The Pits

We planned to make a dry creek bed with infiltration pits that would help the runoff perk back into groundwater.  We had the bobcat dig out the beginning of the infiltration pits, but Rob got too busy on his hiatus to finish them.

You can see in the shot, taken after the rain, the general path the runoff will take once the creek and the pits are done.  (You can also see some poppies Rob transplanted from the front yard to the backyard and, to the far right, a rather large "twig" that is actually a Nevada Cottonwood tree.)

Unfortunately, the unfinished pits became a watering hole for some large critters -- like the coyote that left these prints!  We were able to figure out where they were getting through the fence and block it, though.

On the Level

Been traveling a lot for work and haven't had time to post.  Looking at all the photos, there's been A LOT of progress, so now that I'm home, I'll start getting you caught up.

We had a bobcat come in back in December to regrade the back yard.  We added a hill in the middle and did the initial work for the dry creek bed and infiltration pits we want to put in.

It looks like a big pile of mud here, but over the next few days, you'll see how pretty we've made it.

Retaining a Mess

For about a minute after the bobcat dug out the basement, our backyard was a flat, smooth dirt landscape -- a perfect litter box for all the neighborhood cats.

Now they've begun work on the retaining wall and the yard is a junk pile of miscellaneous construction supplies and demolition debris, including the remnants of plant overgrowth that seems to invade every backyard on our block because no one does any actual gardening. They just "grow" crappy little sheds that pop up like mushrooms over night.

We want to take out the existing fence, and top the retaining wall with pickets to match the front, but we want our neighbor to sign off that the existing chain link fence is ours. He's quick to say it's on our property, but not so quick to put that in writing. Fingers crossed that gets worked out soon!