Horticulture Beyond the Backyard: A Tale of Three Ditches

Many suburban dwellers see drainage ditches as eyesores, nuisances, potential safety hazards, and even indicators of a “second-class” neighborhood. My tale is not only about three ditches in my own neighborhood, but also about my personal transformation from a ditch doubter to a ditch dabbler to a ditch enthusiast.
Before: work in progress on Ditch Three in April 2001, with plenty of reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea) still to be removed. The neighbor’s cypress hedge screens the ditch from their view. Occasional boulders edging the street help guide drivers at night. Author’s photographs

My husband Ib and I live in an older area of North Delta, in suburban Vancouver, British Columbia. Our storm water drainage system is a patchwork of concrete and plastic culverts (pipes), shallow grass-covered ditches (which homeowners have adapted as extensions of their lawns), and a few deeper ditches—the last vestiges of the seasonal streams that once flowed down our slopes.

Our house sits on a lot that is shaped roughly like a quarter-piece of pie. The outer edge of our piece of pie fronts the street, which me...