Arroyos and More

On Monday morning Pedro started to work his magic. After two days of labor, he and his team created an arroyo running the full length of our house, about 6 to 8 feet in from the street. The purpose is to channel the rain water away from our house and on to the right side of our property. To insure that the slope below the arroyo also drains correctly, they installed a french drain running all along the front flower beds. It channels that water down a pipe on to the left side of the house. The hole they dug was over two feet deep and about three feet wide, all done without any machinery. In case their was any doubt as to the viability of this plan, Mother Nature sent a huge gully washer of a storm Wednesday night. I'm happy to report that both drains worked perfectly and our major drainage problem is solved.

Pedro is coming back in a week or two to lay Buffalo grass sod, checker board style, over the front, side, and back yard. Charles and I plan to fill in the gaps with a "Midway Mix" of native grasses from the Native American Seed Company.

While we wait for the sod to arrive I've started filling in the front beds. I've included pictures of two interesting bushes that that are a first for me to plant, both native to the region. You'll see pictures below.