east yard ~ grading

When the site was acquired there was a hump in the middle of the east yard that prevented much of the water, from snow melt and rain, from draining through the large culvert in the south dike. Inappropriate grading (and what we later learned was restricted drainage) meant that water remained in the east yard, especially around the perimeter, until as late as mid-July in 2004 and 2005. It seemed that it may be prudent to plant this region primarily with wild rice.

In the photograph below, the *hump* is where the mound of snow is split by a slice of earth (on the left side of the *lake*). The culvert is where the snow had been dug out by the dike to the right.

east yard ~ 06MR31

leveling ~ 06JL10-01

Soil in just about all of the east yard was rearranged in 2006Fortunately, it was very dry in the summer of 2006; it rained only once.. The hump was scraped down. (Much of the extra soil from the hump was moved to behind the dwelling unit.) The region was given a dish shape, the lowest area being near the middle. Following rearrangemnet of the grade, the entire area, including the slopes of the dike, was cultivated a few times and then *dragged*, with a couple of railroad ties behind the tractor, to level it out.

east yard ~ 06JL10

Removing the hump and *dishing* the east yard allowed for drainage of the area, but water remained there the following summer (2007It was very wet in 2007; it rained almost every other day for the first half of the summer.) until the end of June.

east yard ~ 07MR31

We were aware that the flapgate on the outside end of the culvert was bolted closed; the top of it opened just enough to allow water to fan out on either side when the east yard was filled with water. This restricted the flow of water into the highway ditch. Being novice ruralites we thought maybe there was a reason for it. But, in 2007 we started asking around about the flapgate. Various people in the district who we queried were all puzzled that it was bolted shut. Later that summer the bolt was removed and, following a couple of heavy rains, the east yard did not retain water. And after the thaw of 2008, the region drained completely, in a couple of days, by the middle of April.

east yard ~ 07JN26 Flapgate closed.

east yard ~ 07JL13 Flapgate open.

east and back yard & nursery ~ 08AP15

east and back yard & nursery ~ 09AP21

water dispersal

drainage

Once *dishing* was done, furrows were created to disperse water around the area. Runoff from the roofs of both buildings — which collect a lot of water — is all diverted towards the east yard. Rather than making ditches straight to the culvert, a xeriscape approach was used. Water from the front of the roof of the dwelling unit flows first into the front yard and then drains through a small diameter culvert into the east yard. However, most of this water is redirected to flow first alongside the path beside the dwelling unit, then into the middle of the yard. Water from the back of the roof of the dwelling unit is also directed into this furrow alongside the path. Runoff from the garage flows through the nursery; excess water then drains by way of a ditch, through the backyard, which distributes water both to the above mentioned furrow and to the middle of the east yard.

east yard ~ 07JL13

moving earth ~ 07AU29-01

In summer 2007, the portion of the east yard where the furrows are was hand weeded; the rest of the region, including the inside and top of the dike, was cultivated again with the tractor. These latter areas were then smoothed with the rear blade on the tractor. A couple of low spots were filled in with earth scraped from adjacent slightly higher areas.

east yard ~ 07NO07

A little tweaking of the grading occured in 2008 and 2009. The soil, especially since there isn’t much growing in it, moves around from year to year. A couple of low spots were filled in and the northeast corner was raised slightly. In 2009, the eastern half and the slopes of the dike were harrowed several times to remove weed seedlings, of which there were many. The western portion was mowed periodically to reduce the amount of seed being set by what is growing there.

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east yard | east yard species table | east yard planting