French drain my friend. 9 out of 10 homes in my clay laden neighborhood have one.
It's pretty simple actually but laborious.
You dig a 6 inch to 12 inch deep by ~12 inch wide trench through the low spot (or yard pond) all the way around to an area wher you can dump the water. This usually means all the way around your house to the curb but the main priciple is routing the trench along a naturally lowering grade.
If your land is flat and you just have a depression you may do better to have the yard filled and re-graded.
In the trench you lay perforated pipe and cover with loose gravel. Over top the gravel you place the soil you excavated and seed. By the end of the summer or by the next season the grass shopuld have grown back and your ponding issue resolved. You could also use a basic corrugated drain pipe and area drains but they are point specific and you have to grade toward the drains. Plus, they tend to clog thus aren't maintenance free.
Depending on your area a curb cut permit may be a legal requirement to allow you to cut in the end of the drain.
I need to do this myself to hasten water runoff but the though of the digging alone turns me to drinking.
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Originally Posted by shecky
I'm too old for this ****.
Last edited by GilaMinumBeer; 05-20-2009 at 10:11 PM.
First why is the water sitting in your back yard and how long does it sit there on average and how often?
If it is just a couple times a year for a few days then the trees will have no problem with that. If its more often or for weeks at a time then you need to plan how to tackle the problem.
Best solution is to redirect the water so it doesn't collect in the yard, for that you need to know where it is coming from. If from down spouts then try to use a drain or other means to redirect them else where. If its from an adjacent property a well placed planting bed can redirect it out of your yard. Or a misplaced bed may be blocking the natural flow.
If all else fails a perforated drain tube can be placed in the ground. It does require significant digging as you have to ensure the tube slopes to the outlet. As mentioned you will need to cover the tube in gravel to allow the water to reach it, then you can cover that with soil and replant the lawn.
Some pictures may help the suggestions as well as a description of the layout.
French drain my friend. 9 out of 10 homes in my clay laden neighborhood have one.
My understanding was that a French drain was just a hole filled with gravel allowing the water to more easily drain into the ground. However my parents installed about a thousand feet of the tile you describe in their farm to help drain some of the wetter fields. In those days, the clay tile drain was laid down by had behind the trencher. Now the machine can lay the plastic tube much more easily and cheaply. However those machines are a bit much for most lawns.
schlenk, i'm surprised you have this problem in DM. where exactly do you live?
how old are the trees? my guess is they will be fine if they've been on the property this long... as you know, the last few springs have been rather wet, so it doesn't surprise me that water is collecting. what kind of spot is this in your yard?
as mentioned before, a french drain will help, and you don't have to put in perforated tile, just gravel in the trench will be fine... you might want to call a county extension agent to come take a look at it.
if you need more help, let me know, i'm in ames (obviously) and i'd be happy to come down and help you out with it...
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I've had water in my yard for 8-9 years now since I owned the property but the area that was really marshy was about 20'x20'. Two houses have been built nearby both have raised the property on their side slightly (~ 6 acres of area) so I'm thinking its worse now probably 60'x60'. We have also gotten a good amount of rain and this area is not drying on its own.
I will take pictures tomorrow.
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schlenk, i'm surprised you have this problem in DM. where exactly do you live?
how old are the trees? my guess is they will be fine if they've been on the property this long... as you know, the last few springs have been rather wet, so it doesn't surprise me that water is collecting. what kind of spot is this in your yard?
as mentioned before, a french drain will help, and you don't have to put in perforated tile, just gravel in the trench will be fine... you might want to call a county extension agent to come take a look at it.
if you need more help, let me know, i'm in ames (obviously) and i'd be happy to come down and help you out with it...
I live in an unincorporated part of Pleasant Hill. Just east between Pleasant Hill and Runnels. Close to 6th & 64th.
The trees are about 50 years old, one is leaning pretty good. The area is in an obvious low spot. I've been told by the seller that its an underground spring. I don't buy that.
Its near a street sewer run-off which is essentially a down hill trench. The water used to drain into my yard before they completed digging the trench line. Originally, they had a spillway and no trench. I had the trench dug as part of the purchase agreement.
The trench is not breached during heavy rainfall but its at a higher elevation so I think any absorption from the trench is being deposited in this area. The aquifer or water table might be high and I have a 3-4 acre fishing pond further back in the yard. Its still at a lower elevation than the wet area. I could drain water to the pond.
Putting in a drain tile is something I contemplated for some time. My yard is virtually all timber so it doesn't get alot of sunlight hitting the soil. Right now my yard is pretty wet so the lawn tractor either tears up the yard is getting stuck in spots. Quite aggravating. I mowed all evening and I am beat. The grass was 18-24" tall!!! This only because it was really damn wet. Its so bad in some areas its got puddles of algae growing.
android - What do you do for a living?
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Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. - Dale Carnegie
+1 to the french drain. My last house had a swamping problem in the backyard due to it being at the bottom of a hill, and clay soil. By March the yard was unusable.
GilaMinumBeer's idea is pretty spot on, but with this added as well. Line the trench with landscaping cloth (even over the top of the gravel) to keep the fine silt out of the gravel, otherwise in a few years all the space between the larger stones will be filled in and it will be useless. I know, when I dug up the earth for my french drain, I found the old one, completely packed with dirt!
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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
Google "soakaway" for plenty of ideas. This method is most commonly used for run off from a roof, but can be used for your problem too. It's like a french drain, but with a covered pit at the end.
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