Thoughts on Tile Drain?

[willjayc]

http://s1059.photobucket.com/user/willjayc/media/IMAG0454.jpg.htmlAs I've mentioned before in a few other posts, I'm putting in a small amount of vines in Central Ontario. I've been working laying out the vineyard and getting all my supplies in order.

My 42 vines will be showing up anytime in the 2-3 weeks and today I had a chance to start to put in some cedar posts for my trellis. I've decided to put up the trellis first as I have the posts and as I had to rent a post hole auger for another project anyways.

My site is a small hillside that slopes down to the SE and my rows are running N-S. I've only lived here for one year and don't know all the nuances of the property but I have a pretty good idea. I was concerned about wet soils but I thought the hillside would be well drained enough. Today when I was augering holes on the top of the hill I had water settling into the hole at about 1' below the surface.

Now, we've had exceptional snow cover this year and have received 2-3" of rain in the last 7 days. Should I be concerned? Should I consider some tile drain? There is a pond within 100' of the vines that I could drain to. I fully expect the soil to be quite dry for most of the year but a lot of run off makes it's way down/through this hillside in the spring. Will this saturated soil in the early season affect my success with growing? The soil is a little heavier than I'd like as it is a Silty Loam. Interested in anyone's thoughts. I have access to a small excavator and the tile drain would only cost me $200-$300 to put in 2 runs but it's just going to make an even bigger mess of my already muddy backyard if I'm out there mucking around with machinery.

Here's a few pictures of the site, the slope is a bit hard to judge but it slopes from the lower/right of the pictures to the upper left (towards the pond and open field) It drops about 10' from the highest trellis post to the top of the pond (which is usually much lower in the summer). FYI, the wood footings are for a greenhouse I'm building.

http://s1059.photobucket.com/user/willjayc/media/IMAG0454.jpg.html

This is the right side and below is the left side of a panoramic shot

A better pic of the elevation

 

[willjayc]

Ok, how can I post pictures? I thought I had it figured out.

 

[willjayc]

URL's to Pictures:

http://s1059.photobucket.com/user/willjayc/media/IMAG0454.jpg.html

http://s1059.photobucket.com/user/willjayc/media/IMAG0455.jpg.html

http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t435/willjayc/IMAG0456.jpg

 

[Runningwolf]

Use the img code instead of the url

 

[willjayc]

Thanks Dan

 

[spaniel]

Depending on your soil setup, a hillside will not always be well-drained. The one hill on my property that is maybe similar to yours (hard to tell exactly from the photos) is the worst place on my property to put a vineyard. The soil absorbs water quickly on top of the hill, then about 3/4 the way down it all comes out the side of the hill. So that hillside is actually wetter after a heavy rain than the flat ground on the rest of the property.

My vineyard is exposed to more water than I would like from time to time. I am sure it is not ideal but it does not seem to be a big deal either. You have to work with what you have.

 

[saddlebronze]

Drain it. If you have standing water in the post holes for more than a couple hours, you have a low percolation rate which is not good for grapes

 

[willjayc]

I think I might take my chance and keep an eye on it. We've had a major bout of rain, 3 local communities have declared a state of emergency and rivers are higher than 100 year old records so this water may not be the norm. It dried up in about a day and a half. I 'll be a pain but it's a small trial area so I can drain it later I suppose.