River Creek Bed Expansion DIY Project

It has started!

The River Creek Bed Project, or the expansion I should say. 

The sump pump issues we had last year gave me an idea on how to handle water runoff in a gardening way, or a glamorous one.

So last summer/fall we created a river creek bed to try and divert the water coming from a sump pump. 

Our 

DIY River Creek Bed Project.

Well in theory it worked. But the pump shoots water out with pretty good force, and it also has a straight line, right out in front of the house. Which still floods the yard, making it a muddy mess.

So I need to slow the water down, at a safe distance and allow it to drain. Hence the part 2 of the river creek bed. 

This weekend

the trench digging and planning stage. The pic below shows the existing river creek bed, which we will re-use the rock and boulders for the new one.

First thing saturday morning, "G" and I were out enlarging the garden bed, and marking where the french drain would go.

After we burnt off all the grass. Now I know some people are hesitant to use a torch to remove grass, it is not for the faint of heart. But it is the quickest and fastest way to get rid of grass and weeds in a large expanse like this.

Plus, any good farmer knows....burning old crops brings the soil back to life next year.

Now that we got the garden bed squared off, I started digging the trench close to the PVC pipe where the water is coming out from the house.

I let "G" take over on trench duty, and grabbed a can of spray paint and marked where I wanted curves for the new creek bed.

I meandered

and added nice curves to try and slow the water down and add visual interest too.

After 25 feet of a winding trench, this is where we are going to stop it.

The plan is to lay the french drain in here and NOT cover it up. We want to see how much and how fast water is coming out at this point before we cover it up with hundreds of pounds of rock.

I am not digging this back up!

This pic shows the trench getting close to the sump pipe so we will be adding a few more PVC elbows and gizmos to connect it to a 5" or 6" wide french drain pipe.

I figure being 12 to 14 feet away from the house before we add a french drain is a safe distance for water drainage.

We are expecting some rain this week, so after we got the trench dug, I added some landscape fabric to really get an idea of how it is going to look.

 I also asks "G" to put "Some" of the trench dirt back in the garden bed. I am thinking a small "berm" here and there might also add some visual drama and interest.

 Can ya see it starting to come together? Once I added the fabric, I started getting excited!

 There have been quite a few hydrangea bushes that had to be relocated, so I am crossing garden fingers that I get blooms this year. A couple of them are doing ok, but one still looks pretty shocky. But I will keep singing to it and giving her lots of water too.

Well, I need to get back outside and finish mulching my existing beds. Plus get rid of the leftover dirt we can't use. 

This week is going to be all about buying the french drain, getting it installed. 

The final step will (hopefully) be covering it up with beach pebbles and gorgeous stones.

Wish me luck, I'm going in!

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