Puddling Pathway -- Fix with Flower Bed?

15 years ago

Generally, the front "lawn" (expanse of weeds eventually to be reclaimed) slopes towards the street, but there is a bit of a low spot right by the curve of the sidewalk. ItÂs no fun wading to get to the front door (though I welcome the rain considering the drought). Is it possible to design a bed that will improve the drainage of the concrete path leading up to our front door, or do I need to hire someone to redo the sidewalk and make the pathway raised? I am hoping to plant a pleasing bed of natives, perennials preferred (or self-seeding annuals), and create some "troughs" in between the plantings to get drainage away from the path (and the house!). Is this a dumb idea that will end up looking stupid, or might it work? Does anyone have pictures of suggestions? ItÂs only the vaguest sketch of an idea in my head.

AlsoÂ what is the best way to prepare the bed? I have read that tilling might just stir up dormant weed seeds (of which there are certainly plenty in that lawn). But IÂd like to get some things planted this fall (during my meager Thanksgiving holiday in November) and IÂm concerned that it might not be enough time to do the mulch-over method. Advice sorely needed!

This is what it looks like (terrible, I know, but we just moved in and IÂm a first-time gardener, so please donÂt be too harsh):

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In the evening, looking at the house from the street.

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Right where it puddles. (Photo taken mid-day)

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From the house looking out at the street. (Photo taken mid-day)

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From the driveway looking at the path. (Photo taken mid-day)

Here is a link that might be useful: (Link to the pictures shown in the message)

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Comments (3)

bullthistle
15 years ago
What are you protecting against? The green shade cloth? It looks as though you have 2 1/2 steps and since the walk is concrete I am wondering if you could lay brick over it, either dry lock or mortar which would mean raising the soil level at the curve which would get rid of your puddle. Make a step closer to the drive, don't go through the expense of taking up the walk. It doesn't matter if you have two types of walkway and if anyone says anything tell them to fix it.
annzgw
15 years ago
It appears you have the majority of the water coming from the driveway and if that section of concrete next to the step is concave, then you'll probably always have water there. If the sidewalk is not concave, my next guess is that the soil around that area is compacted and that's why nothing is draining.

The most cost effective fix may be to use one of the solutions in the link below and trench from the outside curve of the sidewalk toward the street and fill with sand. Grass will eventually cover the sand.

In addition to the trench, I would also use Roundup to kill the grass on both sides of the sidewalk where you're having the problem, till it, amend it, and then reseed or sod the area. Be sure to include the area where the grass is dying.

Here is a link that might be useful: drainage
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Thanks for both your replies!! To answer why a raised bed... Mainly because the depth of good topsoil in that area was very shallow with grey clay underneath. So in deference to digging or tilling it all up and amending (got a bad back so digging is no fun), it was easier to just build (and I used that word lightly...) the raised bed and fill it with good soil. It also seems to be a good idea because I never have to weed that area and always assumed it was because it was higher than the grass. And why not take it down..... Aside from liking the way it looks, the main reason is that the outer edge of it runs along the "property line' between my yard and my neighbor's. He pulls his car onto his side to wash it and he's an ass, so I wouldn't put it past him to run over or step on my flowers if there wasn't some sort of wall there. Plus, it keeps people from accidently stepping into the garden when walking up my walkway which I fear they might do if it were ground level. bonnie
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In addition to every step, you must also account for the mild slope (to drain) that occurs over the full lenth of the run, Let's say the walk is 30' length. (I'm pulling this number out of the air for example purposes.) For every foot it should be sloped 1/8" or thereabouts, 30'x 1/8" = 3.75". The walk would need to drop that much over its run in order to drain. Let's round it off to 4", as that could easily be accommodated in the construction. That leaves us with 30" elevation difference that must be accomplished with steps. That could easily be 5 6"-steps .... or 6 5" steps ... take your choice. (Given that the steps are stretched out, I could accept 5" steps. If they were closer together, I would want 6" steps.) If you had a simple line level (which is a little bubble that attaches to any stretched string -- a $2 item) you would be able to assess the elevation difference yourself and not need to rely on hearsay.) Multiply the actual run times 1/8" (to establish the drop needed to drain). Measure the elevation difference (from the level string attached to the top landing) to the city walk. Deduct the drop needed to drain and what is left over is the elevation difference that must be taken up by steps.
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I can see exactly why it happens right from your pictures. You probably do not need a french drain, you do need an extension on your drain pipe. Its draining right on the cement. It should be way past that cement, so that water drains into the ground. Hopefully, the staining I see, is not permanent, because of lack of proper drainage extension. Its a very easy fix, and certainly a very cheap one. Go buy a piece of downspout material, the size of your downspout and hook them together. Alternative, would be a piece of plastic drain hose, and if you go that direction, also buy the piece that has the fitting to fit right on the existing downspout, so you dont get overflow water out of the back side of it. If you have any other downspouts, without an extension on, do those too. All that water puddling around your foundation is not a good thing. Unfortunately, you will have to walk over the one you have by your doorway, so you may want to change that to the other side of the doorway, so the extension will be in the flower bed, rather than right in the middle of your sidewalk. Its not a hard thing nor an expensive thing to do, and is well worth moving it. And if you dont have a downspout already on the other side of your garage door I would also add one there. It was very poor planning, on whoever installed those downspouts, to put one that has a sidewalk in front of it.
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sryshti
Original Author
15 years ago
bullthistle -- Those are our new blueberry bushes, so we're trying to protect against birds. DH set that screen up; I think next year I'm going to try the bag version to see if it works better as the clever winged critters manage to find their way though little openings.

I'll talk to DH about the bricking over option vs. the digging a trench. The latter may be a more long term solution, but we'll see... thanks for the link, annz. I don't think the driveway is draining onto the concrete much -- it's gravel and old and also needs to be redone but the ruts in it do slope nicely towards the street. The path itself does look like it all drains into that curve though, looking at it again today.

I'm hoping to put in some nice perennials instead of reseeding/soding the area, to add some color to the front of the house. Do you think they would be badly placed there?

Puddling Pathway -- Fix with Flower Bed?

Comments (3)

bullthistle

annzgw

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Puddling Pathway -- Fix with Flower Bed?

Comments (3)

bullthistle

annzgw

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sryshtiOriginal Author

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sryshti
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