Chelle do you have this on video? I am not really sure of what I am looking at., but this sure sound good! All this rotten wood and logs on the streets waiting for the City to come pick would be ideal I think. My back yard has huge tree roots (actually logs)running through it. from the trees that was cut down. I was thinking it might have some usefulness for this project. I want Patti to see this, she loves projects.

THANKS
SYLVIA

I have not taken the video production leap yet, Sylvia. One of the biggest reasons being that our high-speed internet isn't very reliable; some days videos work well, but it's still hit-or-miss at this point in time.

One way to see how this idea can be implemented in your gardens is to watch your water flow. Lay your open-ended hose on your chosen site, directly uphill of the desired planting area and see how fast and in which direction(s) the water flows away. The main thing here is to slow the runoff so that new plants get as much of each watering as possible -before your trees can leach it away. Experience in gauging heights and placements of retaining "walls" will soon come to you.

1) Watch water flow in the new area and then turn off the water.
2) Build a pocket
3) Turn the hose back on and watch to see how fast your pocket fills, and most importantly, how slowly it drains.
4) Adjust or fill accordingly.

Note- You won't want to pre-soak the area like this when planting an actual plant, but for learning purposes in a trial-run the hose works great!

Chelle it was most presumptuous of me to ask if you had it on video, but I just got anxious. lol
..What kind of soil should you have to begin with? I got this Texas dry soil, you are not talking about a bog area, are you?
thanks

citysylvia said:
..What kind of soil should you have to begin with? I got this Texas dry soil...

Will your soil stick together when wet? If so, you're good to go. If not, try slowing the water flow by lining the inside of your planting hole with a few torn up pieces of cardboard first. The cardboard will last long enough to get your plant established, but will eventually decompose and disappear. Using as much compost as possible will also help with dry soil issues.

citysylvia said:
... you are not talking about a bog area, are you?

Nope... at least not on this thread.

... CHELLE you just created monster!l You are my new best friend! lol I talked to PBTXLADY and she explained to me what you are really doing. I

thinking of what I could do with all the wood and logs laying around. I was thinking how I could distribute those logs in my garden to make a

statement. of some sort..

I was thinking about doing that German thing I saw on DG, but I don't have a man or a plow! lol

Patty is coming over to see if I have slopes, I don't think so but I have a huge excavation where I panted a tree.

I am going to take a puncture where that huge log is in the ground, its not really log its a tree root! Maybe you can tell me what I can do there?.

Thanks Sylvia

Is it a spot where a tree has been removed but they didn't take out the roots?

I think they tried to remove the roots because it was sinkhole there and I planted a st Luke's Plum tree..Behind the fence there is a huge tree and the roots are breaking up the carport, uprooting the fence.. two years ago, they had to redo the pluming because roots were coming through the lines. When I moved here six years ago I could not wait to get my Hostas in the ground. I had a guy come out and till the soil with all kind of amendments He had a hard time getting through it all and threaten me with buying him a new tiller! lol One man actually sawed some into smaller pieces to get of it out.. He was a young man, determined! lol
One thing that going crazy is my Acanthus (Bears Britches) and I see a stalk of blooms in the middle. Hopefully it don't get too hot or it wont bloom again.. I bought a variegated one too, but its still tiny.. Two years ago I had another hip surgery and with that I got I think they tried to remove the roots because it was sinkhole there and I planted a st Luke's Plum tree..Behind the fence there is a huge tree and the roots are breaking up the carport, uprooting the fence.. two years ago, they had to redo the pluming because roots were coming through the lines. When I moved here six years ago I could not wait to get my Hostas in the ground. I had a guy come out and till the soil with all kind of amendments He had a hard time getting through it all and threaten me with buying him a new tiller! lol One man actually sawed some into smaller pieces to get of it out.
I am just now getting back into my garden, I had a hip replacement about two years ago. I came home with vertigo so bad I kept falling . They sent back to the hospital and from there to rehab! It was awful, I didn't dare go in my garden for fear of falling. I was so surprised at my self when I went to Lowes and bought all those markdown plants, I thought I would get some one to do it for me. first I potted them up, then I read the labels, they needed to be in the sun.. I got my shovel and it was on! My neighbors said shouldn't you be out there doing all that., she sat on the porch and watched me.lol Once she had to get someone to go get me out back, I had gone out there to cut on the faucet, I don't know what happen, thank God for that tree, I was trying to pull myself up
Oh my goodness! I know you are bored i I am going to stop now.

If you take it slow and easy you can do log planting arrangements without man or plow. Just keep in mind that you don't want to add too much fill over a living tree's root zone. When planting over those, just a bit of fill around the roots of your perennial is what you want.

Larger log arrangements are possible in open areas outside of any living trees' root zones (drip lines). Here's an example of a large arrangement, along with pictures to show how it was made. The thread "New addition to an existing bed" in Permaculture forum

Carrying logs can definitely throw your center of balance off, however, so please be careful!