Our new place has is a pretty large block with lots of space for gardens and vegetable growing... now that we are in the Southern Hemisphere, this is currently the winter season. That means that it is the perfect time to start to get things planned, cleared, and prepared for the Spring season when we are hoping to have our first crop of veggies and stuff planted. Our first attempt for the new place!

Anyway, part of the appeal of this block of land was the fact that it had lots of trees... however, with lots of trees and old stormwater/sewer piping comes the problem that the tree roots start growing into the piping and clogging them completely. Half the house is currently not draining properly from rainfall (thankfully, the sewer is no problem!!!... Yet...), and we have a bit of a delay on the plumber coming in to lay down new piping... however, the plan is that before the end of the month, they will be done... and then we can progress onwards and start designing the garden and veggie beds, a play area, and shed. Possibly even a little detached music studio?

But first things first... at the moment, I've hacked together a few "solutions" to keep the water from going under and sitting under the house. Basically, it is just making sure that as much of the water is flowing around and down the slope as possible.

So, you see the drainpipe on this side going straight down the slope... its messy and soggy, but a lot better than just going straight under the house!

Around the side... you have the two pits that the plumber had dug to try and diagnose the problem of stormwater/rainwater not draining properly. That was the initial exploration... and the result was that there was a large root IN the pipes, and the whole thing was clogged with dirt as well. Thankfully they were able to clear some of the problem... which means that the water from the sump at the back does manage to drain to the first pit (the little one at the back of the photo)... and the little one does manage to drain to the second larger pit in the foreground... and from there, well... it is screwed.

...so, essentially this part of the pipe underground seems to drain fine... but the ground does get quite wet, so I'm not sure how good that drainage is, plus there is a good deal of water flowing down from the slope as well.

In the back area, this will be eventually drained by an underground drainage system... but for the moment, a lot of water collects here.

In the coming days, I have to remove the paving anyway to help make room for the excavator to do its work for the plumber... and I figured I might just try a drainage hack job to try and get some of the water flowing towards the sump... which would eventually get to the two side pits.

... and then to drain the last larger pit, I dug a little trench out so that the water could be incentivised to flow out and down the hill to the street and the large front garden area. After the last few days of rainfall.. it looks like the hack job does work. The house is still standing, the water is flowing down and around the house and the areas around the house are nice and dry.

So... everything is temporarily fixed and awaiting the finishing touches from the plumber who will excavate a trench for the new stormwater and sewer lines. Properly lined with gravel and PVC, he reckons that it will be tree proof for at least the rest of our lives! I hope so... because this was an unwelcome surprise which has put our garden plans on hold.

However, as soon as this is done... we will start to kick off full swing into planning and planting the garden. We have removed some trees and lots of shrubs... I have plans for a rosemary and lavender patch at the entrance... and the kids want a little secret garden patch for themselves... and there is now a large cleared sunny space at the back ready for lots and lots of raised veggie garden beds... a shed, and perhaps a little greenhouse!

... so, a few weeks, and I hope to start sharing some real progress on the blank slate that is our current garden!

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