Scott Hanna

Thanks, JD and everyone. I did not know about inflection points till you mentioned them and I looked them up today. I did notice previously that there was evidence of local flooding near several areas of the stream. After finding out more on inflection points, it makes a lot of sense as to why these areas had recent flood deposits. I also rented a laser level so when I pick that up, I will be able to find contours and map out where to plant things. Reading a ton about swales on here and elsewhere, I am less enthusiastic about doing them but perhaps we can do one or two. Due to the high water table and saturated soil conditions through winter into spring, making long mounds (maybe on or close to contour) will certainly help plants survive that are not fans of soaked feet. When I get some time, I'll have to do a sketchup of my plans and show them here so its easier to understand. Thanks guys!

I also have another question, would it be better to have swales/mounds that are perpendicular to the potential flood waters or parallel to them? On the soils map, you can see that the left of the photo is west (in the direction the stream flows) and obviously the east side is on the right of the photo. Any ideas on this? I get mixed advice from JMF in his garden approach, and Ben Falk's designs.

Tyler- I have not heard of Shawn so I will definitely look into him! Thank you also for reminding me of all the great things Ben has done on wet land. I couldn't agree more with the raised bed/chinampa system. With this amount of water, this would be the only way to try to incorporate fruit trees and chestnuts. Next week when I am on site, I would like to begin finding the contour in order to mark out where to mound the soil up for raised beds.

Eric and Phil- Thank you! It was over a year in searching for the right place to put down roots. Appreciate your kind words :)

I also wanted to share a visual of the USGS soil map. The 14 area is the cobble loam and floods potentially on an annual basis ( I just do not know the frequency since I recently bought the property). 17 is the Ernest silt loam. The other map is from the county website indicating the potential FEMA map flood zone. I will be taking steps to protect plantings and future tiny house buildings by lifting them off the ground several feet. At this time, I have no idea how deep a catastrophic flood like this would be but its good to be safe than sorry. From what I can gather, its not so much the flood waters that are life-threatening, its the velocity of them with carrying debris and so on. Do you find this true or no? I want to be planting thick, deep-rooted trees from the stream outward to the field to help calm the water in case it floods at this level.

Hello Designers!

Most of the time when it comes to mainstream permaculture design, the land is water starved, hilly, and has a plethora of problems to work around. While no place is ideal, I found a nice property that fits my goals, was within my budget, has great access, great neighbors, and abundant water...maybe too much water at times? This is why I am reaching out to see if anyone has experience/advice they would like to share with me concerning transforming worn out flat farmland (that potentially floods), into an abundant system for my family as well as the community. My goal is to steward this property by working within it’s characteristics/natural tendencies and shying away from what it is not so great at. Fruit/nut trees, perennial root crops, pond creation and more are all goals I would like to make a reality.  

Overview: 11 acre property located in the Ridge and Valley province region of Virginia near Roanoke. The area is fairly flat (for the mountains), is bordered by a nice size stream on the north side and has easy access from a small one-lane road to the West. Water appears to be a huge blessing here as the stream provides abundant water year round and comes from forested mountains surrounding the land. On the flipside, the fragipan subsoil makes it impossible for water to infiltrate more than 1-5 feet below the surface (varies throughout the property). This creates a challenge when trying to grow anything that does not appreciate water logged soils (fruit trees) in these perpetually wet areas.

Location: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia near Roanoke

Cold Hardiness Zone: 7

Precipitation: 45 inches

Mean Annual Temp: 57 degrees F

Frost Free Period: 160-190 days

First Frost:  Oct 15

Last Frost: May 15

Elevation: 1,080 feet

Terrain: Almost “perfectly” flat (small undulations due to past farming practices)

Soil:
Along stream (14a) soils is Derroc Cobbly Loam, 0-4% slopes, occasionally flooded. USGS classify these soils as very deep, well-drained, derived from sandstone, shale, and limestone. This area is visually
       identifiable by a terrace below the Ernest Silt Loam (17b).
       
Rest of the property is Ernest Silt Loam. Ernest Silt Loam, 0-7% slopes, footslope, toeslopes, colluvium derived from sandstone and shale, depth over 65 inches to bedrock, 25-35 inches to fragipan, moderately
       well drained to wet

History: From what I can gather from locals, it has been used as a hay field for many years 10+ and was a cornfield 2 years ago but now fallow

Current Flora: On the east and west border, loblolly pines were planted for privacy 30 years ago. Along the stream on the north side is a mixture of black walnut, red cedar, large sycamores, American persimmon, black cherry, butternut, tree of heaven, catalpa, spicebush, and speckled alder. Johnson grass, numerous sedge species, rushes, grape fern, burdock, dandelion, Japanese honeysuckle, pokeweed, ironweed,

Floodzone: According to the accompanying picture below, you can see the FEMA flood zone map of the property. Notice the southeast corner is the only place outside the floodzone on the map. According to locals, there has been 1 time in the past 40 years that the land has flooded the area and the water was gone within 1.5 days. Depth of flood is unknown but a guestimate would say 1-3 feet deep.

I am confident this property has the ability to be turned into a fantastic homestead that grows an abundance of food, fuel, fiber, medicine, and more. The past two previous properties I grew up on were all on hillsides away from water so this is a new and exciting opportunity for me to expand my knowledge and experience. Although at the forefront, this property has some set backs (high water table in some areas and potential flooding at times), we can work with this land to make something special. I will not be able to afford any sort of housing for at least 5+ years and when I do, it will be a shipping container tiny house (I have built two before and love them) on pillars.

I am putting all of this info in a forum to see if anyone has been in a similar situation – where their land (or land they have worked on) was fairly flat, wet especially in winter due to thick clay subsoil, and could flood in very severe rain events. What strategies did you find helpful? What plants did you use and so on?

I will be renting an excavator come spring and will be creating raised beds on contour in addition to adding several small ponds in the very wet areas. Thanks for your input and I look forward to seeing what has and hasn’t worked for people in similar situations!