Does anyone know of a short-term way to firm up grass and soil after rain? I'm preparing my lawn for an outdoor wedding in September in Pittsburgh and there's a good chance it will rain. The lawn drains well enough, but gets soggy. I've heard of sports teams using sawdust or desiccants to help dry a field. Even a solution that would only clear a path, for example, the ceremony aisle, would be a big help. If the solution didn't destroy the grass that would be even better, but I am willing to sacrifice the grass to some extent. Any ideas?

Thank you all. Rick, we had heavy rain all week last week. Most of the blooms felt off, but 1/3 still hang on and now perk up. They do look pretty but not as full. One week of rain ruin most of the blooms in my garden. (good for my grass). Marie

thanks mulio and dickiefickle I will look for the spreader sticker. we got lots of rain again last night :( Looks like I have a few days to wait. I want to keep the blight away. So far so good. I get nervous when it rains and washes away my protection. I know some of the spray stayed on because I can see some at the tips of the leaves. I guess I can wait to see what the weather will bring. I don't want to use more chemicals than I have to. Karen

Those are exactly the pictures and research we need, so good job on that. If I understand correctly, here's what's up ... It looks like there is a well established swale behind your property running downhill to a catch basin. This is great news! It's possible the orginal grading of the yards in the neighborhood may have never been top notch, but just enough to get by. Then, over the years, the swale may have collected enough silt, that it started to drain slower, to the point that it is backing up into individual yards. If the swale is running slow, it wouldn't be sufficient to just fix the grading and drainage in your yard. You need to contact the city public works departand get someone out there to tell your predicament to, and to inspect the drainage in the swale. It would good if you could follow the swale, documenting in video the drainage flow during a major storm, just in case you need it. More than likely, the bottom of the swale just needs to be cleaned out so that it has more capacity. Meanwhile, carefully inspect the grade of your lot and assess that it has positive pitch running toward the back, likely at a diagonal toward the left side. Drainage from your yard would generally follow the blue line. One thing to note, even if the swale is functioning as it should, or is made to do that, there still exists the possibility that torrential rains can overwhelm it because it has a finite capacity. It can only carry away so many gallons of water per minute, and if the rain exceeds that volume, backing up is going to happen. In that case, nobody would be able to do a thing about it but wait for the rains to cease and for the water to finally clear out. But at least, making sure that you have positive pitch in your own yard will ensure that it will drain when the rain ends. If water does back up, you'll need to raise the shed a a few inches higher and grade the surrounding soil such that it has pitch away from the shed. You might do this just in case. If the city declares that the swale is functioning properly, then your only remedy would be to take care of what you can in your own yard. If the city acknowledges that the swale needs cleaning, but they are in no hurry to take care of it, you might try to encourage your neighbors who share the problem to complain to them, too ... you know ... the squeaky wheel getting the grease.