French Drain

I wish I had taken more recent photos of our patio and garden. We didn’t tend to the garden as much this year because we knew there were plans to put in a French drain along the foundation of our 1890’s building. And that would include ripping up our patio and digging a trench three feet from the house and at least that much deep. That means several plants and small trees and vines would be lost. We have been through all of this before. When we moved to DC twelve years ago, another project like this was done soon after - and we had just had the garden professionally landscaped. I’m not sure exactly what the difference between this mess is from the last one except sump pumps are going in. The foundation of the building needs shoring up and tuck pointing. For most people who live in the building it may be a minor inconvenience. But we are in the middle of it for eight to ten weeks. And when they are done with the backside of the building, they will be doing the side and front as well. So our apartment on the front side will lose all the privacy bushes and we are in for a lot of noise from 7AM to whenever every day during the week. All I care is that it doesn’t rain so the work can get done as soon as possible. These old buildings are really charming, but they are a major maintenance headache - especially if you live on the first floor.