It is finally warming up, four days before Memorial Day weekend. Last year, it snowed the weekend before. This year, I thought it would snow a week ago today as it was cold and looked threatening. Still, this is a resort because it is cool in summer so one must accept the cool of the spring, as well.
Last year, we noticed that the back yard was, in one spot, rather wet and almost swampy. By mid-July it was dry but this year has been wetter than last and I have engaged some workmen to build French drains behind my stone wall in the rear. Also, we had two very heavy rain storms last fall, one of which dropped about 12 inches of rain, and my small stream was partly washed out. My fence was washed out in the place it passes over the combined streams.
The repairs are under way and I will document them.
First, last April 2, a large tree in the back yard fell. Cindy was sitting with the deck door open and just heard a noise. Down it went. It was about 40 feet tall or more because it reached the back fence and crossed the access road behind it. The young fellow next door, who does that sort of thing, came over and offered to clean it up, including cutting the trunk into logs short enough for the fireplace.
A couple of weeks later, after the next snow melted, I noticed there was a spring flowing quite actively out of the root ball hole from the tree.
The water just welled up in the hole and then flowed down the hill to the stone wall. The ground below the stone wall was wet and almost marshy. Last year, it was much the same but it dried up by mid-July. This year is wetter and I don’t think it will dry up until later, if at all. The fact that the spring is still welling up from the root ball hole suggests why the tree fell.
If you compare this photo wth that of the fallen tree, you can see that we dug out the dirt behind the stone down to the level of the bottom of the wall. We then laid PVC perforated pipe along the bottom of the trench and connected it to drains at each end. The trench was then filled in with 3/4 inch rock. This is how you make a French drain. They can be quite deep but this one is only about two feet.
Here is one that drains into the creek just after it enters the yard from beneath the road. Even after a month, it is still flowing. The other drain is under the bridge and almost hidden by the rocks.
I noticed that the wood bridge that crosses the small stream was getting warped and we then found a large crack in one of the support beams. You can’t see it here but when the snow melted and we were looking at the bridge again, it was obvious that it was not doing well. After inspecting it, I decided to dismantle it and make “sister” beams to reenforce the structure. We also found that the ends were sitting on some old cement blocks with rotted out 4 x 12 beams below them. This is probably the second, if not the third, bridge there.
Here the beams have been “sistered” by bolting a 2 x 12 to each and bolting them together. After they are fixed together, the curve is restored using a Sawzall. The rails were removed to get at the beams and the entire bridge was lifted onto the lawn. The new footings for each side were dug out and forms set up. After the concrete dried and set the bridge was put back although the upstream rail is left off to assist in repairs to the stream bed and water wheel.
The water wheel is actually a fountain with an electric pump in the tank to pump water to the top and it then turns the wheel as it flows down. The pump was shot and the wheel and tank were all silted in so that was the next job.
A lot of rocks that lined the banks of the little stream had been washed away last winter so we collected some and rebuilt a footing for the water wheel. This will be supplemented with mortar and a block wall was built to shore up one side of the creek wall under the bridge.
That block wall will be covered with river rock to make it look more natural. The whole front of the house is river rock.
The next project after the bridge will be the small stream which was badly eroded in a couple of big storms last fall. After cutting down some ugly little trees to get at it, you can see that it was once lined on each side by river rock with some mortar to hold them. Many are still there but some have washed away.
When the ivy is pulled away, you can see some of the wall. I will get some more rock and do some repairs. The little stream ends in a tiny waterfall.
You have to look closely to see it but it is still flowing pretty well. Below that waterfall, there is a washout area and the two streams converge.
The area can be dug out and lined with stone. A small dam would back up a pond for the frogs and maybe even some small fish. There are a few large boulders which will help anchor the stream and divert flow away form the house.
Here is a better view of the two streams coming together. These are tiny now but in the heavy rain last fall, each was probably five to six feet deep and flowing at a huge rate.
Summer is here and I will document as I go along.