If you want foot traffic through those areas to be mud-free, and if you don't want to utilize that wonderful moisture for vegetation, then put down gravel for a firmer footing. If gravel proves too watery for feet, then put down concrete. That will whisk the water away anywhere you want to send it. Or if you don't like hardscape, a raised wooden walkway could get you where you need to go and keep your socks dry.

What would nature do? That damp area would explode with vegetation. Nature doesn't like to waste water. Central Florida natives like Wax Myrtle, Dwarf Palmetto, or Horsetail Rush could soak it all up within a few years. Check out the Bog Gardening forum for ideas.

Jason, it looks like your plan to use catch basins and solid PVC would work since the grade takes a dive at the back. However, the devil will be in the details. With neighbor's roof, your roof and drive, you might be draining quite a bit of water through there such that a 4" pipe might be inadequate to handle the volume in heavy rains. Consider 6" dia. The pipe should be run with uniform pitch ... no dips.

Keeping the water at grade and draining via concrete pathway, as mentioned, is another possibility. Also, increasing the swale width and slope would help.

I had thought about bumping up to 6" pipe however the local home improvement stores only have catch basins for 3-4 inch pipe. I may want to find a better source for more commercial grade catch basins. Or, is it possible to use a PVC Tee as a catch basin? I've seen it done on Youtube but as I've learned the hard way that doesn't necessarily mean it is a good idea.


As far as a concrete walk, that would certainly work well. However, I would have to get with the HOA and the cost would be much higher. I think I will try the catch basin solution first. I don't think it should cost me more than a couple hundred dollars.

You could probably do the PVC "T" but figure out all the parts first and just make sure you adhere to the rule that water will only run down hill. :-)

OK, will do. I'll report back with some after photos if it goes well.

Does your city stormwater utility have a TAPP program? Tallahassee does. Maybe you could get a grant to install a little rain garden.

I suggested a rain garden. He wants drainage pipes. I guess he likes the turf grass lawn.

TAPP looks interesting but it appears to be specific to Tallahassee.

I'm not sure a rain garden is not going to handle the 100s of gallons of water coming off my drive way during a rain storm. Water that is currently trying to go in my garage and making me swim from my car to front door.

That being said, my current plan has the drainage moving the water into the back yard where it could still be used for moisturizing some vegitation.

What about rainwater catchment? I know some neighborhoods preclude them, but I catch about four hundred gallons per rain and trickle it into my garden over the dry days. Also, we had to get our neighbors uphill from us to agree to let us manage their roof runoff from their downspouts which deluged our house when we first bought it. Sorry for sounding cavalier...this is what we went through:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MorwEWnE7QY&index=7&list=PLJe4yi0fqT115H2DJy7b-CbOcljXzrJDR

We attached drainage pipes to our neighbor's downspouts, they buried them on their side of the fence, and we move them around the back yard as needed.

There's another great idea.