Hi James, I was wondering if those steps are new concrete steps and if the house was tuckpointed recently before you bought it? The reason I ask is that there appears to be some very recent work done in those areas that you are having problems with (notice the lighter color of the mortar in the joints of the brick surrounded by darker mortar joints in picture 3). Was there settling around the steps and was the footer replaced or were the stairs just re-pointed with new slabs layed for the treads? I also see a long vertical joint that looks like it was caulked near your family room. You may have some deeper settling issues that were camouflaged with some touch ups. I would like to advise you to call a bricklayer in to see if there is a problem that you may need to worry about with the foundation walls. You may have already addressed the issue permanently by diverting the water. But I would advise checking into it with a professional before you do any more work around that section of the house. An estimate will not cost you but you will have some peace of mind before you invest any more time, effort and energy into it.

Gravel or coarse sand added to an entire planting area can help to improve drainage because it introduces spaces in between the soil particles for water to penetrate, but it takes quite a lot to have much of an effect. And it needs to be fully incorporated into the soil to a significant depth, not applied as a layer. The accepted horticultural convention is that organic matter (i.e. compost) is preferred for this purpose, as its decomposition over time improves soil fertility and structure in addition to increasing the pore space. The incorporation of the gravel or compost into the entire planting area is the same theory behind not amending individual planting holes - amending creates situations of different soil structure adjacent to each other - this impedes root development as well as water penetration. It's called soil interface issues and if your "landscaper" is self-taught or long out of school, he may not be familiar with the both the theory and the current practices. Establishing a border of drain rock at the front base of the wall where it meets the lawn (or whatever) should help to reduce the wading pool effect. It is a pretty common application here with heavy, poorly draining NW soils and if deep and wide enough, relatively effective. It can even have the appearance of a dry stream bed (or mostly dry) and become part of the garden aesthetic as well as being a highly functional application.

Thank you Yardvaark! It never occurred to me to check and see what the neighbors had in their yards! We have neighbors to the north and south, with the east side of the property bordered by a public hiking trail. There is a cement wall and fence separating us from the trail, but only chain link between us and the neighbors. The southerly neighbor's lawn is mostly grass, but the northern one is VERY overgrown with all sorts of climbing plants, vines, and who knows what else. Anyway, I did a little recon this morning to see what we currently have growing in our yard. I'm not sure any of this qualifies as groundcover, though. In addition to the following, we have ALL sorts of ivies and creeping vines growing over various areas. The slopes are mostly grass and weeds right now, which is problematic because the grass grows enough to need mowing, but you can't mow up there, so DH has been having to basically hold a weedwhacker over his head to trim the area. This plant occupies a large chunk of the backyard currently, although it's actually in an area I would like to use for herbs, so it may get ripped out. No idea what this plant is, but it is reasonably attractive and seems not to need much in the way of maintenance. Another view of it (lower left corner): We also have several large patches of this this paler green plant growing throughout the backyard - it's definitely mint of some sort, but not sure what kind. Probably not something to use as groundcover since I know mint can be invasive. The flat lawn areas tend to have a lot of this next plant (weed?) poking up, especially in areas that don't get a lot of sun: And finally, there's this guy, which occupies a chunk of the backyard as well: I'm not at all opposed to spending a little money on something new that will really suit the area, but there is quite a lot of slope to cover (I would estimate 1000sf). Never having to worry about trimming those slopes again would be worth a pretty penny, though! Any thoughts about these current residents?

Hi! I'm a landscape company owner in Georgia. We've found that while you do not necessarily need the drainage aggregate behind a small garden wall like this, it does not add very much cost to the project, so you might as well go ahead and put at least 4-6 inches of gravel backfill. This protect the wall and help prevent any dirt from flowing through the cracks in the wall, causing a dirty appearance. If you'd like to think about wall options a little more, check out our retaining wall page on our website. Happy wall building!