Wet spots in a home or yard can be a nuisance. Grass starts to die when it’s underwater for a long time. You can hardly mow over wet areas, and everyone carries mud into your house. If the soggy area has some close proximity to the house, it can lead to a basement leak or something worse.
Lawn drainage is a common issue that homeowners in North Carolina face. Because of land grading, soil composition, and many other pertinent factors, landscape drainage systems are needed to keep your home and landscape from becoming flooded. Various techniques can be employed to solve your home and landscape drainage problems. Listed below are the top five solutions for poor drainage in your home and landscape.
Top Solutions for Poor Lawn Drainage in NC
Improve Soil Permeability
Soil permeability should be a priority when dealing with drainage problems on your lawn. Tree roots, shrub roots, and grassroots tend to form a thick carpet that inhibits water penetration. Adding compaction to your yard’s soil makes it almost impenetrable to water. To reduce compaction, it’s advisable to aerate your landscape by adding compost manure and organic matter.
Use Gutters to Divert Excess Water
Your yard can have a hard time absorbing excess water. If your lawn is surrounded by driveways and large roofs that spill their rainwater toward your yard, lawn drainage will be an issue. You can use roof gutters to divert water from your yard. However, be sure the water does not end up creating more problems for you or your neighbors. French drains are also an efficient way of diverting excess water. If they are installed properly, most of the water falling from the roof will be evacuated to the sewer system.
Improve Your Yard’s Topography
The general orientation of your landscape should drive water away from your home naturally. A lawn should have a small slope going away from your house. This way, rainwater will flow naturally away from your home. If you realize that your drainage problems could be solved by adjusting your yard topography, consider some reshaping. Make the slope small but regular because a depression may cause water to accumulate.
Install Yard and French Drains
This is a common drainage method that consists of trenches holding perforated pipes that are filled with gravel and then buried. Excess rainwater seeps into the ground via the gravel and into the underground pipes, which evacuate it elsewhere using the sewer system. The buried tubes should be sloped to allow water to flow toward the escape root and not the reverse.
Work on the Nature of Your Landscape’s Soil
Many landscape drainage problems are a result of the soil itself. The presence of sand and organic matter in soil promotes landscape drainage, while clay makes soil less permeable. If your soil is almost impermeable, you can make it permeable by adding limestone and gypsum, which are known to break up soil. Alternatively, you can mix the soil with organic matter to break up the soil and make it richer.
Different drainage problems require different solutions, so you should be sure to identify the cause of your drainage problem so as to determine the best approach to go by.
Choose Hyatt Landscaping to solve your improper draining problem in Charlotte. Call (704) 888-5390 or contact us online! Learn more about our specialty pool drainage services.