karinl- Regarding your suggestion to "Move the focus outward"...I wonder if we are thinking the same area? The dirt? While that sewer line collapse was an annoyance and financial burden at the time, it may prove beneficial as it is forcing us to do something with that area. I think this could make a huge difference. What do you see in that area that would "enhance the way the property and plantings frames and embraces the house"? What do you think about building it up some in an effort to gain some privacy? Can you picture doing something with 3 small trees...redbuds maybe, with something under them...not sure what, yet. Patty- I, also, have driven around in search of a ranch owner who has figured out how to enhance his ranch home. So far, it doesn't exist. I imagine there would be many others interested in a discussion focused on landscaping the ranch home! There are many other "very specific" forums on this site...why not one devoted to landscaping a particular style of house? But maybe it's only us ranch owners that have this problem...Some houses do seem to lend themselves more easily to a great looking yard. stevied- I read your second post this morning. Your thoughts must have stayed with me while driving to work. I noticed a house that had just what you are describing...it looked GREAT! Nice idea...thanks. annebert- Do you think that "meatball" would survive if moved? Have had differing opinions on that. Regardless, it's gotta go. Like your idea of a "sheltered walk"...this yard needs some shelter! I need some shelter...feel like I have to change my clothes with the lights off for privacy...our bedroom and bathroom are on the front of the house. lynne_melb- Yes, the house is brick and we have talked about painting that siding. What color can you see with the stark white paint, though? What do you think about a light grayish sage green? I have no problem decorating the inside...some brave colors others might shy away from, but something about the outside scares me! Maybe because I haven't had an oportunity to choose exterior colors before...certainly didn't choose this white! My last house was all brick too, but not painted. Any opinions on color choices welcome!!! Here's some more pic's of the bushes on right side of house. Recognize any of them? This is the so called "meatball" on the end :) To the left of the meatball, are three of these Same...closer up All the way to the left...(on the right side) Same... Thanks to all...you have no idea how much I appreciate you taking the time to offer your thougts!

Hi, folks. Apologize for taking so long to post the pics of my drainage problem, but would appreciate further feedback, now that I have uploaded my photos. Really would prefer to forego the idea of a rain garden. Feel that it would really ruin the appearance of my lawn layout as it is now. Been thinking about my issue further and wondering if circling my mulch island with retaining bricks to make it like a raised bed would help out at all. It might keep the water run-off out, but the water would still flow across and down my lawn, I suppose. Been also contemplating if I might somehow create a dry creek for the section of lawn that has much of the water run-off, but I think it would just look horrendous stretching across my front lawn. I feel like I'm screwed with this issue, unless I spend big bucks to regrade and reseed the lawn; money which I certainly don't have. This first pic is looking at the water flowing into the back side of the island: This next pic is looking at the water flowing over the front side of the island. Note that the neighbor's yard slopes down towards mine, and the water run-off begins in the area just right of the front corner of my house, straight down into the island: This next pic is looking at the water run-off across the lawn. The front of the island is seen in the background. So, the water exits the front edge of the island and then comes down a few more feet and then flows all across the bottom of the lawn before crossing over the sidewalk and into the grassy strip along the curb, which is badly washed out and contains just weedy growth and rocks. This last pic shows a similar problem at a smaller mulch island around my lamp post at the front corner of the driveway. No problem with noticeable water run-off in this lawn area per se, but water does collect in the edge of the island just due to the slope of the lawn here.

>>That explains the oil... Any ideas on the white fungus in the last pictures? If that's lipid coating, it has to come from somewhere...which means an extremely healthy and numerous population of bacteria and fungi. The fungi you have look much like the fungi I sometimes get in mostly-done compost, or used to get in areas where I was dumping over 100 pounds per K of organic matter. It doesn't look like anything to worry about as it's clearly not doing any damage. Strangely, even my compost bin doesn't do this, and that's one hundred percent OM. Hum. Try sticking your nose down near the soil surface and see if you can smell decay. You may not if oxygen levels are sufficient in the soil and whatever's decaying doesn't have a high nitrogen level. Heavy scent means heavy decay of high nitrogen stuff--which confirms the hypothesis that it's decaying OM. No scent doesn't disprove it, though, just that there's not enough nitrogen or enough anaerobic decay to produce a bad odor. I'm of the opinion that I probably wouldn't use that top soil again. For something like this to happen, raw organic material levels had to be absolutely unreal...and those are going to decay down to practically nothing over time. It's for this reason that filling holes with peat moss or other organics isn't recommended, eventually you lose close to 100%. In this case, most of that should still be soil, so some minor settling is all I'd expect. I'd expect decay to back off fairly quickly as the soil runs out of early-stage OM. Labor Day? Somewhat before or after? In that range anyway if the soil stays damp.

