Reclamation 7.0: The Taming of the Sand, a.k.a. The Erosion Control Project

Spring’s lackadaisical arrival on the 45th Parallel can mean only one thing to this girl…the Annual Reclamation Project has begun. After a winter full of extensive research on erosion control, many interrogative casual conversations with a few farming friends, and still more method research, we’ve come up with (another) plan to reclaim the steep, sandy inclines of our property.

Since my posts on domestic pursuits outside of the kitchen have been pretty much non-existent lately, I thought I’d take you guys along for the ride on this one.

The view from the kitchen sink. Blah!

I’m so tired of gazing at a sandy wasteland that is the immediate backyard that I might offer to bake a few dozen pies for a year to the first person that can bring me a splash of color back there!

sand + steep inclines = eroded wasteland = BLECH!

After years of throwing plants on the hills and hoping that they’ll take and offer some sort of root structure to prevent the mudslides that occur with each passing rain shower, we are no better off than we were seven years ago. The few plants that do take to the sand are subsequently eaten by the voracious deer. Jerks.

This year we are taking a new approach–one which puts erosion control first, and pretty plantings…well, any pretty plantings that survive will be an unexpected bonus.

The Erosion Control Project will proceed as follows:

1. Remove all unwanted trees. (Read: playing with chainsaws.)
2. Procure erosion control netting.
3. Gather enough black dirt and wood chips for the project.
4. Source plantings that excel is shady, sandy soil and have deep, spreading root systems.
5. Remove all unwanted vegetation from the eroding areas.
6. Shape and level the hillsides to stem further erosion. (Read: lots of shoveling required.)
7. Mix the existing sand with nutrient rich black dirt. (Read: more shoveling, and lots of raking.)
8. Plant large shrubs in strategic locations for soil retention.
9. Lay the erosion control netting over the black dirt, cutting X’s around large shrubs. Secure netting with staples.
10. Blanket the netting with wood chips. (Read: still more shoveling and raking.)
11. Pray that this time our efforts work to stop the erosion.
12. Plant more delicate plants and ground cover.
13. Water everything consistently.
14. Pray that the pretty plants live.
15. Continue praying that the plants live.

We had dozens of sucker trees that needed to be removed from the hillside. Thankfully, my dad has a beast of a chainsaw, so he & Bacon Slayer got to play Paul Bunyan in the woods one weekend. Some of our trees were too big to safely take down ourselves. We had a service come in to take down a towering red pine in the front yard. The pine was toward the end of its life cycle, and had developed the nasty habit of leaning toward the house.

Now I always say that all are welcome in our house, but I draw the line at a 100 ft. pine crashing in our bedrooms.

It was a big’un!

The inclined pine and a few of his sucker tree neighbors were kind enough to provide us with enough fresh mulch to bury a Volkswagon–12 yards worth–courtesy of one monster-huge wood chipper. Not pictured is the 4 yards of screened topsoil that looks downright tiny next to that pile o’ chips.

Fear not! We didn’t waste the whole of that big ol’ tree on wood chips. The nice, straight logs were carted off to become future furniture or lumber supplies.

Many, many, many packages of erosion control netting and steel staples have been purchased. When in doubt, go with what works for the Department of Transportation. I figure if they can find away to grow lilies on steep freeway embankments, then surely I can grow a shrub or two on my sand dunes in the name of soil retention.

We lose close to 15% of the earth on that hill each year to erosion. The Plan is to shape the hills and level off the problem areas that are the source of the most erosion. It may not look like much in the collage, but the biggest hill inclines at around a 75 degree angle, is about 70 feet wide, and 30 feet tall at the highest point. We’re hoping to knock it down to about a 65 degree angle on the steepest parts, with the hope of stemming the incessant mudslides.

We’ve begun to remove all of the Volunteer Vegetation that has accumulated on the hills: grasses, weeds, and sucker trees. The intention plantings will stay or be transplanted elsewhere.

Believe me when I tell you that scaling a hill comprised of loose sand is taxing enough without trying to muscle hundreds of sucker trees out of the earth in the process. Best Ab Workout ever.

I kind of adapted the Polar Bear on Thin Ice Approach to weeding the hills: I planted my feet in a wide stance, spread my body mass as wide as possible so as to distribute the weight, prayed that I didn’t fall, and yanked roots with all my might before tossing them down below.

The whole process kind of like a cross between rock climbing and gardening on quicksand.

I apologize for not having photos of me scaling the sand. Son #1 did giggle and offer to take a few snaps, but I grounded him to the house until I was finished.

So here’s how The Erosion Control Project stands, thus far:

1. Remove all unwanted trees. (Read: playing with chainsaws.)
2. Procure erosion control netting.
3. Gather enough black dirt and wood chips for the project. 
4. Source plantings that excel is shady, sandy soil and have deep, spreading root systems.
5. Remove all unwanted vegetation from the eroding areas. Mostly done.
6. Shape and level the hillsides to stem further erosion. (Read: lots of shoveling required.)
7. Mix the existing sand with nutrient rich black dirt. (Read: more shoveling, and lots of raking.)
8. Plant large shrubs in strategic locations for soil retention.
9. Lay the erosion control netting over the black dirt, cutting X’s around large shrubs. Secure netting with staples.
10. Blanket the netting with wood chips. (Read: still more shoveling and raking.)
11. Pray that this time our efforts work to stop the erosion.
12. Plant more delicate plants and ground cover.
13. Water everything consistently.
14. Pray that the pretty plants live.
15. Continue praying that the plants live.

I still have a bit more weeding to do before the fun part–the plant nursery! I’m going to visit my favorite nursery today to pick up a tree, and a lot of other cool stuff. I can’t wait to show you what I find.

The wheelbarrows and shovels come out this weekend!