Update on the Waterline Dig Ups and Gardens

You may remember when I initially posted about the waterline installation along my road? If not do look at the post found here because the before pictures of these two angles in front of my home are found there. The changes are quite amazing-even to me and I'm the gardener!

Both sides of the road were torn up and a four foot ditch was dug into the hill and along the road in order to install a new water pipe. You can see in the two pictures exactly where the water pipe is located because the asphalt on the driveway is a different color.

The first picture shows the left side of my driveway when looking at the house. I am most happy with this little garden. Growing in it are: 'Powis Castle' artemesia, several yuccas, prickly pears, a few lavenders, and brown eyes. I smoothed out the ditch after the workers left and stacked some rocks alongside the bank. I actually gained about a foot of real estate once the ditch was smoothed back over. This is a flat area where I could not resist putting in a little garden. In order to stabilize the small hill lining the ditch on this side of the driveway I planted the 'Powis Castle' cuttings all along the bank. I think they make a great border and they have loved the location more than I imagined. This garden is a low maintenance easy going simple kind of garden since it is alongside a busy highway. I do not tend it much at all.
The right side of the driveway fared much better than the left in the major renovation. Other than having to move the prickly pears and the Angelina sedum it suffered little damage since the workers cut into the hill half way down it instead of into the garden. The grass has quickly filled in along side the bank and the sedum and prickly pears are looking great too! I did plant a few more brown eyes on this side and seeded the bank a bit. The hay is a result of the workers trying to fix everyone's front yards once they finally finished their work. I have added some 'Powis Castle' cuttings on this side too. Once they fill out they'll shine and highlight the driveway in a nice way.

So, all's well that ends well....

in the garden....

Installing a New Water Line In the Garden

Uh oh, what can that be creeping along the road in front of Tiger Gardens? Let's take a closer look.

It's a big red 'digger' (I think a backhoe) that is making a big mess along side the road. Oh yes, now I remember. It's slowly coming back to me. Back in September residents of Lylewood Road were informed that a new waterline would be installed on the west side of Lylewood Road (my side). The work was to take approximately three months to complete and 'residents were to be patient of the work and the dirt in their yards'. This dirt went into the road-see it above? No dirt in my yard! Just soil:) We are now going on six months of construction, but the end is in sight, at least for my part of the road.

Here is a picture of what the 'right of way' in front of Tiger Gardens looked like prior to the digging.

Now take a look. All in all, the guys have done a super good job on not disturbing my plantings too much. I appreciate that very much. In Tennessee the 'presumptive' right of way along all state highways is 25' from the center line. This is simply a general rule of thumb when we hear 'presumptive'. To find out the actual right of way distance along state highways, one must travel to the State Capitol Building and pull up road plans. No thanks, I think I'll accept the 'presumptive' right of way. As such, I surely knew I had planted a few things in the right of way. I would hope everyone does as long as the plantings do not interfere with road safety and maintenance I think it is a good thing. I also knew I had to be prepared to move the plants or lose them should maintenance be required in the area. Fair enough, I was prepared, and it is okay.

Now had I been informed the new waterline would be installed inside of the right of way on my property, that may have been a totally different matter. I've worked pretty hard to establish plantings on my property and would not have been too thrilled about losing them in the name of progress. Many folks have been affected by this new waterline. The good thing is that plants recover, hills can be rebuilt, and within one season no one will even know construction has gone through this area. Now my poor prickly pears above might remember, but in time they'll heal. As will the few yuccas I had to move as well. You can read their story if you click on the link. These prickly pears still haven't fully recovered from being run over by an errant car in December 2007. The concrete driveway needs some repairs, much to the chagrin of the general contractor. He tried real hard to spare it but that big backhoe managed to break through nonetheless.

Looking to the south of my driveway-here they come! Moving pretty fast too on a nice Monday morning.

The ditch was a neat as a pin and much smaller than I expected. The ditch was about 4 feet deep and 2 feet wide. Chip, the big red digger driver, neatly stacked the soil on the side of the road. The problem and the mess comes in when all the dirt has to be put back into the ditch. So much dirt! These two gentlemen were actually installing the large white plastic pipe, gluing the sections together and installing a finder wire. This wire itself is pretty neat. It is a long wire that emits some kind of frequency so that in the event more digging is needed in this area (let's hope not!) they can easily find the exact location of the water pipe when they walk along the area with a receiver to pick up the signal.

Additionally, once the pipe was covered a bit, there was another metallic tape installed over the pipe. This tape quite clearly said, "Warning! Water Pipe below!" Another safety measure to ensure the water pipe is not accidentally dug up.

I don't know about you, but I am relieved the job is fairly done in front of my home. The asphalt they had to cut will be repaved sometime next month (we hope). They also assure me that they will reseed the area with rye and fescue. But, by the time they get back by my house, I hope to have grass already growing. Time to get to work smoothing this red clay, stones, concrete, asphalt, and dirt back in place and replanting the prickly pears....

in the garden....