Your landscaping needs water, but not too much water. Rain, broken sprinkler heads and misguided watering can all affect your yard and your home’s foundation. Whenever you work on your landscaping, you need to take drainage into account.
Excess water can come from several places. Rain running off your roof, for example, and heavy rainfall in the yard are obviously common issues. But a broken sprinkler can also direct water toward the wrong part of the yard. Good drainage mitigates the damage that all this excess water can cause.
When you evaluate the drainage on your property, start with the slope of the land away from the house. Then look at the paths water can take from your yard to the storm drain, along with the condition of the soil. Tackling these three characteristics of your property will help you create a comprehensive drainage plan.
Monitor Grading During and After New Projects
The land your house sits on should slope away from the foundation. Even if the land appears relatively flat, there’s still a shallow slope that lets water run to the street, rather than your front door. If you work on any renovations or new landscaping projects, double-check the grading of the land during and after the project.
If the land isn’t graded properly, water could pool and become a stagnant mosquito nursery. The water could also run toward your home, flooding the interior or contributing to mold around the foundation. It could also shift soil, which could damage the foundation.
Divert and Guide Runoff With Different Features
Runoff that flows away from your home still has to go somewhere. That water can end up flooding flower beds if you don’t guide it toward a drain. Channel drains and French drains are both very effective at moving runoff out of your yard, toward a storm drain. Position downspouts so that they deposit water from the roof gutters into these drains.
If you want a lower-tech way to divert water away from your home and landscaping, look into swales. These are shallow depressions that allow water to pool in one spot before heading into a storm drain.
You can also try adding a dry stream, which looks like a wide, decorative stone border on the surface. However, those small stones hide several layers of gravel and other materials that allow water to filter down below the surface.
Work With What You Have
Sometimes the issue with drainage in your landscaping isn’t runoff. Instead, it’s how the soil itself releases water. Clay soil, for example, is notorious for hanging onto moisture and not letting water filter down and away from plant roots. Normal levels of watering can result in a drowned plant.
One solution is to amend the soil so that water can more easily drip away. But if that still isn’t enough to solve the problem, you can use one more tactic. Install plants that prefer slightly soggier conditions.
Conclusion
No matter the cause of the drainage issues in your yard, there’s a solution. A landscaping company can help you install drainage that’s appropriate for your particular piece of land. If you live in Warner Robins, GA or a surrounding area and need water drainage services, make your first call to Safe Site Services.
