Thursday, February 26, 2015

- Bare earth clothed

We've been helping my daughter and son-in-law prep their South Austin condo in anticipation of putting it on the market this spring.

The retaining wall above their driveway didn't always look like this ...


The patch of ground below the wall would get scoured whenever it rained hard. So we put in some water breaks (brakes?) and added 1/2 cubic yard of Thunder Dirt (a mix of local soil, compost and decomposed granite) ...


Creating a rim of rock around each sprinkler head ...


As well as another water break further downslope ...


All capped off with a thick layer of hardwood mulch and some repurposed agaves ... 


Still to be added: feather grasses and Spanish daggers transplanted from our Hill Country digs once the weather moderates a little more.

Now we just have to wait and see how it all holds up to the next gulley-washer.

8 comments:

  1. THIS is exciting. I didn't breath while looking/reading.

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    1. It was a good hard day of work ... we also mulched some other areas. Fortunately we got our first ever pickup a few years ago ... makes hauling ever so much easier!

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  2. Thunder Dirt? What a great name! I hope it helps. The grasses should be a water mitigating force if they can get a hold before the next monsoon.

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    1. The Austin-area folks pride themselves on "keeping it weird" so yes, thunder dirt. Gotta love it!

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  3. one of my favourite agaves, love the imprint of the new leaves as they unfurl

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    1. We have a very large one in front of the house that has some spectacular imprints ... I'll have to take a picture for you

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    2. oh and when we have an area in a garden that washes away regularly have discovered it's the perfect spot to create a dry creek bed with lots of stone going with the flow rather than fighting it

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    3. I am a huge fan of dry creek bed gardening, but my daughters associate it with their hippie mom's other wonky tendencies ... someday they may embrace the wisdom of going with the flow

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