Let's Go Swaling!

Yesterday I spent another three hours tossing chunks of rock and broken concrete driveway out of the swale that carries storm water from this part of the neighborhood, through my yard, down to Hidden Lake.  I figure I have about ten more three-hour sessions ahead of me until I've removed all the rubble, or enough of it, to start over and place small rocks in there to hold down further erosion.

We had a brief, heavy rain this morning, so I was able to assess our progress and get some pictures to remind me of what I still need to work on.

I see that the channel I've made down the left side is doing its job.  However, there is still too much rubble in the channel.  A large obstruction about halfway down the picture forces water to the right, out of the channel, and onto the back yard.

That's the major problem that prompted this weight-lifting project.  You can see the excess water flower down a low spot in the lawn, following the line of the rubble.

In the next picture, you'll see how the escaping water, about where the little red flag is in the ground on the right side of the picture, flows across the areas we want to develop for vegetables and flowers.

You may also have noticed the bright orange cord across the swale near the bottom of the picture.  That is apparently a cable from Charter, to which we don't subscribe.  It's only in the lawn an inch or two deep.  I don't know why it needs to run across the swale, but I think it's a candidate for being cut and disposed of.

Here's the way the excess water gets into the planting area:

The two four-foot wide strips closest to me are Kathy's vegetable beds.  The distant beds are part of a design for mixed perennials.  The daylilies will adore all this water, but I want no flooding in the yard!

Here's a look at the grand scheme of things for the back and right side.  In the distance is the zone for seedling production and evaluation.

We're had twice the usual rainfall this month, so rototilling those areas is in the distant future, I'm afraid.