Thanks for the responses. To Kimmsr: I may have been unclear as to the drainage time. None of the holes that I dug were drained after 60 miinutes. The test involves filling the holes twice, and I guess the second time is more important (as the first filling of the soil eliminates to bias from the surrounding soil being dry and gives a "truer" indication of drainage). On the first filling, some of the holes were down to an inch of water after about 60 minutes, but that last inch wasn't really budging, so I just did a second fill at that time and waited another hour, at which point the holes all had MORE than an inch of water in them after 60 min. (but were less than half full). The County guide-book I'm using basically says if it's taking over 60 minutes to drain, you have a problem and need to look into augering or tilling, so I did not keep timing to see how long over 60 min. the holes took to drain. Since I'm taking this info from my LA County planting guide-book, I am reluctant to second-guess or ignore it. Hmmm...maybe the rate of perculation varies by area and is "naturally" supposed to be faster in my area, and that is needed for the Guide's recommended plant list, which is why they want 12" per hour or less for drainage? (I'm guessing.) I would also note that the water seemed to go down reasonably quickly at first, but then slowed considerably as the water got below the halfway point in the holes, which I gess means there's reasonable side-ways drainage from the 6" mark and up, and it is below that that the walls and floor of the hole were more like a bowl than a strainer (or more like a brick than sponge). Basically, for all I, it would take over 3 hours or over 6 hours, or who knows, to wait till the holes were totally empty, so I'm not really sure how bad my drainage problem is. To Ken_Adrian: You suggest getting my County Extension's "guide," but I'm pretty sure that's what I'm using, and what I linked to above. Did you look at that guide, and is it NOT the same thing? Note, with budget cuts and a big city and stuff, it's nearly impossible to get a County person on the phone in Los Angeles, at least when I've called to talk about other stuff, like permits and tree trimming and stuff, so I'm not real confident in my ability to find some one in the County to pick their brain my questions... to Toxcrusadr: Thanks for that reply, I learned some stuff. It sounds like I can till and then use lasagna method without fear of grass sprouting everywhere. If we did til, then add the lasagna layers, we'd then be walking over the soil to some extent to do our planting (cutting through all the layers and planting in the "real" soil that the grass is in, as I understand it), so I am a bit concerned this would cause compaction at least in some areas, and even if we till the soil when it's not wet, the lasagna method calls for wetting down the various layers as you add them, so I'm still not sure if this approach would lead to compaction problem. Maybe my biggest concern, though, is that the tiller I saw for rent at Home Depot looks like it'll only go maybe 6-8 inches deep, whereas the 1-man power auger they rent will go 16 inches deep, maybe more. If I've got a compaction problem below the 8 inch depth, I am wondering if tilling will help that issue at all? Lastly, there's a suggestion that the lasagna method, standing alone, should fix a drainage / compaction problem organically, as the right mixture of ingredients in the soil will lead to thriving organism or micro-organism or whatever, that naturally keep drainage good. (Sort of like imagining if you cultivate worms in your yard, and they will dig holes as they move through the earth creating a healthy amount of porousness and drainage for the soil, but on a bigger level since I'm sure the healthy soil has a lot of living stuff going on apart from worms.) If my image/analogy is correct, and the lasagna method -- done right -- will ultimately fix the drainage issue, do I really need to do anything? It would be nice if the answer is "no," EXCEPT for the fact that the County Guide I'm following SAYS to do augering or tilling before Lasagna if the drainage is slower than 60 min for a 12 inch hole. My main concern with doing the lasagna method without improving drainage is that, if water does not drain fast enough from the lasagna layers, will that sabotage the whole lasagna process? Ken

Have been thinking about your inquiry for quite a while. We have done a similar thing (not exactly a french drain) to catch run off from our rain gutter. We cleaned off the area well, laid heavy cardboard, and then covered it with pea gravel. We used a flexible edging to keep the gravel where we wanted it to separate from a grassy area. I put some ensata iris in the run off area and there is mint in there also. The iris have a rather short bloom period but were outstanding and the foliage remains attractive. I have a favorite mint growing there, but it needs periodic trimming and thinning and will put out very long runners if not kept disciplined. Thinking about your inquiry, thick fibrous vs nice deep tap root, I think the nice deep tap root might be the better choice, although I love the fragrance of the mint. EP

Delta MS will not address your water table. My recommendation is the following. french drains. not the 4'' ads pipe its crap. Use 3" pvc perf. and 16"w by 26" deep poly sump pits. my rule of thumb is one pump and pit per 100 feet of footing drains. Sump pump of choice is a Zoeller. if you have a block foundation weep holes should be drilled. Now my method is a very old one and reliable. This is more a water management system and if maintaned well your basement will stay dry. If your hire a reputable company a job which i described should only take a few days. Here are the downsides to anything down on the exterior. first is the price. if this product isnt covering every square inch its a waste of your hard earned money and most the time the guarantee isnt worth the paper its typed on. Also any exterior work is going to be very extensive meaning, and landscaping will have to be removed, decks will have to be taking down, porches will nedd to be removed and re built, the list goes on and on. Now the dangers. removing all the earth around your home down to your footing and pushing it all back in when the job is down can result in the basement walls caving in and your home collapsing. A lot of these waterproofers who do the exterior stuff almost never tell the customers about these facts. I know from experience, it happened to us when we used to do the exterior drains. its just not worth it. As for the pumps in your basement you can set them high so they only pump when they have to. Hope this was helpful to you. good luck in your new home

If gravity drainage on the exterior is possible, the french drain would be great. Water near a house is going to somewhere. If it is easy for it to flow away before getting to the house, the basement will be dry.