I finally started on my marsh. It's right where our sump pump outlet drains into the easement and to the ditch. It was a perfect place for soggy messiness, since it was going in that direction anyway. I used a hoe and pickaxe to hollow out the ground around the drain (the white pipe on the left) and made it more shallow as it went on. The cattails are on a small rise made out of the muck I dug out, but it's "feet" are still wet there. The far end of the marsh drains into a small ditch, with a bit of a dam that is easily breached if we get alot of rain, and then the water emerges clean and pure out the other side. Later I will add some more water-loving plants to slow the water down a bit more and add another small drain around the dam if needed.
I'm so glad I finally did it...I've been driving everyone buggy with my plans for
"my marsh, my marsh".
7 comments:
Julia:
That's just muddy, clayey water.
Hopefully the water will clear up and the frogs will soon frolic!
Cool! What else are you going to plant?
Interesting idea, using sump pump output for a water feature! How far into the summer do you still get water? Did you line the bottom of your marsh with plastic?
Laura:
I think blue flag, joe pye weed, I haven't made a real list yet...any suggestions?
Mojoman:
I didn't line the marsh. We have the most incredibly awful clay here, and it holds water very well. And I want the water to slowly drain, not stay there.
The marsh will have water coming into it everytime it rains. The sump pump draws the water out from around the house's foundation and up a pipe and out to this drain. I got the beginnings of this idea from the National Wildlife Federation book about attracting wildlife to your yard. (The name of it escapes me at the moment)
I love Joe Pye - it's gorgeous! Be prepared though - it grows big. How about Swamp Milkweed (asclepias incarnata) - it will reseed and spread all around your wet meadow/marsh?
Ooohh, the Swamp milkweed sounds neat. I want to have a mostly hands-off style once I get it established, so something that will spread itself around sounds good to me. Thanks!
And, JEEZ. You know the latin names for plants? You smart thing, you.
Bwaa hahaha! I looked it up - I'm a master gardener, after all!
Blue flag iris would be nice, too. Good idea.
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