The Pits

We are now ready to examine my soil. This is one of my holes.















In the excavation for the road a very large berm/hill on the back side of the roadside vegetable and flower garden was cut. For the pad of the future house a natural ridge line between the sunny utility valley and the shady stream valley on the other side was lowered five feet, out on its point towards the property line. Part of this fill was used for the road and a lot of it was used to create the pad for the cabin which we don't like and are going to re-spread to come closer to the natural degree of slope on the ridge.

The track hoe guy kept saying "Boy there are a lot of rocks. Its like diggin in a potato field." I'm thinking this guy don't know rocks. Try livin on the side of a volcano. It was about 90% soil and 10% nice boulders to small rocks. What kind of rock I do not know. It is white with what looks to be a lot of mica in it.

The soil itself was very sandy with chunks of orange clay. It has an overall yellowish orange color to it.















Now we have dug pits lower down on the side of the ridge for drain field perk tests and it is even sandier than what was on top. My ridge line is made of sand and filled with potatoes. Well now that looks good to me. This should drain just fine. Wrong. The track hoe guy's cousin who dug the pits says they don't like sandy soils for drain fields. It drains too well. What?















Option B location which has enough space for the drain field and a repair area of equal size required as a backup in case of system failure, is on the other side of the sunny utility valley closer to the road. Fortunately we have enough of an elevation drop from the ridge line and building site that gravity will still make shit water flow down hill. No pumps.

And the soil over here which was going to be my primary, most level gardening space is much darker, less sandy and has fewer rocks. The track hoe guy's cousin says this soil looks just right. The county perk test guy shouldn't have any problem with this.

Five pits, three feet wide, five feet long and five feet deep were dug. The drain lines will only be buried 18 inches deep. The number of bedrooms (or dens or offices with closets) and my soil type will determine how many and how long my drain field pipes will have to be. My sitting rooms in the future house just lost their closets.










Meanwhile I have been working on the nicest construction entrance for a building site. Denial maybe, New Agey manifestations of positive thinking, a gardener with too much energy, whatever. I will not be denied. This will be my new home and I can start planting around the edges. I will be permitted to poo.

So far in this bed I have the rescued Daylilies, Penstemon 'Ruby' and 'Midnight Blue' and one Mugo Pine. The other two Mugo Pines I bought went on the opposite side of the drive, further down, behind the roadside vegetable and flower garden. I have added Iris cristata, a diminutive native iris that blooms in the spring and forms dense almost turf like patches. The Dwarf Crested Iris came from the garden next door where it has flourished from one pinched plant in the woods decades ago.

And wonder of wonders, two curves down the road in the middle of no where was an abandoned pile of wood chips. One truck, one pitchfork and I have a mulched bed.











Now I want to add a new texture in a plant that will be in the three foot range in front of the Mugo Pine. I have 10 years before it takes over the whole space I have given it in my head. It can be deciduous. The native hydrangea which I saw tons of today growing on my land just off the road get too tall, but this is in full sun which will make things more compact. There are Euphorbias, Cotoneasters, Sedums and who knows what else to consider.

There is also room for a very short row of plants along the drive. I am thinking the Sempervivums may be just the thing. There would still be more than enough room for a cement truck to get by.

Behind this whole bed as it drops down the hill and as a backdrop, I have spied a gorgeous Sumac growing in the woods. I think it is Rhus glabra, Smooth Sumac. Something other than the brambles there now needs to cover that spot.

I have also been seeing a lot of the plain green Yucca filimentosa in bloom around. They come in cultivars with nice color variations. I'm thinking I may need some of them for outside the entry gate.













In the meantime the first of 100's I am sure, Echinacea purpureas has appeared.