First off you need to figure out where the water is supposed to go. The first thing we did was re do the gutters on the back part of our house so the down spouts did not empty into the yard but off to the sides where the water was supposed to flow towards the front. We went with much bigger gutters and double down spouts to carry the larger volume of water vs multiple smaller down spouts emptying into the back yard. That one thing made a huge improvement, but in our case did not solve the problem. So, from looking at the subdivision plans and consulting the City, the water was supposed to flow from the back towards the front. No water is allowed to flow towards any adjoining property. HOA required detailed plans be submitted and no dirt brought in. To create better drainage, we had to remove dirt. It looked like the builder never did the final grade work, only the initial building grade work. Our house is 11 years old and we are the second owners. Our research indicated most of the lots in our subdivision have similar issues. It took a while but we eventually got it figured out and fixed. We hired an engineer firm to survey and plat the lot. From that we determined the high point in center of the backyard and went from there. We met with the city people again, and lots of various kinds of dirt movers, drainage experts, anyone we thought could help solve the problem of our swamp. We ended up re grading the grass areas of the back yard, both in the center and along the sides. Which got me new sod, more and bigger flower beds too! (a good thing) Nearly everyone we talked with about the project wanted to install drains from the back out towards the front with pop ups at the end, which is pretty standard in our area. Only 2 knew how to do it with out drains. Most of them had no idea how to create natural drainage! Our city has a code that water that enters a drainpipe and travels underground must exit at the street, cored through the curb. (another not so cheap expense) We absolutely did not want drains installed, french or other wise. We spend a lot of time outdoors and mosquitoes are a big issue. No matter how well the drains are installed there is always some water left standing and the pop ups always have water standing in them. Drains also get clogged and crate a mess someone has to go and clean up. (that someone would be me) We finally found someone who understood our concerns and knew how to create natural drainage! But it took a while. It was not cheap, but in our case the best solution. Now we have good natural drainage, & no drainpipes. There is one area out front on one side that could use some tweaking (due to neighbors drain off carried there as well) to work better and quicker, but other than that it is swampy only for a short while after heavy, sustained rains during the cool season. Before you do anything, research your situation, and find out any code restrictions you may have. It will save you money and time down the road. While you are working on that, I think the first thing which isn't all that expensive would be addressing the gutter down spouts. See if you can re direct the water that flows from your roof away from the back yard and foundation and towards the direction the water is supposed to be flowing out. Good Luck with your project! Here's photos of just the center portion of the yard which was always swampy before the grade work. before: summer 2009 when we moved in during grade work: summer 2010 after: winter 2012

"...should I have the men doing the backfill work, try to find the weep holes to make sure they are there?" Yes. If they're there and buried, that may be a simple fix to the problem. "Would it be ok to use a double layer of burlap or would that be too porous? will the regular weed-blocker landscaping cloth be ok?" That depends on how you would be using the fabric. Generally, jute mesh (or sometimes burlap) is used in conditions where slopes that are to be planted with grass are extreme, and the likelyhood of any rain eroding the slope is high. The fabric is normally rolled out on the ground and held in place with long hand installed staples. The rolling is done down the slope, not across the slope. The open weave nature of the fabric and it being biodegradable allows for grass to germinate and under the fabric and grow up through it. In places where the grass will not be mowed, the biodegradable fabric can be left in place to rot. In areas where the grass will be mowed, leaving the fabric in place presents the likelyhood of the fabric being lifted by the mower and causing all sorts of problems. Jute mesh will degrabe faster than burlap, and it's weave is quite a bit more open...and it's usually less expensive. If your lot slopes 2 feet over a very short distance and the slope is steep, then using the natural fabric can help keep the topsoil and seed in place. If the slope is not steep, the fabric is probably not necessary. The black fabric should not be used at all on top of the soil if you're intent is to grow grass. Either way, mowing with the fabric in place will be near impossible, and pulling the fabric up after the grass has begun to grow will probably pull the grass up with it. The black weed fabric is used on the surface of the ground so that nothing will grow through it. It can be used to halt erosion, but if it's woven and has a tight weave, water will tend to run off faster than if it was a more open non-woven fabric. Again, if the slope isn't ateep, it may be a waste of money to use the fabric there. Erosion control fabrics, woven and non-woven, are usually used in a vertical fashion, stapled to stakes (essentially the same things as tomato stakes) with the bottom hem buried in the ground so as to catch and slow surface runoff. Normally, that sort of installation is used where required either by local or state code, or by site conditions such as steep slopes and open ground exposed to the elements without benefit and protection of turf or groundcover. On a quarter acre lot with shallow slopes, I'm not sure it would be beneficial, but then again, I can't see the lot, so local opinion and expertise may be a better option for you. Just get more than one opinion. Another use for fabrics is actually in the ground, separating different soil types. In the case of a wall like yours, it might be that the designer will call for such a fabric to be installed prior to placing the clean free draining gravel behind the wall. The fabric in this case would keep the gravel open and free draining by keeping the fine particles from adjacent native clayey or silty soils from infiltrating and blocking the voids in the gravel.In this case, burlap would not be used as it would degrade over time. There are many specialty fabrics for this use, and most are not available at your local nursery or big box vendor. Some weed block fabrics may be similar in weave and nature, some are not. Can't say whether yours is or not. If the soils behind the wal are removed and atrench prepared for gravel backfill, the fabric would normally be placed along the bottom of the excavation with 3-6 inches rising up agains the back of the wall. The rest would run up the excavation and be laid on theground away from the wall until the trench was filled with gravel and compacted. Then the remaining edge of the fabric would be pulled over the top of the gravel, back towartds the wall, covering the gravel before the topsoil or planting mix was replaced. This more or less creates an envelope around the gravel. I wouldn't bother putting anything against your neighbor, especially if they still have the timber wall. Understand that a fabric envelope like this isn't always part of the design. It really depends on the nature of the existing soils, groundwater, and the wall design. Your situation may not require it at all. Only local inspection can insure that you're not throwing money needlessly in a hole. I don't think I said anything about using fabric at all. What I did say was that each 'weep' hole in the wall should be covered by a 'screen'. That screen would only cover the hole and extend a few inches beyond the hole in each direction, on the back side of the wall. The gravel would lie up agains that screen, and groundwater would find it's way to the hole and through the screen. If the erosion is most visible where your wall meets your neighbors, remember that your wall may be acting as a dam, and any water building up behind it is seeking a way out. The junction of your wall with yuour neighbors would be that point, and the flow may be significant. Weeps through your wall would likely provide the necessary outlet to reduce the pressure forcing groundwater to find that junction and causing it to erode. I would stay away from constructing anything that looked like a berm on the creek-side of the wall. It wouldn't serve the purpose you think it might. It may only make flooding problems worse. And, you may be running afoul of local regulations having to do with wetlands. Good luck. And remember, this is only an internet forum. We can't see what you see, we can only read your words. Even pictures would serve as limited assistance. Your very best bet is to inquire locally, and get as many second opinions as you think necessary.

