loose dirt
 

Good morning all.
We just cut in a new (steep)embankment so it's pure mud. Just
yesterday we planted pachysandra (thanks Fern Valley!) to help
with the erosion that is inevitable. Now I'm wondering about the
impending rain. Any ideas of what can be done to keep the soil
in place over the next week of storms? Seems like if we put down
burlap or other material the soil will move underneath it. Would
newspaper or paper mulch help? Any ideas appreciated!
Raleighgirl

How about rocks?

Yesterday, I extended a small dry creek bed that I built to catch rain run
off. It was about 30 feet long and I added 10 feet to it. I used some
leftover rip rap rocks that I had from when I lined the original creek a few
years ago. However, I did not have enough - so I have been looking around to
pick up a few dozen pieces of rock before the storm comes in. Well, this
morning, when picking up the Sunday paper at the end of the driveway, I
talked with my neighbor for a while. Whe I asked him about rocks, he pointed
to those that were piled up on either side of my driveway!. So, I do not
have to go far to 'borrow' a few rocks.

As for your concern of erosion, I am thinking that that maybe you could
apply the same idea. I know in the culvert/driveway situation, the rocks are
used specifically to slow down the water so that it does not pick up dirt
and take it away. If you have sprigs of pachysandra distributed, you might
want to lay in rocks all around the plantings. I don't think the plants will
suffer any from rocks covering the soil. Then when the plants start to gain
strength, you could remove a few rocks at a time - allowing the pachysandra
to spread. But keeping erosion control by balancing the number of rocks and
plants - until it is all plants. Then you can reuse the rocks some where
else. Choose your rock size depending on how far apart you have planted the
pachysandra.

Just an idea - let me know how you make out.
Robert
"Raleighgirl" wrote in message
om...
Good morning all.
We just cut in a new (steep)embankment so it's pure mud. Just
yesterday we planted pachysandra (thanks Fern Valley!) to help
with the erosion that is inevitable. Now I'm wondering about the
impending rain. Any ideas of what can be done to keep the soil
in place over the next week of storms? Seems like if we put down
burlap or other material the soil will move underneath it. Would
newspaper or paper mulch help? Any ideas appreciated!
Raleighgirl

On 2005-08-28, Raleighgirl wrote:
Good morning all.
We just cut in a new (steep)embankment so it's pure mud. Just
yesterday we planted pachysandra (thanks Fern Valley!) to help
with the erosion that is inevitable. Now I'm wondering about the
impending rain. Any ideas of what can be done to keep the soil
in place over the next week of storms? Seems like if we put down
burlap or other material the soil will move underneath it. Would
newspaper or paper mulch help? Any ideas appreciated!
Raleighgirl



You did not say if the top of the embankment is the highest point or
not. If it is then tarps would work if you have enough stuff to weight
them down to prevent the wind from lifting.

If there is higher ground above the cut soil then you will need to
divert the water coming from futther up hill around the embankment so it
will not run under the tarp. Dig a trench or put landscape timbers
down, flip the tarp so it hands over the timber and then weight with
more timbers or dirt.

Good luck.

--
Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please.

is a garbage address.

wrote in message
. ..
| On 2005-08-28, Raleighgirl wrote:
| Good morning all.
| We just cut in a new (steep)embankment so it's pure mud.
Just
| yesterday we planted pachysandra (thanks Fern Valley!) to
help
| with the erosion that is inevitable. Now I'm wondering about
the
| impending rain. Any ideas of what can be done to keep the
soil
| in place over the next week of storms? Seems like if we put
down
| burlap or other material the soil will move underneath it.
Would
| newspaper or paper mulch help? Any ideas appreciated!
| Raleighgirl
|
|
|
| You did not say if the top of the embankment is the highest
point or
| not. If it is then tarps would work if you have enough stuff
to weight
| them down to prevent the wind from lifting.
|
| If there is higher ground above the cut soil then you will need
to
| divert the water coming from futther up hill around the
embankment so it
| will not run under the tarp. Dig a trench or put landscape
timbers
| down, flip the tarp so it hands over the timber and then weight
with
| more timbers or dirt.
|
| Good luck.
|
| --
| Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me
please.

Thanks for the ideas everybody! There's a retaining wall at the
top, then a 3' wide flat spot ("all the better for your flowers
dear") then a very steep, short (5') hill then another flat spot
next to the porch. We connected plastic to the retaining wall
and covered the flat part then put down paper mulch on the hill.
I like the rock idea + someone else suggested timbers and boards
vertically on the hill. Since I've used every rock on the
property for landscaping, I may have to really search to find
more. 8o) Will let you know how things work once the deluge
begins. Grow pachysandra, grow!
Raleighgirl