Landscape Drainage Solutions

Landscape drainage issues can cause damage to your yard or even your home. Finding a good solution is a must.

Landscape Issues

Drainage problems in the yard may at first seem like little more than a nuisance. Wet areas that make it difficult to grow lawn grasses and other plants, along with muddy messes and the possibility of mosquitoes, aren't the only concerns, though. There are problems with erosion and soil movement when there is a lot of water. There are also issues that can affect your home and other nearby structures.

When the landscape drains poorly, it can increase the hydrostatic pressure in the soil as the water volume increases. This, in turn, can put pressure on foundation walls, leading to basement leaks in your home. What starts out as an issue with your yard can quickly become an issue with your home.

Decorative Solutions

For minor water issues, such as poor runoff only following heavy rain, the drainage solution can double as a decorative addition to the landscape. Dry creeks are one popular option. For this, a trench is dug along a slope. The trench routes water away from the soggy area, following the grade of the land toward a natural drainage area. It's then lined with a membrane and rocks. When it rains the water doesn't sit in the soil. Instead, it drains away relatively quickly.

Similar methods as dry creeks are also suitable near foundation walls. A rock line trough can guide water away from downspouts, for example, so the moisture isn't dumped in the garden beds that are right up against the home. The key to these solutions working is that the water must be routed to an area where it can drain away safely.

Trenching Options

If decorative solutions aren't suitable, then buried drainage trenches may be necessary. A perforated pipe is buried in the area to be drained. It's surrounded with gravel, which keeps soil from plugging up the perforations in the pipe while also allowing easy water flow from soil to the pipe. The pipe trough is then covered and grass can be planted above it.

Much like the decorative options, this pipe must be routed to a drainage area, such as a nearby ditch, stream, or storm drain system. If there are no suitable areas, then one must be constructed. Your contractor may put in a dry well, which is a pit designed to catch runoff so it can slowly percolate back into the soil at a sustainable rate.

Contact a drainage contractor if you need more help with addressing landscape drainage issues.


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