Poor yard drainage usually becomes noticeable after a large rainstorm and you realize you have a lake in your backyard or water pooling near the foundation of your house. Water pooling around the foundation of your house can cause flooding indoors or a leak into a basement. In addition, most plants die if the ground is constantly soaked. If you have poor yard drainage it may be due to one of three problems: soil composition, soil compaction or a poorly sloping yard.
Instructions
1. Improve the composition of your soil so it drains better. Soil is made up of sand and clay. If there is too much clay, your soil will not drain quickly enough. Rototill or break up the lawn and soil to at least 8 inches deep and add 3 to 4 inches of compost material into the clay soil, such as leaves, wood chips, grass clipping, sand, gypsum, coffee grounds, sawdust, manure and straw. Mix it into the original soil and replant your yard.
2. Fix your soil compaction problem. An area of low depression in your yard where water is pooling may also be due to too much clay in the soil. Improve the composition of the soil while raising the low compacted area by adding compost materials to your dirt, such as wood chips, sawdust and sand.
3. Fix the slope in your yard by building up the area that is low with topsoil. Make sure the yard slopes away from your house foundation. Build a retaining wall if the newly added soil will wash away in the next rainstorm.
4. Install a drain system, usually called a French drain, so the water can drain from the yard. Before you install the French drain, locate the area that you want to drain the water to. Make sure you are not draining your excess water into the neighbor's yard or toward your house. If your street has a good drainage system, consider having the water drain out into the street. Dig a trench anywhere from 6 to 8 inches deep and 6 inches wide, starting at the area where the water pools, and fill the trench with gravel. Ideally, the trench should be sloping down all the way to the place you want to release the water.
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