Cool Weather Project #1 - Underway!

This project has two purposes: One purpose is to lower the grade here so the rain water will drain off the sidewalk. The other purpose is to glean the excess top soil to have for the projects I have planned for the fall. I am happy with the results of both so far. When I began to name and organize all the projects I hope to do this fall I got to this one and realized I would be getting all this top soil from here and therefore I needed to do this one first.

I cut up the sod and removed it. Then I loosened the soil 3"-4" deep with the spade. I shoveled out the soil and wheeled it around back by the compost area for processing. I had a good sized pile. There I screened about half of the soil through the medium screen to cull the stones and clods and wheeled the good soil back to the site. I dumped the soil in the excavation, raked it out and tamped it down. When I was satisfied with the grade I put the sod back and watered it. I put two loads of gravel in the area where there is a chunk of side walk missing. I gently raked the soil up to it, and laid the sod over it. The water drained right off when I rinsed the side walk off.

I got about 1/3rd of this part of the project done. I plan to take up in the morning where I left off today . Maybe now that I have a system I will get the remaining 2/3rds done in the time it took for me to do the 1/3rd. I hope this improvement will suffice until the city comes through and repairs the sidewalk so's it will properly drain. Maybe that will happen within five years.