project was done, we were left with bare ground in a lower-lying area, roughly 200 square feet, at the back of the house.  Well, I say "lower-lying," but it's really just a place where rainwater drains through from a portion of the back yard.  During heavy rains, a small river washes away soil.  I like to take advantage of this type of area by planting moisture-loving plants because they slow the flow of water, their root systems minimize soil erosion, and they create beauty in a seemingly unusable space.  

This needed immediate attention.  What to do, what to do?

I wanted a simple plant palette.  Main criteria: Something tough, that will withstand our dogs trouncing through and occasionally relieving themselves on, would be ideal.  Secondary criteria: I didn't want to spend any money.

Nearby, on higher and more consistently drier ground, an established planting of one of my all-time favorites, the nearly bullet-proof Acorus gramineus 'Ogon' (golden Japanese sweet flag), had been increasingly unhappy with any prolonged dry periods, of which it seems we are having more and more.  (You can see a part of it in the upper right hand portion of the photo above.)  The perfect solution presented itself, and at my favorite price: free-ninety-free!

We installed the hardscape first.  With leftover gravel from the crawlspace project, we made a path; we reinstalled block steps to a newer deck (replacing the rest of the deck is another future project); we moved a large lava rock from a nearby bed; we cleaned and relocated what seemed like a ton of Mexican beach stone, and piled it around the lava rock.  

First things first: the hardscape.  All elements are re/up-cycled.

Once all of that was in place, I was ready to plant.  I didn't want just blobs of sweet flag, or rows flanking the path.  It pleases me to plant in swaths.  Plantings that ribbon their way across a path subtly invite movement through a space.

The result may not look like much, but it's much nicer than the red clay that was there before, and we enjoy watching birds in the birdbath.  And, yes, I realize there is more work to be done, but this is a good start.  Besides, all of this is a temporary treatment until the new deck is designed and built.  "Temporary" at SprottHaus could mean six months or six years, so I created something that is at least pleasing to the eye.  The test of its effective utility will come with the next decent rain.  Speaking of rain, we now have new--and additional--downspouts!

Never thought I'd be so excited about downspouts.

With the installation of the new drainage pipes and downspouts, our investment in sealing the crawlspace is protected.  It occurs to me that sometimes what's going on below the ground can make the biggest difference.  

Next time, I'll get back to plants; snowdrop season is just beginning!  Until then, I remain...

Yours in Dirt,

Andrea