My area receives quite a lot more rain than Iowa or the Okanagan

Good point, Cameron.

Oooh, that'll look nice with yuccas planted too.
That fence will provide shelter from winds.

Barb

How will you cover in winter???

Jim, I am still thinking about that 😆 I would like to build a low cactus shelter, and for the taller Yuccas, maybe build something a bit taller.

Here's the bit of progress that I've made so far:

The deepest area so far is around 2' deep. I might stop at 2.5' 😆 All of those rocks have been removed from the area, which is around 1/3 of the bed. I would think that the largest (on the far right) weighed somewhere between 100 and 150 lbs. I guess the one good thing is that I won't have to bring in as many rocks for drainage!

Cameron,

Good work on the digging.

Don't mean to pour water (pun) on your idea, but won't that hole just fill up with water unless a trench, say, 4 inches wide takes water at least 10 feet away?
Hopefully your downspout drains to the other side of house.

Barb

Super rocky soil! Your back must be hurt'n. 😀

Cameron - Make sure you cover the hole if it rains, before you get a chance to back fill. The rain will pack down the soil, and either make it pool in low spots, defeating the purpose of the hill.

Is that a clay/loam soil?

Barb/Canadianplant: thanks for the advice. The end of the drainpipe is buried underground, but I know that it drains to the side of the hill, under the deck (where the lattice is in the pics). The soil is not entirely clay, but I have dug through a couple of clay seams. That being said, it's not great soil either! I have been lucky with the forecast so far, and there isn't supposed to be any significant rain until Wednesday. Hopefully I can have the bed dug by then, and just cover it with a tarp.

Here's how the bed looks so far:

Wow, Cameron, cancel your gym membership! 😉

Good that your drainage is all figured out.
Will be neat to watch your project.

Barb

Yeah, my back is starting to get a little sore now 😆

A couple more pics. I'm hoping to be finished digging by tomorrow! :

Looks like a lot of effort. Did you need some cactus to help fill that bed?

Paul, I could definitely use some extra cacti 😆

any preferences? actually, pm me...

Looks great-the rocks are awesome unless you have to lift them!

They will look great around the edge if there is room-nice work!

Thanks, Jim. I'm definitely going to use some rocks to build up the edges of the bed.

We will probably have your weather here tomorrow