Sit down because I'm jumping right into some science. This is for your husband to help understand why the bridge idea is not going to help you. Normal soil has an open pore structure that allows air and water to pass through it. Inside this structure lives 10s of thousands of species of beneficial microbes which thrive on the open pore structure. These microbes are Mother Nature's invention. As it turns out the species of microbes living in swampy land are different from those living in dryish land (lawns). When you allow standing water to stand for several days, that cuts off the air flow to the beneficial microbes and their populations begin to decrease. If this happens enough, normal grass will thin out and stop growing. They will be replaced by swamp grasses like nutgrass and some others. So it is important to keep the water from pooling on your lawn. Back to the issue... If your community has an ordinance that says homeowners must drain all water from their own property and not allow it to cross over onto a neighbor's land, then all you should have to do is call your city code compliance officers and make them deal with it. If you live in the savage west, then you might have to do it yourself. Talk to your neighbors and ask them to berm up their land at the fence to keep the water on their side. Since they already dug the ditch, they are unlikely to bend to your wishes. So when that doesn't work, berm up your side of the fence and push their water back onto their property (see how they like having standing pools of water!!). Six inches of berm would normally be plenty. Planting a lawn in the spring is not the best idea, but if you really have to you have to. If you can afford sod, then that should be better, but if you were planning to seed, I would not spend a lot on seed for a spring installation. What will happen is all that new grass will find itself competing with crabgrass which also sprouts in the spring. Your grass seed will be less hardy than the crabgrass and will thin out in the summer heat. It is not uncommon to have a full crabgrass lawn by July. It is much better to seed new grass in the fall because crabgrass seed is not sprouting then. It also gives the new grass all winter and spring to develop heat tolerant roots. Now a word on forum etiquette. This is not your thread. The original poster had a problem with soil structure. Your problem is neighborhood drainage. You should have opened a new topic so people who want to help you don't have to read through someone else's problem from last year - which is really not your problem. I also suspect you will need some advice on planting your lawn (spring? or fall - either one). Now is the time to ask, so post a new topic! When you ask about planting a new lawn, please mention specifically where you live. The zone system is not good for helping with lawns, so give a town or zip code. And if you want more help on the neighborhood drainage issue, I would still post a new topic with your new questions. This forum seems to have a lot of opinions about neighbors '-)

Do you know why it's collecting there in the first place? Do you know what the development/county/city plan is for the surface drainage of your property and the surrounding property? If so, you should drain to there. As for calculating gravel needs for a french drain, it's pretty much length * depth * width, minus the volume of the drainage pipe. Your edges aren't going to be perfect, so add in some extra for that. However, a french drain may not be the right solution, and even if it is, you'll still need a way to keep silt and debris from building up inside it and/or a way to clean it out. Drainage is complicated, and I would recommend either a ton of reading or consulting a professional if you want it done right. This is one of the best comprehensive writeups that covers drainage. Don't be put off by the fact that it says it's written for golf courses. Drainage Systems for Golf Courses Dr. Ed McCoy Ohio State University