Options for smelly drainage ditch - East Texas
David
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
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David
5 years agosandk
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Help with drainage on side yard
Comments (8)We bought new construction in November here in N.C. and since then we've had pools of water in the yard on either side of our house and in the beds in front too. The landscaping contractor hired by the developer did the bare minimum to make the yards look OK to sell the homes--lay sod right on top of clay, no leveling or clean-up whatsoever, and no soil put down to hold it. In areas that are reasonably flat, the sod took, but drainage is terrible. After it rains, water stands about 1" deep in the low points of the grass and if you try to walk around the yard you sink into several inches of mud. We're already having a mosquito problem too. Additionally, there are bed areas that routinely flood when it rains. One is located directly in front of the house. There is a stand of mature cedar trees there which were untouched during construction due to "tree save" requirements by the country zoning commission. The house is at a slightly higher elevation than where the trees are in this front bed, so each time it rains, water collects in there like a pond, submerging the trunks of the cedars under a few inches of water for up to 24 hours. To the side of the house (behind the cedar bed) is a patch of sod-lawn that appears level, but is actually a few inches higher than the cedar bed, but lower than the next-door neighbor's yard a mere 15 feet away. When water comes out of their downspouts, it pours directly onto my flat area of lawn. Additionally, I have two downspouts emptying into the same area. The consequence is that this area is always wet, muddy, swampy, and nothing I plant in the bed close to the foundation survives. In fact, I discovered the problem at first when shrubs were showing symptoms of drowning despite drought and a broken irrigation system! Builder is responsible because warranty stipulates standing water that lasts more than 36 hours is his fault. He wants to come in and re-grade the lawn area to include a ditch that would run between my yard and the neighbor's yard. He calls this a "mowable slope," but I think it will be hard to mow and we do our own lawn care. He does not plan to re-grade the area of the tree bed, so I'm not sure how the water from that lowest point will even make it to the trench he plans to dig to the side of the house. Aside from not liking the look of a "V" shaped side yard, I'm worried about erosion. On the other side of the house where there is already more of a "V" configuration between our house and the next house, no grass will grow, and there's a canyon forming from the rain we've been having. I asked builder about this, and about how digging a trench will only make erosion problem bigger, but he says we have to "work harder" to prevent erosion on our nickel! We've heard a better option would be to install french drains around the problem areas and piped to the lowest point of the yard,ultimtely draining into the road below (house is built into side of a hill, with rear-entry garage/basement at ground level below ground level of front door). Who's right? Builder says surface drainage "never fails," drainage "expert" says surface drainage will cause erosion and unsightly shape to yard. Money is tight, builder doesn't want to pay for anything other than his regrading plan. Suggestions???...See MoreDrainage and pond advice (pics)
Comments (10)One strategy for both would be to work with what you have. Around the edge of your pond you could put rocks, not in necklace formation, but thoughtfully arranged to look natural, and interspersed with plants that like the wet area. One way to get ideas on how to arrange the rocks is to go to ponds or waterways where there are rocks naturally and take photos to get an idea of what looks right. Then you can use those for reference. Books on water gardens from your public library may have some nice images that give you ideas as well. There are lots of lovely, non-invasive plants that like wet feet. Some of these are happiest in wettish soil, and some will grow in standing water. You can choose plants for both your wet areas to dress things up without changing the essential character of the area. Two deciduous rhododendrons: rhodora (R. candense) blooms magenta in very early spring followed by blue-green foliage, and swamp azalea (R. viscosum) blooms white to light pink summer and may have nicely colored fall foliage. One evergreen rhodie, R maximum, is moisture tolerant and blooms about now. There are a bunch of selections for flower color, etc that you may be able to find at specialty mailorder nurseries, that might not but most likely will have the same moisture tolerance. Labrador tea (Ledum groenlandicum or Rhododendron groenlandicum) has evergreen foliage and small white spring flowers. High bush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), has flowers, fruit, and red fall foliage Huckleberry (Gaylussacia frondosa) is similar to blueberry. Red chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia) has white spring flowers, red fruit and fall color, and black chokeberry (A. melanocarpa) has similar characteristics with dark berries. Serviceberry or shadblow (Amelanchier spp.) has early white spring flowers berries the birds love and may have nice fall foliage. Different varieties are from large tree to large shrub sized. Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) make a nice loose evergreen ground-cover with small white flowers and red fruit. Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia) has late summer flowers in white to pink, and many selections. Winterberry holly (Ilex vertcillata) is a deciduous holly that has bright red berries in the fall until the birds eat them. They really blaze against the grays and tans of late autumn and early winter. Red osier dogwood, (Cornus sericea or C. stolonifera) has bright red stems, especially if you cut it back each spring. Northern arrowwood viburnum (V. recognitum) has nice panicle of white flowers, followed by berries if there is more than one variety in the vacinity. White cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) is an evergreen that likes wet feet and you can find selections from large shrub to large tree in size. Red maple and Cottonwood will also grow along seasonally wet areas. There are willows ranging from pussy willows to weeping willows that like wet areas. Taxodium distichum, Bald Cypress, is a deciduous conifer that gets huge and is quite striking. Dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) also is a huge conifer that doesn't mind wet feet. Some perennials include turtlehead (Chelone), white to pink late summer flowers; cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) scarlet late summer flowers, marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) yellow early spring blooms, several kinds of gentian, fringed & closed or bottle are two of them, and many kinds of the fibrous rooted iris, like Japanese, Siberian, blue flag. (not Iris pseudacorus, yellow flag iris, which is invasive.) There are several ferns, like cinnamon (Osmunda cinnamomea), Royal (O. regalis) and interrupted (O. claytoniana) that are lovely and like wet feet. A number of grass-like plants like this type of environment as well, including many sedges and reeds. A wet area like this can attract lots of wildlife. We have a seasonal wet area about the size of yours, but which dries up many summers, which has frogs breeding and singing their hearts out now. We have herons and ducks that visit when it's wet, and sedges and reeds that grow there along with some cottonwoods, red maple and pussy willow. I enjoy having it there....See MoreDrainage problem
Comments (1)Hmm...we have our own water problem here we're trying to figure out, but yours seems a bit more solvable than mine! It seems that maybe to talk to the city could be a solution, especially since you said that when they put sidewalks in, it has made your problem worse. You may be able to have them regrade the area near the sidewalk so that the water flows onto the street and into drainage pipes properly. If not, then back to your plans. If the water is not backing up into your yard (and nearing your foundation), but rather just pooling in the dirt area shown in your picture, I would think about planting some shrubs that are water loving and would soak up puddles quickly. Maybe something like a dappled willow? I'm still learning a lot about plants, but someone else here who is much more knowledgeable could guide you better I'm sure! Or you could do what's been suggested to me--a dry river bed (but mine would be a 15 foot wide one with really substantial rocks, so not a few hour DIY project!)If you filled that are in with small river rock and then did some plantings, it would be pretty and multipurpose as well. Just a few thoughts. I would call the city first though to see what they say....See Morenon-smelly fertilizer
Comments (33)"'You stole them to improve your soil.' That is ridiculous. " If you are composting banana peels and coffee grounds from your kitchen it might be a bit of a stretch but think of it this way; youre a wheat farmer. You harvest your wheat and sell it. The wheat contained a lot of nitrogen in the form of proteins, calcium, phosphorus etc that the wheat plants extracted from your soil to grow and complete their reproductive cycle. If you sold the wheat to a chicken farmer down the road who spread his manure on your field you might get some of those nutrients back, but more likely it went to a flour mill thousands of miles away if not the other side of the world and is gone. You are going to have to fertilize with something to maintain a productive soil. Use compost you say? Well if you need 100lbs of nitrogen per acre and you can get compost that is 3% nitrogen (but only 50% is available during the growing season) that will be 3.3 tons of compost per acre. Not a big deal for a garden plot but you have 5000 acres and will therefore need 16,500 tons (33 million pounds) of compost. Not really practical if you think about. That is why compost is heavily used by gardeners working on a small scale and not by farmers working on a large scale. What farmers will do is grow a crop of vetch and rye (or something) over the winter to scavenge nutrients create some organic matter and fix nitrogen. But thats getting off the subject. The issue is robbing one soil to feed another. After the wheat was harvested there is the matter of the straw. There are probably several thousand pounds per acre of stover left in the field. These are your options, burn it to reduce the carbon (that would otherwise tie up nitrogen for a while) and control disease, bale it and sell it, or turn it into the soil to build organic matter. Say you decide to sell the straw and make money to pay the mortgage. You now are not only losing nutrients with the wheat but also a tremendous amount of potential organic matter. On the other hand if I buy your straw, or manure that came from feeding your wheat and use it in my garden I am gaining nutrients and organic matter. It all came from your field. I have in essence robbed your wheat fields to feed my garden. Do you not agree?...See MoreDavid
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoLeasa Brown
5 years agoDavid
5 years agoblakrab Centex
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoloreleicomal
5 years agowantonamara Z8 CenTex
5 years agoDavid
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agosandk
5 years ago
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