Trenching Project and Autumn Walk

We live in a low lying area with a large flat backyard.  We are at just about the same water level as the bay waters of Green Bay and into Lake Michigan. We live less than a mile as the crow flies from the bay.  Each spring, during snow melt and run off, as well as spring showers, we happen to get BIG ponds in our backyard!   

The ducks sure enjoy it! 

The backyard fills up with two large areas of standing water.  There are some underground drain pipes on the side of the yard that lead along the fenceline and out to the gutter on the street.  But this backyard ponding does not reach those existing pipes. I can not tell you much this BUGS Steve.  He has 2 pumps and various long hoses to move the massive amounts of water from the center of the yard over to the fenceline. Then it can run out to the road and away into the swamp down the street. 

All springtime long, he is out there pumping and moving hoses, and drains the ponds out. Then it rains and it fills up the same areas all over again.  Argghhhh.... 

The blue sections are where the water ponds up.  The red line is the existing underground drain piping that leads out to the street.  Steve decided to trench and lay new pipes along the yellow lines to get the water to move more easily. So this is "The Plan":

He made arrangements to rent the trenching machine from the local hardware store at $130 for half a day.  It sure made life easier than digging by hand!  

He marked out the paths and figured out the slope to the yard and where to connect to the other drainage pipe. He only ran into a few rocks, and no tree roots or problems.  Look at that soft sandy soil. 

I filmed him working on the yard for a bit, but it really was a "one man job" for the trenching part.  Here is all of the drain pipe that we were going to lay in the trench. Steve found a large used batch from a guy on Facebook Marketplace for a buck a piece!   We only had to buy the connector collars and glue.  Quite a good deal. 

He dug down about 16 inches to get the proper slope to drain the water in the right direction. Because of the nature of sandy soil, regular slotted drain tile would not work because it would fill with sand and silt over time. Solid PVC pipe would move the water more effectively out of the area, and he could even hook up a pump and use pressure to blow the water and lines free if they ever clog up. 

 It was great weather to work on the trenching 

and he was done in just under an hour! 

He cleaned up the machine and loaded it up on the trailer to bring it right back before the rental time was up. Otherwise it would stretch over into the full day rental rate. 

Now... we would get some of the grandkids over to help do the leaning-over-gluing-and-laying-pipe part of the job!  LOL

Donning plastic gloves, the grandkids pitched in to start gluing the pipes. In this area of the yard, Steve laid two narrower pipes for a number of reasons....

First:  he had more of the narrow pipes than the wider ones.  

Second: he can move more water (so he says) 

Third: it was good to have 2 pipes, in case one broke or clogged up. 

Clayton was happy to learn about using primer, then glue, then pushing the pipes together until the sealing process is complete.

Chelsea took her turn gluing pipes too (we promised some folding money to reward them for helping) so she wanted to earn some cash for a school event coming up. Good incentive to learn and earn as the same time. 

Now littlest Claire had to come and see what is going on. She was helping me in the house, but wanted to get out there to see what the big kids were doing with Grandpa. They were about halfway through the project of gluing the pipes. 

That little stinker threw a monkey wrench in the project! That wheelbarrow was setting there, and she just had to figure out how much fun a wheelbarrow can be.  It was pretty large and unwieldy for her.

So she convinced her big brother that he just HAD to wheel it around for her. Pretty soon they were giving rides and goofing off.  What can be more fun than a big ole wheelbarrow? 

So that was the end of our "help" as all the kids were having fun with the wheelbarrow.  The pipes were no longer any fun, and our project was done for the day.  

We called it quits, and instead baked up a couple pizzas and had a little party.  We paid the kids some folding money before bringing them home to complete homework and take baths, as it was a school night. 

The next day, Steve and I finished up the job.  We lightly shoveled the dirt back onto the pipes, leaving a mound along the entire trenched lengths of yard. The ground will settle back down into the trenches over time, we don't want to pack it down too firmly.  Now our backyard project is over.  Back to normal.

We will see next spring now well this idea works, and perhaps Steve doesn't have to keep on hauling out his hoses and pumps any more.  Then our yard can dry out faster, and grow the greener lawn like it is all summer long. 

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Yesterday, the day started out stormy and dark and rainy. I worked inside on my quilt (I will put that in the next blog) and Steve worked on the bedroom door out in the garage (also in the next blog).  

