Poor yard drainage is more than a nuisance. Standing water can damage your grass and foliage. It’s also a potential health hazard because it can be a breeding ground for mosquito larvae and other undesired pests, jeopardizing your home. Here are six tips to improve the drainage in your yard and around your home.
Positive Surface Drainage
Maintain positive surface drainage away from your home’s foundation. Soil, mulch, gravel, and plantings should always slope away from your foundation and shouldn’t cover the siding or brick of your home.
French Drains
A French drain (also knowns as a ‘weeping tile’) is a trench filled with a perforated pipe and gravel or rock that allows your lawn to drain naturally. It collects surface water and channels it away from the yard’s depressions or the home’s foundation via an underground drain. This type of drainage is an excellent way to disperse water over a large area.
Keep All Runoff Flowing
Don’t obstruct yard drainage routes with berms, planters, raised gardens, play areas, or anything else. Keep an eye out for tree roots and dense vegetation impacting runoff.
Extend Gutter Downspouts
Your gutters should help move water away from your home. However, sometimes they can contribute to the mass of water collecting in your yard. If your downspouts empty into an area that runs uphill or tends to collect water, it might be time to redirect your gutters. Extend downspouts and keep your gutters free of debris regularly.
Dry Well
Dry wells harness gravity to direct water toward the lowest point of the yard, where there’s a buried dry well. A dry well gives runoff water a place to collect until it gradually dissipates into the soil instead of cascading across the lawn surface and pooling in low areas. This drainage system is useful for some lawns since it can ingest and contain a large volume of water so the soil doesn’t become supersaturated.
Correct ‘Back-Pitching’ Surfaces
Correct all ‘back-pitching’ hard surfaces such as stoops, walks, patios, and driveways. For concrete surfaces, raise the surfaces with a mud-jack or concrete-raising company. Have brick or stone surfaces removed and reinstalled to achieve a positive slope away from the house.
Be sure to check the building code requirements in your area before beginning any yard drainage projects. Many municipalities have building codes restricting how and where to discharge storm runoff.
Improve Yard Drainage
Does your home need help with yard drainage? We can help. Nichols Reliable Lawn Care & More is a locally owned and operated lawn care company serving the Northwest Arkansas area. Our goal is to provide you with top-quality, professional lawn services. We’re known for quick response and can handle any problem or job. Call us today for a FREE estimate.