Advice on Improved Backyard Drainage
Nicholas Johnson
8 years ago
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Nicholas Johnson
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Who should we call to get help with a backyard drainage issue?
Comments (16)Any progress on this issue? Do not add any soil to you property until you have a full drainage plan! ÃÂ Getting an engineer involved is advisable, but expensive, I know, I am one. :-) ÃÂ Consider these issues: 1. Drainage should take water away from the house, as quickly as possible, w/o flooding or causing erosion to you or others. Water near the house can cause many problems: ÃÂ movement near the foundation can move soil, which could cause the house to move. More immediately is the dry rot the moisture will cause to the wood of the house. Mold can form ÃÂ Maintaining any vegetation is a problem. Mosquitos will love it.ÃÂ 2. Adding fill material improperly could make matters worse.ÃÂ 3. Water always flows downhill. So, where is the water going. Try to follow it. The best way is to get the elevations of your property surveyed. I love the ability of a contour map to communicate slope of the ground. And water will follow the slope.ÃÂ 4. Decide on the outlets for water from your property. ÃÂ Drain water to the street, if possible. ÃÂ If not, build dry wells, but check percolation rates carefully. ÃÂ Be very careful about draining water on to neighboring property.ÃÂ 5. Find the sources of the water.ÃÂ 6. ÃÂ Create drain paths from (or near) sources to the outlets: There are several options to do this: (a) ditch, which needs a slope of at least 1%, 3 % is recommended; (b) Underground drain, such as a French Drain, which needs no slope, or a mini-storm drain pipe, which only it needs at least 0.1% slope, or combine French Drain and pipe; (c) pressure pipe,collect the water at a central spot and then pump the water. There are a lot of pages about all of these issues on the Web. This can be a big job.ÃÂ Good luck!...See MoreAnother backyard drainage problem
Comments (4)I think your only choice is to bury them deeper. You could do this by digging them up, removing some soil from below them, and re-laying them, or start to gradually topdress the area with topsoil (not "enriched" topsoil, you don't want much organic matter in the stuff as it will just break down) or sand. I personally would try topdressing first, especially since you have apparently already lost a bunch of soil due to runoff (which has probably accumulated into high spots further down the slope), so I imagine this would also improve the grading there. Spread a quarter inch of soil or sand over the area by shoveling it on and sweeping it in with a broom, once every two weeks. Idea is to slowly encourage the existing grass to adapt to the new soil level each time. A quarter inch is conservative, so if it looks like your grass can take more than that without getting stressed I would try that too. And while you're at it, do the same over every low spot in your lawn, if you have any. You'll love the results! Good luck, Paul...See MoreAdvice please: drainage problem in back yard
Comments (10)This is an extremely common problem in new developments and landscapes. Even if the soil has been saved and placed back you've lost all of the "layering" of the soil that once had insect holes, pore spaces, and microbes working over it. In some landscape situations the soil will eventually "mellow out" and water will flow through it more rapidly. Expect the "ditch" to expand and contract as the soil settles into place. It could end up being a problem or it might not. Time will tell. Two to three years and you will know for sure. Every heavy rainfall mowing will be a pain even after the pore space issue is resolved. If you were able to pinpoint the low spot where the water collected you could put in a catch basin and tile with pop-up connector (but you could only take it to the edge of your property unless given permission). Best course of action would be for a rain garden but I doubt the development will allow you to do so if your neighbors do not have one. In my experience french drains work for a while.....but in time sediment fills them or in very heavy rain events they can even fill with water (depending on size of french drain). We see "grading experts" making mistakes all the time. They (not all inclusive but quite a few) tend to look at the start elevation and the finish elevation and if there is a drop that's good enough without taking into account every single property and the ups and downs that may be on them. Would be a great area to plant wet-soil tolerant ornamental grasses and perennials (or shrubs) with a rock going through the bottom of the ditch with landscape fabric underneath it. Could have stepping stones or boulders going across it for the kids! Bruce...See MoreDrainage Issues in Back Yard - French Drain
Comments (81)Dead branches on the Japanese maples. indicate that they were unhappy sometime in the past. No way, without a complete history, to know why. When arb foliage thins, it's not coming back. Doesn't matter at the bottom, back sides ... where it can't be seen. I've not heard of that artillery fungus before. Plants are phenomenal! I think from a ladder, using the pole saw, you can remove 1/3 of the limb at a time. If you used the pole chain saw, you'd cut through too quickly and instead of folding, it would drop wherever and whenever. You'll need to call a pro if you gauge it be too risky. The two Jap. maples in the recent pictures look like they may not be getting enough light. One looks like it suffered from the transplant operation. In transplant, there is always some risk. One just tries to do the best they can and hope for the best. For a transplant to elsewhere in the yard, first dig the receiving planting hole. At the plant to be moved, use a drain spade (long straight shovel -- I'm sure you have one :-) to cut around the tree/shrub, with it ending up as if you've cut it out of the ground using a cookie cutter. I usually go completely around 3 times, trying to make sure that all roots are cut. You'll want the cut line to be a circle that is enough distance from the trunk(s) that the resulting rootball is large enough to hold enough roots that the plant can live ... but not so large that it is too heavy and unmanageable, as soil is very heavy. You'll also want the shovel to be at an angle so the rootball can be extricated and is not so heavy. After you've used a drain spade to cut the sides of the rootball, you'll want to use a shovel, possibly two located at opposite sides of the circle, to gently pry the rootball from the surrounding soil. There may be roots connected at the bottom center. You'd need pry up with one shovel, while using the drain spade to stab under the rootball, trying to sever the roots. The main objective while performing the aforementioned operation is to NOT break up the rootball that is being removed from the ground. You want it to come out of the ground in one whole chunk, with the plant in it. Have a tarp or old sheet ready next to the hole to set the plant on, being careful not to break the rootball. It could either be carried by two people or set in a wheelbarrow and given a ride to the new location. I wouldn't drag it on the ground unless going slow and careful to a destination that was very close, as moving across bumpy ground will usually shake the rootball apart. When you get it to the new location, adjust the soil level of the planting hole to bring the thickness of the rootball to the right height (same as it was growing before or slightly higher, as there may be a little settlement.) Before backfilling, rotate the rootball for the tree's best appearance. If this is done during the growing season, I would add a handful or two of fertilizer to the planting hole/backfill soil. And trim the tree trying to reduce its foliage (so as to balance with the roots that have been removed. This would be removing any bottom branches that don't need to be there anyway, and as an overall haircut of the top portion....See MoreNicholas Johnson
8 years agoNicholas Johnson
8 years agoYardvaark
8 years ago
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