Gardening on the Moon ( GOTM )

Written by Jeff

THE PLAN IMPLEMENTATION

Selecting the Resources

Now that the plan was formulated, we needed to put it into effect. The first thing that was necessary to do was to visit the rock yards to determine what kind of rip rap we were going to purchase. We used Madison Gold rip rap ( a very popular choice) in other areas of the yard, but we were looking for something a bit different and more ruddy for the riverbed. After visiting our two favorite hardscape outlets, we picked a reddish-brown variety and purchased six tons. There is a lot of waste with rip rap and we wanted to be sure to have enough.

Placing Boulders with Mechanical Arm

Next, we chose the boulders. We found the process very interesting indeed. We walked around with duct tape and indelible magic marker. When we found a boulder we wanted, we wrote our last name on the tape along with a number in a sequence of ascending numbers. We purchased boulders 1 through 13 and arranged for delivery. As we selected boulders we kept in mind what they would look like as a group and how they might fit together; realize that there is always some play when doing this kind of work. It was important for us to select boulders that would leave as little space between them as possible once they were placed. This eliminated many with jagged ends or those that were too round. They also had to lie flat on the ground to keep as much water from going through them as possible. After forty-five minutes, we had selected all of the boulders and made arrangements to have them delivered.

Delivery of the boulders

The morning the boulders came was an eye opener for us because we had no idea what to expect. We were told that there would be some ability to place the boulders in a pattern so we were interested to see what that meant in actuality. We could have paid extra for more specific placement, but if that was necessary, I would figure out how to do the grunt work myself.

The truck arrived with a robotic arm with claw mounted on the back. The driver had what looked like a sophisticated multi-levered joystick. He used this to pick up each boulder, work around the trees and place the boulders more-or-less where we wanted them. The driver also served as an “advisor” to help us determine which boulders would go next to each other and whether our placement and/or design made sense. This process of unloading and placing the largest boulders took approximately an hour and fifteen minutes.

Boulders Forming the Arc

We would place the five smaller boulders manually in the riverbed when we were ready.

Shape of Things to Come

Now that the boulders were placed and secured, it was time to have the rip rap delivered. We selected a nice medium brown color so it would blend well with the surrounding desert sand and look natural. The implementation called for a natural looking, dry riverbed.

The area where the structure was to be placed was already nicely contoured in a v-shaped depression like a valley. This is ideal. We wanted to direct the flow of whatever water did enter the dry riverbed and this is the stage of the project to form the contour of the land, the dry riverbed which would guide the eventual flow. With just a modest amount of sculpting, the raw bed was ready for the next step; the weed barrier.

Final Placement of Boulders

Mary with Newly Placed Boulders

To be continued soon with a final installment.

Read Part I of the series – Control Flooding in the Desert – Part I

Read Part III of the Series – Control Flooding in the Desert – Part III

Gardening on the Moon, www.gardeningonthemoon.com, originally published this post