Proper yard drainage is essential for improved home upkeep. Besides helping prevent standing water that could harm your yard, it also lowers the chance of flooding during periods of heavy rain.
Photo by Max Vakhtbovych
Because many plants need well-drained soil to grow and thrive, soil drainage is essential to the health of your lawn. Although plants require a certain amount of moisture to survive, too much water is harmful.
Adequate yard drainage is the secret to keeping your yard dry and your house in good condition. In other words, the more water you can divert from your home, the better.
Here are some quick and easy steps to improve yard drainage and shield your home from harm.
Create Slopes and Grade Your Land
When it rains frequently, water doesn’t have time to soak into the earth. Grading your property away from home can minimize water collection in flat portions of the yard.
Mark your yard’s high and low points as you walk around it to begin. The regions raised and away from which the water starts to move are known as high spots. Where there are low locations, water collects there. You can arrange to reroute the water by marking these points to see how it flows around your property.
Grading your yard can be a big job. Before grading the entire yard, you can prevent water from entering your foundation by adding a slope close to the house.
Use Downspouts
You can easily guide water away from your property using downspouts from your gutters, which should always be kept clean and well-maintained. This little measure can help prevent water from getting into your basement, which will help you avoid hiring cleaning professionals and worrying about mold damage.
Consider installing subsurface downspouts to increase their range and direct water away from your home toward ditches or disused areas.
Alternatively, employ rain barrels. Instead of wasting water from the downspouts, you can use it effectively. Put a rain barrel near a downspout; either make one yourself or buy one. You can direct water into the barrel, which gathers for later use in gardens, by repositioning the downspout.
Aerate your Yard
Aeration is a popular and essential procedure that keeps your yard in the best possible shape. Aeration splits up compacted soil beneath the lawn and makes holes to introduce air and nutrients. Another benefit of adequately aerating your lawn is adequate yard drainage. The water percolates through many holes instead of collecting on the lawn.
Install a Collecting Basin for Lawn Drainage
The worst scenario for water from downspouts and gutters is to collect and soak close to your basement.
Install a collecting basin at the base of every downspout to direct water far away. Water enters the collecting basin and is sent to a drainage outlet by hidden PVC pipes.
Putting up a Trench Drain
Building a trench drain system is an excellent technique to divert water and prevent flooding on your property if your home is at the bottom of a hill. Although it can be a challenging effort, there are several advantages.
To create a space where the water can gather and reach the drain, start by excavating a small trench in the raised area. Create a path for the water to travel through using a solid PVC pipe, then use a perforated pipe to assist the water spread into the earth.
You should add gravel at the place of entrance to aid in absorption, depending on your style and the terrain.
Establish a Water Feature
Nature makes natural water features like brooks and streams to transport water from one location to another. Building one allows you to channel water as you see appropriate and create a lovely landscape element in your yard.
Create a creek bed by digging a small ditch to follow the water’s natural course. For further drainage, add rocks. If removing water from a flat area is impossible, you may consider putting a small pond there instead.
You can also install a pump to keep the water moving and avoid stagnation. A practical water feature that also works to improve curb appeal can increase the value of your home.
Construct a Rain Garden
Consider creating a rain garden at any low point in your yard that attracts and holds water. A rain garden is a space in your yard designed to hold water and often contains aquatic plants. Even if it doesn’t fix the problem of your moist yard, it’s preferable to a large muddy ditch in your yard.
Furthermore, rain gardens benefit the environment by lowering runoff and the use of lawn pesticides. It’s essential to keep in mind that your rain garden doesn’t need to be able to store water like a pond.
Until there is no longer a possibility to drain the water away, you can utilize your rain garden as a drainage system to store extra water. The main component of a rain garden is its vegetation, and you must choose according to the soil’s characteristics. Natural vegetation with thick, deep roots is ideal for rain gardens.
Install an Underground Drain Pipe
Utilizing an underground drain pipe to remove the water from a low area of your yard is another effective method. You need a lower water discharge location here than the inflow.
An ideal slope drain can benefit from adding an underground drainage pipe downhill. From the origin to the outflow, dig a sloping trench. Then, bury a PVC drainpipe and a plastic collecting basin to link it to the outpouring at the source.
This pipe doesn’t require you to support it with gravel throughout its length because it is solid and not perforated. A pipe with a smooth wall can also quickly drain water. You can employ a drain snake to clean it if it becomes clogged.
Improving your Yard Drainage
In addition to damaging your lawn and crops from standing water, yard drainage problems can pose a health risk. It’s crucial to address yard drainage concerns as soon as you detect them since standing water frequently harbours mosquito larvae and other unwelcome pests.
You may easily enhance the drainage in your yard by implementing the strategies outlined in this article.
Leave a Comment