First off I would build the area closest to the foundation up some with dirt. Kind of ramp it so that the water runs away from the house. You can then cover it in rock, (possibly pea gravel), or you can use some sort of mulch of your choosing.

Greg
Southern Nevada

Thanks!

Do you think mulched leaves (from this Fall) will do okay against the splattering rain or should I go with the store bought stuff?

I'm sure that if you piled some leaves up in this area it would serve to alleviate the splashing effect from dripping water or rain.

Greg
Southern Nevada

Proper sloping of that soil can help move the excess water away and having rain gutters installed can help keep the water from accumulating there, and a good mulch can aid in keeping the soil from being splashed onto your siding.

Would one type of mulch work any better than another? That's kind of what I'm getting at. If it really doesn't matter, I'll just go with the cheapest bagged stuff at the store or even use mulched leaves (leaf mold I believe is what it turns into).

I would definitely slope the ground away from the foundation as a first step. You can steal a little soil from places around your property. I feel that the best mulch you can use for your intended purpose is rock or gravel. You can go the designer route and buy colored decorative rock, or just use some cheaper building grade rock. It just depends on what your concerns are in this area. Ideally you could do this without spending any money, but that of course is up to you. Good luck with your problem....

Greg
Southern Nevada

P.S. I make the borders around my growing areas using rocks that I collect from the lands around my home. If you live in an area where you can collect rocks they can make interesting and natural borders, and best of all - they're Free.

Don't put dirt too high under the siding especially if the siding is wood. Termites like covering close to wood.

I forgot to tell you the rock and shingle were re used or scrap. I am a tight/frugal gardener. Check with the neighbors that's where my extra shingles came from. the fill dirt was from the drain trench. the rock was from and old rock garden that I redone for a pepper/tomato garden.

Curt

Logan, is it your plan to prepare and replant that area once you've guttered the house, in the near future? If so, I'd avoid rock, gravel, or the like.

Prior to using wood mulch, research "artillery fungus".

I'm just intrigued as to why there's no gutter in the first place. Are they not an integral part of building design in the States? To an outsider installing a gutter seems a lot less hassle than all those earthworks at work at ground level. And you could harvest the rainwater for your garden.

Very good flora, but in my case I live where the winter ice can rip gutters off the houses so a lot of the older homes do not have them even if they were built with them. my house had gutter over the entry to keep that part dry and ice took it off last winter. Now I plan on replacing but am retired and money is limited, My time is not. the same storm took out the porch roof and I had to replace that with free shingle from a neighbors overrun. Does that help a bit?;-)

Curt

Mulch won't solve bad drainage.

If the water is collecting there, you need to solve that problem by digging a trench to lead it away, maybe even a drain line or french drain.

THEN you can put down some coarse gravel or small rocks to stop the spattering.

We solved the problem by putting 4 x 4 landscape timbers in the trench at the drip line and making a slightly raised bed between them and the foundation. Our roof overhang is wider than yours but it would still work. Something low growing like liriope would look nice and be low maintenence.

Sandy

Ok, what I think I'm going to do is this:

1. Slightly raise the existing soil nearest the foundation (but not too high) and create a gentle slope running away from the house.

2. Cover the soil with finely mulched leaves from this Fall's cleanup

3. Cover the leaves with either pine straw OR a wood-type mulch (either cypress or shredded hardwood - which ever doesn't harvest spores).

Hopefully, this will keep the area looking nice as well as condition the soil until I can find a low-growing plant that can tolerate less than 4-hrs direct sun and somewhat wet soil.

Thanks for all your help. I'll post 'after' pictures when I get this done!

..Also found this interesting study on artillery fungus. Looks like cypress and large pine nuggets are best (and maybe pine straw). Yard waste = very very bad.

Here is a link that might be useful: artillery fungus in mulches

Don't forget what I told you about the pine nuggets in my email...they don't like to stay put. I'd still go with the pine straw.

Just want to update this thread on what I decided to do! I mulched a ton of leaves over the hard clay in the Fall. This Spring I decided to plant azaleas and mulch with pine straw...here you go and thanks everyone for your help!

Four 3-gallon azaleas mixed with some annuals - Fascination, Glacier, Hilda Niblet and the fourth I forgot (but maybe pink gumpo).
{{gwi:309150}}


{{gwi:309151}}


{{gwi:309152}}


{{gwi:309153}}

looks nice
just curious,are you going to put gutters back up?

nah, don't have the time or cash. What's nice about the pinestraw is that it 'catches' the runoff from the roof with very little splatter.

Where did you get the dirt from?