Native riverbed run

[TheSaltyreefer]

Few months back decided I needed to add some drainage around the wife's studio as it was a muddy area (That sat) after rain and turned abit of the lawn into a sludge area not appealing at all, made mowing fun lol
What should have been an easy dig around the studio, put in drainage and be done with it turned into something else completely, I looked at the lay of the land once digging started and thought hmmm I could do a small riverbed kinda thing here, and then as per normal the brain got into bigger and better mode, had an old pond lying around, got the tools out and BHAM took about 4 months all up on and off and we are nearly done, I had a Dragonfruit area up top we have pulled those out and relocated them and stage 2 will commence soon (photos went out of order )

[TheSaltyreefer]

thanks mate, its certainly helped in both those area's

[Silkyoak]

Wow! excellent work turning an area into a show piece.

[EricL]

Hi @Silkyoak 

Let me tag @TheSaltyreefer to make sure they see your kind words. I totally agree it is a wonderful feature in the garden.

Eric

[TheSaltyreefer]

thanks mate, 
its awesome

[TheSaltyreefer]

Stage 2 starting soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dave-1]

@TheSaltyreefer 

hahahahah I recognise that excitement! Also tinged with "How to get past this issue" Looking forward to seeing it! 

I have a project almost at the oil the timber stage" but am stuck on how to make a decent handrail Im waiting for that "starting sooooon" to kick in for me!

Dave

[MitchellMc]

You could always post your handrail project and see if our helpful members have some feedback for you @Dave-1. That could provide enough encouragement to get those gears moving.

Mitchell

[Dave-1]

@MitchellMc 

lol Thank you and yep thats an idea. Really dont know why I didnt think of that myself!

Dave

[TheSaltyreefer]

Always something to do lol

Lucky I only work 3 days a week now 

[Baretta11]

@Dave-1 

Honestly plastic is not the way to go with weeds or gardening in general EVER. So many people think weeds come from underneath and whist that is true to an extent, they come on the wind as well or by birds flying over, so plastic won't stop the weeds entirely but will certainly hinder plant growth and health.

My husband and I are farmers and have to spray weeds in our pastures constantly and have been doing that for over 40+ years so it's fair to assume once weeds "seed" even once, the seed bank population in the ground will last for decades, so the same goes with gardening, it is a constant struggle to try to stem the tide of undesirable plants. I sprayed around my garden only a few months ago and now nearly have a lawn driveway, it just never stops!!

The best way to prevent weed formation in garden beds especially is to MULCH, any kind, stones, bark etc...the weeds will still come and go but you will find them pretty easy to pull out or spray if you don't mind using chemicals.
The most important thing though with the mulch is to make it nice and thick, 20cm no less.

Mulch can also soak up an awful lot of moisture/water and keep silt movement to a minimum if you use bark, so think of it as a big sponge that will hold excess water whilst the rest of the water passing through can seep into the surrounding area and get away.

My soil in winter is not good at soaking water because of the clay base and so I have an aquatic lawn and orchard at times and because the land is quite flat, it simply can't run off so I do lose plants from time to time because they simply drown but thems the breaks ha-ha

I'm no expert but have learnt from simple experience. I live rurally and have a septic system and near the end of the system in winter especially I was getting a small swamp area which I couldn't go near with the mower or risk getting bogged but the grass grew really well, so I planted some Arum lilies, not necessarilly a favourable plant but fantastic for taking up allot of water, often found living in or near any body of water. I mulched heavily and now I can mow right up to the area in the wettest winters like we've had with the La Nina weather pattern over the last few years.

I remove all seed pods with the lilies periodically but having said that I have not had them invade other areas of the farm. It's really all about maintenence and if you're a gardener you will always understand that plants and lawns etc... need to be maintained.