you need to have positive drainage towards something (curb gutter, coulvert..) that would carry water from your lawn away. if your yard is level than it wasnt graded properly. it should always be in slope.

What brankulo says is true, Tom.

If the soil is constantly wet near the house, your foundation is always wet too and that could spell trouble down the road.

Might want to get a few estimates from landscaping contractors about regrading the lawn all together.

Agreed. Is the soil against your house damp all the time, too? Usually regrading is not a handyman job. It takes a tractor and a tool called a box blade on the back. Most yards could be done in an hour or so. Leave it up to the grader whether to bring in more soil. He'll do that for you or haul away soil that he doesn't need.

The soil around the house isn't as bad as the rest of the lawn. Also I have a slab no basement. I want to grade the whole yard, but was wondering if it would be worth it to add the sand.

This box blade, do you have to till first? Kill grass?

I'm surprised no one's addressed the sand issue yet. Logically, that would seem to make sense - add sand to increase drainage - but I just don't see much reference to it here on the site. Usually the suggestions are to add organic matter (OM)to help soggy soil - is there some obvious reason I'm missing against using sand?

Thanks,

Gags

I'm no expert, but if you have standing water on the lawn, tilling in sand is just going to give improve the drainaga of the top couple of inches. The water will still be there, maybe just dispersed a little. Rather than do that, I would think grading the lawn to direct the water away would be more productive. Either way, it's a big job and gonna make a mess.

And, yes if you re-grade the lawn you will kill the grass in that area. Good luck.

Box blade is a tool on the back of a tractor. It scrapes the surface and leaves you with a velvety surface to plant seed or sod. Around your house you should have 4 inches of slab showing beneath the "sill" of the house before you get to soil. If you do not have that, then you risk flooding the house in a heavy, prolonged rain. Banks usually don't like that, nor do insurance companies.

If you regrade the entire lot (not a bad idea if you think it might need it), let the landscaper doing the job decide whether you need to bring in more soil or need to have soil removed. He's the expert.

Bringing in sand is the same as bringing in topsoil. Both are minerals and will build up the surface of the garden. Doing that could redirect all the drainage back toward the house, garage, or your neighbor's lot if it is not done correctly. Almost nothing is more important than getting the drainage correct.

When I said "kill the grass" I meant should you kill the grass before using a box blade. Or does it mix it up enough you don't have to.

Does a box blade do more to even things out than say a rock hound, or something else?

Also thinkin about maybe creating a swale and have it drain to a pond. I would have to enlarge the pond. It is currently only about 15 ft. around, and 2-3 ft deep.

If your yard and all areas around your place are flat, and there is no place for the water to flow, it will sit there, sand, organic matter or what not. If there is a creek or storm drain near by, I would try a "french drain" (aka tiling). You won't ruin your entire yard and I am guessing it wouldn't cost as much as hauling tons of sand in. If there is no place for the water to drain, and the water table is low, you could ty a "dry well". These are mostly used to drain shed water from your roof into the ground away from your foundation. But check your local regulations on what you can/can't do.

This may be crazy, but I have a marshy area like that on my side yard and I was going to try to get a tank put in the ground and direct water into it with french drains, the thought was to have a pump installed and be able to save excess water for dry spells and shrub/flower bed veggie garden irrigation.