How I Solved Drainage Problems In My Yard Pt 3
Previously: How I Solved Drainage Problems In My Yard Pt 1 **** How I Solved Drainage Problems In My Yard Pt 2
The Battle Of Boiling Mud And Bursting Dam
Three of the four downspouts on my home are buried near the corners of the foundation and extend about 10 feet from the house, where they drain onto the lawn. This is a great setup for pulling water away from the house, as long as the mouth of each pipe is kept open. Turns out the previous owners of my new home hadn’t maintained two of the drain pipes which empty at the same point (see photo below) and it was so overgrown that it was completely hidden from view. I had walked over it probably a hundred times and never knew it was there.
Each time we had significant rainfall, something akin to a lake collected in the rear corner of my yard. As it was on the downside of a hill, I assumed that the lake was being created by hill runoff. Logical, right?
Early the first spring after buying my home we were hammered by a string of rain storms. Water was everywhere, and when I saw it coursing down the outside wall on the back of my house I knew there was a gutter problem. Braving the driving rain, I stepped outside to have a look. Sure enough, water was spilling over the top of the gutter. From where the gutter drain pipe entered the ground, I walked 9-10 feet in every direction, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out where the opening of that pipe was, but I knew I had to get it unclogged.
Then I saw it: Mud was boiling like a pot of hot chocolate with bits of grass in it.
I ran to the garden shed, grabbed my shovel, plunged it into the bubbling mud and eureka! Water came gushing out like a dam had broken (because in fact it had…). With the water came soil, those maple tree seed spinners, bugs, bird feathers, small stones, bits of roof shingle, and various other unidentifiable things – a primordial soup. Picture what would collect in your rain gutters after a year or two of them not draining. And now it was running at my feet directly into the “lake”. But at least it wasn’t coming down the wall anymore.
So now I knew the source of the problem. The gutter had been draining but below ground, with the subterranean rainwater winding its way to the lake-y area. It was the lowest spot in my backyard, so naturally water would collect there if it couldn’t dissipate elsewhere.
After things dried out, I attempted to use the same technique I used in part 2 to restore the decimated lawn between the gutter drain and the “lake”. But the grass seed I planted, even though covered in burlap, washed away to the base of my Quince trees, just beyond the “lake”. Submitted as evidence: a profoundly luxurious tuft of new lawn from the base of the Quince trees out two feet, while the part I actually planted was eroded, bare patches interspersed with weakling weeds and grass the roots of which (I found later) were being consumed by Japanese Beetle grubs.
I read up on grading and diverting water flow, and guessed that the simplest thing to do and the least expensive was to install a French drain (there are 5 kinds of french drains-this was the simplest, a filter drain). Starting at the mouth of the drain pipe, I dug a small trench one foot wide, three feet long (in a straight line from the mouth) and one shovel spade deep (about 8 inches). The dimensions were strictly a guess on my part and were not derived from any kind of math based on the flow of water, the grade of the land, and all that jazz. I just made it up as I went along.
- My French Drain after two years in use. Note that two pipes drain into it, from two sides of the house
I lined the trench walls on the long sides with leftover garden bricks (the decorative kinds with scalloped tops), making sure that they didn’t extend too far above the soil surface, so I could pass my lawn mower over them without destroying the blade. Both short ends of the trench were left open to drain into and out of. I poured about 3 inches of sand into the bottom and then added a few inches of the white stones which had been in the patio garden bed from part 2 (word to the wise: never throw anything away when it comes to hardscape materials). That was it. Now I just had to wait for rain.
When the next hard rain came, I ran outside, took a look and declared myself a success. I was amazed by how well the French drain worked. A good fifty percent of the water coming out of the gutter was being absorbed. What had once gushed with fury was now a timid trickle which dissipated harmlessly in the lawn. And wouldn’t you know it? NO MORE LAKE. The water never had a chance to get to the back of the yard.
Reducing the flow and volume of the water made renewing the lawn much easier. The soil had been water tortured for years, so I had to aerate it every Fall and Spring for three seasons, but that was simple. I also added finely ground compost and peat moss over top of the grass seed and covered it with burlap until germination.
Now this area of my back yard is full of vitality, with new shrubs of various kinds, a River Birch tree, some ferns, and lots of grass. I’m turning it into a shade garden where I’ll be able to relax on hot summer days after working in the vegetable garden.
Follow