Early in the afternoon, the sun came out, the temps came up into the 50's and it was gorgeous!  So we took a nice walk before the sun went down.  I love the long shadows at this time of day. 

Binney was up to snuff and doing about a half mile walk with us around our big block on the edge of the city.  The leaves were rustling underfoot, and she had a lot of things to sniff. 

Around the corner from us is a beautiful rustic barn. I love the built in trellis on the side of it, and this vine has turned a gorgeous color of red and green and gold. 

This barn is so quaint and picturesque. Behind it is a cute chicken coop (now unused) with rows of windows that face south to keep them warm in the winter.  I know the name of the people who owned it many years ago, and they also grew hay in the back field and boarded horses in this barn. This was when the lands were still in the township, and not yet annexed into the city. I spoke to a man who used to live down the road in the city, and his family kept a horse here to ride as a kid. He thinks of that each time he drives past this barn.  Now all of our 2 1/2 acre plots are city lots, and no more horses are allowed.

We walked down past the barn on the gravel road, enjoying the sunshine and blue sky.  It sure was a nice Autumn day for a walk.

The next neighbors down the way have a huge clump of  this gorgeous Pampas grass. I have been told it's invasive and clogs the wetlands and hampers drainage.  This is one small patch, and I hope it doesn't spread. I do like the look of it though, as I am sure my neighbors do.  

It looks so pretty and soft 

against the blue sky.

After we got around the corner, now we reached the border of the nature preserve that runs along the back side of our property.  It was purchased years ago and turned into a trust on the lands by the Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust organization.  It will never be built on or developed, thus preserving the land, habitat and wildlife.  We are very lucky to have this in our backyard.  Even if the deer eat our trees and plants. 

THIS IS COPIED FROM THEIR WEBSITE:

Location: Oconto County

Area Protected: 148 Acres

The purchase of this property furthers our goals of preserving Green Bay West Shore wetlands, protecting wildlife habitat and impacting water quality. This property is situated uniquely within the City of Oconto’s limits between the high school and the DNR’s Green Bay West Shore Wildlife Area – Oconto Marsh Unit which connects to the Bay of Green Bay. Oconto’s elected officials and NEWLT are excited about promoting local land conservation and providing opportunities for outdoor recreation and education. The preserve will be open to the public to hunt, fish, hike, bird watch, cross-country ski and research the natural environment. NEWLT intends to promote recreation, education and increased connectivity by creating trails and working with the community and school groups. 

The majority of the property is a DNR designated wetland. The eastern portion of the property has been identified as a high priority wetland by the Great Lakes Coastal Wetland Monitoring Program through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and by The Nature Conservancy’s Coastal Wetland and Tributary Decision Support Tool. The wetlands present are rated high or exceptional for water quality, flood abatement, carbon storage and wildlife habitat. There is one large pond and a smaller ephemeral pond.

Two DNR “Legacy Places” apply to the property, The West Shore Green Bay Wetlands and The Oconto River Marsh. Also identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by the DNR, the Green Bay West Shore Wetlands IBA has long been recognized as an important area for migrating waterfowl, shorebirds, and neo-tropical migrants, foraging shorebirds, and breeding rare birds. The DNR’s 928 acre Green Bay West Shore Wildlife Area – Oconto Marsh Unit borders the east side of the property.

We hope you will visit this property and enjoy walking around to view the different habitat types. Bring your boots if you're feeling adventurous for a wetland hike on the eastern portion of the preserve.

THERE IS A LITTLE PARKING AREA

AND A PATH LEADING BACK INTO THE PRESERVE. 

We turned back towards our yard as the sun was setting lower in the sky.  We took deep breaths to hold in the fresh scents of autumn, and hope to save them to remember deep into the snowy winter about what a great day this was. 

Along the backside of our property, Steve has stacked two huge piles of cut buckthorn shrubs. They are also invasive and we have a long row of it along the south border of our acreage.  If he keeps cutting a little more each fall, and spraying the stumps to prevent regrowth, maybe it will all die off. 

The city workers will take note of the piles back here when we come for garbage pickup. They write down the location and in a day or two later, they will come with the city trucks and woodchipper machine to get rid of them. 

Binney frantically took one last sniff, one last snuffle among the leaves and then turned with us to go back into the house.  Our walk was over. 

Now it can snow.