So after all that rain, water is not standing in the soil at a depth of around 12". Not now, but it quit. And I dug some more as I said. If it starts raining as hard as it did, I have no doubt it will pool up to a certain level for awhile at least, but no more puddle on the sidewalk and into more of the rosebed. Then it started sprinkling and a couple small cavities in the deeper trench were holding water. Maybe it is not so bad except for the surface drainage problem. Does the subsoil feel gritty? Not when I scooped some of it out with my bare hands when I got fed up with trying to get a good pass at it with the shovel. But I threw a small pebble up on the sidewalk, brought it in and rinsed it off. It was gritty and took a bit to rinse it, rubbing between my fingers. Now I don't know what I've done with it. I didn't like getting my hands in the muck (don't mind getting them dirty) because there is broken glass everywhere, I'm constantly picking it up, and I didn't want to cut myself. The landscaper who planted the roses thought the drainage was adequate. Does it smell sewagy? Not at all. No rotten or sulphur odor. There were several worms in it, but they could have been at the sides I dug down through. I am now down to clay. It's only been like this since mid summer last year when we rototilled. Before that, I never noticed any problem, didn't pool on the sunken sidewalk slab, must have soaked through the grass or something. Or it didn't pool so badly that I noticed it and dissipated quickly or that dirt collected there. I scraped dirt off there, too. The dirt is either running back off the trenched side or from the other side. If I get it fixed, I can hose the rest of it off or more rain should take care of it. Does water seep in after you dig down another shovel bit at the back of the hole? Not yet. Not at all. At least when it isn't raining. I measured (roughly) and am now down to about 14 inches, maybe it's only 12, hard to tell with the bottom being uneven still, no seepage whatsoever. It all seems to be from water runoff, maybe from the other side and down the sidewalk, pooling, and overflowing out into that one spot in the rose bed. You can see how the sidewalk slab is in the first photo. Just the open trench got rid of the pooling in the bed itself, and the rose there is mounded now, before it made quite a large puddle in the actual planting area. There is one more slab like it, but it is toward the steps to the front sidewalk, and doesn't seem to cause any significant pooling, probably because it's close to a slope where it can run down. The slopes are washing mud onto the sidewalk, and I shovelled it back into the planting area. I'm hoping that once plants are established and mulched, that will stop. The guy who finished the barrier did a crappy job on that side near the front walk which makes it a little worse, but it does it on the other side, too. I've got everything I need except rock (was going to buy a bag at Hy Vee, landscaping pebbles, one bag ought to do it) to finish it up tomorrow if you think it is right except I want it a little deeper on the front end to allow for rocks, sand and 4" soil on top, then may have to compensate down the whole thing a bit, making sure it slants down in every part of it. Maybe 4" soil at that edge will still cause a problem, 2" might be better, but I would prefer at least 4. I googled for wet box and found some, mostly for marine uses, have no clue how they work or photos, was wondering if large pvc pipe filled with rocks and capped on the ends with some, no anything screen, landscape cloth, sieve, would clog up in no time. I guess that's why the pebbles are supposed to work, it kind of leaches out. In a bad rain, I don't expect miracles, but it will trap it underground (I hope) until it drains out. I decided not to try to trench it a foot or two more on the other side of the landscape barrier. Plus I have them coming to mark lines again, don't think that was close to anything but the further out I go, the deeper I have to go as well. I could do that, but it would be a lot more work. I could trowel under the barrier and not have to take it out, then slide the landscaping cloth through the opening, work in the rest of the materials and refill. Do you think I can make it work? I'd hate to have to dig it all up again. I would scream or cry or both.