Tips and Tricks for Landscaping Success

Posted on: 29 April 2021

Yard landscaping and its drainage go hand-in-hand and are essential to keep your landscaping healthy. Here are some recommendations to help you correct a yard drainage issue in your landscaping and keep your property maintained.

Determine the Cause

When your yard is collecting and holding in too much moisture, there can be several different reasons for the problem. A swampy yard with pooling water can be caused by a bad slope to the soil, which allows all the water to drain down and collect in a low spot within your lawn. Your soil may also contain too much clay, which blocks the water from draining and absorbing into surrounding surfaces. 

However, you should also look at your irrigation schedule to see if you may be watering your landscaping too much and too frequently. To check if this is the problem simply reduce how much you water by shortening the time or increasing the time between waterings to see if your yard dries out but without causing heat stress and dead spots to your landscaping vegetation. 

It is also a good idea to make sure your roof drainage is functioning properly. An improper gutter and downspout drainage system will deposit rain runoff into your yard's landscaping and cause a swamp and water damage if it gets into your basement and foundation.

Adjust Your Landscaping

Too much moisture in your yard needs to be corrected with some drainage improvements, and you can install and add them right into your landscaping for an attractive addition. For example, you can correct too much moisture seeping into your basement by adding more soil against the home's foundation to create a slope away from your home. Then, you can add in a dry creek bed or swale to add visual interest and also help manage water runoff during heavy rainstorms and resulting roof runoff.

Add in New Drainage Features

Pavement in your yard can be a detriment to your yard's drainage, especially when it covers a large area or large percentage of your yard. Without a place for the rain and snowmelt to soak down into the soil, it will collect in your yard and become a problem. However, a permeable pavement system in your yard will provide a solid surface but will still allow rain to soak down into the landscaping.

You can also add in a French drain below your landscaping which will aid in runoff drainage but keep your landscaping intact. By installing a French drain below the soil, it will collect excess water in the lowest point of your yard, and it can be diverted through a drainage pipe out to the curb gutter and storm drains.

For more information, contact drainage contractors, such as the ones at Morlock Landscape & Design.