My last post predicted I'd be working on creek beds this past weekend, but 5 a.m. on Saturday didn't seem the best time to be shoveling rocks into a metal wheelbarrow. I decided to work on stabilizing an area affected by runoff from the tropical storm's heavy rain that I'd just planted in. That's the area surrounded in red in my image. 

Rain from rear roof falls on the back concrete slab, most of which then runs west down the slope, headed for the left, rear corner of the lot. Green shows the gullies of erosion that occur after a heavy rainfall. This is the area I decided to tackle.

I started by digging a giant bag full of tiny native island grasses that have sprouted, getting them now before their foot-long roots are too established. Next steps included wheelbarrows of sand either flung by shovel or carried by the bucketful into the washed-out gullies. Most of the sand arrived magically, courtesy of the husband who foolishly woke early and came downstairs to see what I was doing.

Noticing the particularly obnoxious erosion gully near the right side of the auxiliary parking space off the driveway, I switched gears and focus. We'd decided to create a gravel path alongside that parking space to not only widen it for loading/unloading, but also as one of the primary entrances into the garden. This became a good time to do it. Over several hours remaining in the morning, I dug out a few inches of sand, moved it into the bed to its right to plump it higher and less attractive to rain water, and covered the path-to-be with weed cloth. The husband shoveled and wheelbarrowed three piles of rocks from across the street before he decided to save his back, so I moved that in to hold the cloth intact against the wind. Outsmarting weed cloth in 20 mph winds is a trick-learning game of wits versus mother nature's sense of humor.

The hope for this path/creek is rainwater will choose the lower level beneath the rocks and avoid the bed nearby. I have a small supply of large, blocky rocks I can put against the sidewalk to help with encouraging the flow that way, if needed. Will this work or will it be a typical corp of engineering project with unintended consequences?

My back was tired and the head hot, so I abandoned the rest of the rock-hauling for another time, and again focus-switched to what I thought would be a less painful task, applying hay to the bed. The process is to fill a very large bucket with hay and cover with water (which is supposed to make the hay too heavy for the wind to play with), and then spread it over the newly de-gullied slope. By rubbing the dripping hay into the sand, they intermingle and form a stable sort of paper-mache surface that does fairly well with all but big rains. It can take multiple wettings, stepping ons, and foot wiggling to get the desired result of cohesion.

Compare to the June 20 photo... This is the finished section with hay mulch added to the bed and the new river rock entry  It doesn't look that different, but represents hours of hard labor over several days.

Later that day... I did an inspection of the recently-planted plants to see how they like their sand. I was disappointed to say they do NOT. Almost every one of them has lost most of its leaves. Those that remain are fully or partially edged in brown. Many have tiny new leaves coming out on lower stems, and some are blooming despite their leaf drop, but quite a few look like they've been suddenly poisoned. Hmmm. Choking on salt, I assume. Plus, they've obviously been much too stressed for much too long in their neglected little rootbound pots to stand yet another stressful new adventure. Then off with their heads, I say. I'm turning it over to their brave hearts and roots to figure out how to live.  We'll just give them time and keep planting the others with optimism.