#1 just a few days ago..pulled out weeds then used logs to edge a path..hoping the biggest piece (and a smaller one in front of it that's been there awhile) will keep some water behind it..#2 this "character" log has helped level the ground here..#3 close to a drain..#4 a drain..these people are so nasty..

trying to find a pic that shows how the land slopes..can you see it?

The water still has to go somewhere. You'll need to deflect it so that it doesn't end up in your basement. Ditches tend to work well, if they are reinforced well. Look up "water bars for erosion control" and you'l find all kinds of options that will adequately move the water to the side of the house.

Or look up "french drain" which will deflect the water around the house once it gets to the foundation. Logs lying on the surface of the soil may do something, but a big deflection is probably asking too much of surface barriers.

liquidfeet..thank you..I will.."water bars" is a new term for me..never heard of it..googling now..

liquidfeet..I downloaded a pdf file from a natural resources conservation site..our problem would be where would the water exit?..if heavy equipment created a water bar to the front would it kill my trees?..sounds as if it could be expensive :-( ..but I want my husband to read the file..thanks..

I don’t know what a water bar is, but.......I had a neighbor down the block who dug a trench out several feet from the side of the house, he laid PCV pipe down into the ditch then covered this over with small landscaping stones. He was getting the water to drain away from the house towards the front and I believe this worked. Of course h was on a city lot. You have a small forest!! Why are those people so nasty!! I want to sneak up there in the middle of the night and put big rocks in their downspouts!!!!And the city, well, hear you go again, maybe you need to be on TV again to show what 💩💩💩 your neighbors are!! 😂😂😂

debra

Given that your land (how big is the property?) and the neighbour above you’s land slopes, where does the water naturally drain to? We only have a suburban 1/4 acre but the neighbour to the north of us is on higher ground and directs their downspout at the back corner of their house to drain into our north alley. Our lot slopes both N to S and also E to W so all the water drains eventually to what we call ‘the wet corner’. While that area never has standing water, in spring any hole dug there immediately fills with water! By mid-summer the area has completely dried out.... An important element of this garden in the backyard is the path network. The paths, in addition to being functional for garden maintenance, are key to directing water towards the wet corner. The path in the north alley has log edging but most of the rest do not. Over time the paths have developed a slight scoop in the bottom that helps direct water. During heavy rain, the north alley path can be under water for a few hours but the water soaks into the ground (clay soil with a topping of pine bark mulch - that has degraded over the years - and some coarse sand.) In steeper areas where running water can erode the path or areas where water can lay for longer periods in spring, we added ‘crusher run’ gravel to the path material to aid in drainage and also make it easier to ‘erase’ any erosion on the paths. Given how dry it can get here in summer, I actually value the neighbour’s ‘gift’ of water! By the looks of your pictures, the scale of your issues is much larger than ours :-) When we bought the house here, there was evidence (scale deposits on the concrete block basement wall along the north alley) that there had been drainage issues in the past. We had that wall dug out and found that the tile drain at the foundation footer was clogged with clay silt. So all the drainage tile along there was replaced with new plastic piping with a filter cloth on top. There is also a sump pump in that corner of the basement that pumps water out to a ditch in the front. All the houses along this street have sump pumps and the streets in this neighbourhood have ditches. Hopefully you can find a way to manage the water to make it a valuable/functional force in the garden....!

we came in for a quick bite and I saw these comments..will read them again tonight and get back to you both debra and woodyoak..

debra..you made me laugh!..I really could tell you some stories..all of my other neighbors support us..that really helps..

woodyoak..our lot is on a cul-de-sac..narrow in front wide in back..half an acre..the water collects primarily in a low spot on the west end..the land slopes from every direction towards the low spot..I'm going out now but will read your comment again to fully follow your comments..thanks more later..

debra..I've thought about this a lot..I talked to a nice contractor once about a similar plan as your neighbor..we have a long run from the "swale" (our low point) to the curb..and I swear the street looks higher than the "swale" and higher than the front yard..very tricky to get a pipe to have positive flow..I think a dry creek bed or rain garden would be a hassle to maintain..wouldn't it fill up with debris?..I would NEVER tell if you put a few rocks in to plug their downspouts!!..Lol..

woodyoak..the water goes naturally to our "swale"..this spring pic was taken sitting on my garden seat facing east with the swale right behind me..the house that put drain pipes in shows in the right top corner..can you tell the neighbor's house and the east side of my backyard are higher ground?..easier for me to comment on the pics separately..this neighborhood has a high water table..someone told me that's why we have so many trees..the land was unsuitable for farming and was never cleared..homes with basements have multiple sump pumps..we have a partial crawl space on the west end where the water collects..the rest of the house is on a slab..

both pics from my dining room window..when it's dry and when it's wet..

the sideyard we'd be trenching to create a path for the water..see the street "up" there?..and I'm not even standing in the swale..it's very scary to me to think of heavy equipment hauling loads of dirt out..cutting tree roots to get the pipe low enough to capture water..if it killed lots of trees I'd be sorry..

You need a open French drain and run the water to a ditch, pond, or storm water run off. I would suggest you watch some videos by French Drain Man on YouTube.
He has covered almost every type of drainage problem. There are many schools of thought on how todo a French drain so do your research so you are not doing it twice.

Mike..thanks for your thoughts..we have nowhere to drain but the street..we learned about the drainage after we moved in..the paperwork said "no drainage issues"..not true..it's not an easy fix..