One of the big pluses about our new house is that we have Grand River front property. Not only will this come into play down the road for re-sale value, but we're really excited to use this area for a kayak launch and then a fire pit/gathering area. However, the area down by the river is very wet and it was completely overgrown. One of our neighbors informed us that the previous two owners of our house tried to tame this area and both gave up. But, put a seemingly impossible challenge like this in front of my husband and it's game on!
The first thing we did was figure out why it was so wet in some areas. We discovered that there's natural springs in numerous places, which is very cool, but tricky to work with. Nick's toying with the idea of building a ram pump down the road, but for now he's identifying where the water is flowing and then digging trenches and putting in drain tile. This is a very labor intensive project and little by little things are being set up.
Along with that we've been clearing the area-removing brush and cutting down trees. Nick's also started to install steps using concrete blocks, to make it easier to walk down to the river while carrying kayaks.
This is a huge project but once it's complete we'll have a fantastic area on the river for kayaking, fishing and then hanging out by the fire!
The first thing we did was figure out why it was so wet in some areas. We discovered that there's natural springs in numerous places, which is very cool, but tricky to work with. Nick's toying with the idea of building a ram pump down the road, but for now he's identifying where the water is flowing and then digging trenches and putting in drain tile. This is a very labor intensive project and little by little things are being set up.
Along with that we've been clearing the area-removing brush and cutting down trees. Nick's also started to install steps using concrete blocks, to make it easier to walk down to the river while carrying kayaks.
This is a huge project but once it's complete we'll have a fantastic area on the river for kayaking, fishing and then hanging out by the fire!
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| we found a crayfish in one of the springs! |