Garden Therapy: A Deep Subject

     As I mentioned in my last Garden Therapy post we have a large lot, about a half acre.  We live in the city so we receive city water. But because we have such a large area to keep watered we decided to put in a well.  The state allows home wells as long as they're only used for irrigation ( otherwise the water must be tested). All we had to do was pay a small fee and fill out a form which also showed where the well would be located.
     That was the next task, figure out where to put the well. After walking around the yard I decided on a spot about half way between the back of the house and the very back of the yard and half way from side to side. I thought that's where it would look best and we'd hopefully be able to water the whole back yard. Of course we had to hit some water to pump.

     We then had a fellow named Steve come with his backhoe to dig a hole.  Before that my husband had purchased a 21 foot (we were thinking positive) metal culvert with a 24 inch diameter. He took a pick ax and made numerous holes in the side of the culvert.

     Steve started digging. At seven feet water began gushing. My husband's first thought was that they'd hit a water pipe. He quickly realized that wasn't possible as there were no pipes in the area.  Steve continued to dig with water pouring into the hole. Finally at 15 feet he had to quit digging. There was so much water that the sides of the hole kept caving in, he couldn't go any deeper.

     So we put the culvert up right into the hole, leaving 2 feet above ground, the excess was cut off. We filled around the culvert with gravel  then topped with dirt. We now had a 15 foot well with lots of water. But the big question was would it water our big yard and for how long?

     That was over twenty years ago and the well has never gone dry. We can water for hours at a time all summer. Even several years ago when our area experienced a drought and the city water was put on restrictions, our well continued to flow.

     A two foot piece of metal culvert sticking out of the ground with a pump sitting next to it wasn't very attractive or safe. So my husband built a wishing well around it.

     A friend who is a stone mason did the rock work. He used stones that came from the hole they dug for the foundation of our house. You might have noticed the name on the well. One of the requirements when you register your well with the state is to give it a name and number. My sign is Aquarius, the water bearer, and we were married in 1966. Seemed like the perfect choice.

     Many times when we tell people about our well, how I picked the spot and how much water we get. They will tell me I should take up water witching. I just laugh and say it was just dumb luck.

Here's a well I built recently with the help of our grandson, for our fairy garden.

A thought to ponder: "The grass isn't greener on the other side. It's green where you water it."

Participating in:Tuesday Garden Party, Grand Social, Share Your Cup Thursday