Pam,

You are right! Thanks for jumping in to give John sound advice.

I switched from using the term 'soil' in the first use to reflecting John's
use of 'dirt' simply to emphasize that if his priority is to move forward on
the patio project that it likely won't be much of a rain delay.

I admit that I did make a few quick assumptions to come to my conclusion -
they are probably not entirely accurate. I was assuming that John's patio
and terracing project are his first priority and that the contractor had
already had a massive impact on the soil. Also, when I was picturing the
project I was thinking that the sprinkler heads he'd be working on would be
pretty close to the retaining wall and so he'd be working in the backfill.
Since the backfill was close to the rock wall - I figured it would drain
nicely as you suggest.

Thanks again Pam and hope you're project turns out great John.

Burl

"Pam" wrote in message
...


Burl wrote:

Hey John,

The soil out here in Seattle drains fast so you shouldn't be out of
commision for too long. If it's just dirt I wouldn't worry about getting
out
in it and messing it up - you can always rework it level before you
start
planting.

Burl

Safe and Natural Gardening
http://www.emerysgardenstore.com

Hey Burl!

Since you appear to work for Emery's Gardens (nice nursery, btw) there's a
couple of things you should keep in mind.........first, it's not 'dirt' -
it's
'soil' and second, some Seattle area soils are very heavy and do not drain
well
at all and finally, if you work soil that is saturated with water you can
irreparably damage its structure.

John:

Not sure where you are located in the PNW that received 1.5 inches of rain
this
weekend (nowhere close to that where I live in Shoreline), but you do need
to
allow your soil to dry some before you start messing about with it
trenching for
a sprinkler system. The good news is that construction of the rock walls
should
encourage rapid draining - provided it doesn't continue to rain. You might
want
to consider covering the area with a large plastic tarp to prevent further
water
penetration to this area then wating for some drier weather to finish your
chores. Light rain - the occasional (okay, daily) PNW drizzle - should not
be
much of a problem. It is working with saturated soil that poses
difficulties.

Yesterday was pretty decent here and I managed to get quite a few garden
chores
done, but my soil, which has excellent drainage due to years of amending,
was
still pretty wet and heavy. I was careful to restrict my activities to
what I
could reach from the edges of my planting beds so as not to compress and
damage
the soil structure. Unless we get a good dumping of rain, your soil should
be
workable soon.

pam - gardengal