Improve Yard Drainage to Stop Flooding Your Branson, MO Property

Learn more about how an excavator near you can improve your yard’s drainage to stop flooding every time it rains.

Why Your Yard Doesn’t Drain Well

The reasons why your yard doesn’t drain well could be due to several factors. Here are the most common scenarios that cause flooding after a rainstorm:

1. The type of soil affects where the water goes after it rains. There are three soil types: clay, loam, and sandy. Loam soil, consider the best soil, drains very well. Sandy soil has a hard time keeping moisture in because water percolates straight through it.

Clay soil, on the other hand, has smaller pockets in it, so water gets trapped and doesn’t move quickly through it.

2. If your yard sits at the bottom of a hill, it’s more likely you’ll find standing water after it rains. Not only will you have the rainstorm itself, but you’ll also have water from the street flowing into your front yard too.

3. Too much thatch in your grass lawn. Thatch is the part that lives between the soil and turf. It’s composed of dead grass shoots and leaves as well as other organic debris.

Too much thatch traps water in that dead zone and puts your lawn grass in danger of disease.

4. Soil compaction that makes the ground unable to absorb water. When the soil feels like concrete under your feet, it’s an indication that you have compacted soil. Compaction is common for lawns where there’s a lot of foot traffic.

Rainwater won’t dissipate through the soil because the pores have shrunk. If you live in a newly built home, your soil may be compacted from construction equipment. You may notice a lot of muddy ponding in your new yard.

5. You may have a negative slope where the water comes downs through your downspout, collects in the yard, and then flows back into your basement. Over time, this flooding from the negative slope causes black mold to form inside your home and weakens your home’s foundation.

Drainage Solutions: How to Fix Drainage Problems in Your Yard

Fortunately, for Branson, MO homeowners, drainage problems can be resolved. Here are some ways to fix drainage problems in your yard:

1. You can restore your hard clay soil by adding organic compost and other soil amendments to improve water drainage. Compost breaks up clay soil so that it can absorb rainwater more efficiently. Organic mulches and topdressing also correct compacted soil.

2. If your yard sits at the bottom of a slope, your landscape contractor can fix it by reworking your property using many options.

Your drainage specialist can install French drains, build a swale, or a retaining wall to keep rainwater from flooding your front yard and possibly your home.

3. You can fix your lawn’s thatch problem by dethatching it. You don’t want more than a half-inch of thatch on your property. You can rent a dethatcher or hire a lawn care company to thin out your turf’s thatch.

After dethatching, you’ll notice improve water drainage. If not, you may need to aerate your lawn to open it up even more. Save time and get your yard aerated, which also helps thin out thatch.

4. If you have compacted soil, you can aerate it with an aerator. An aerator pulls up small plugs of dirt to allow water and oxygen to penetrate through it. The ground now has relief from compaction and improves water drainage right away.

If you have a lot of foot traffic on one area of your property, you may consider pulling up the turf and having a landscape contractor build a walkway or path.

5. Your landscape contractor can fix your negative slope by adding soil to counteract any water flowing toward your home’s foundation. Your excavator can realign the negative slope, so water moves away from your home rather than to it.

Who to Call for Drainage Problems in Your Yard

If you aren’t a DIY’er, you’ll need a yard drainage specialist to fix your drainage problems.

A yard drainage contractor is the same as an excavator or a landscape contractor. The excavator performs the following land management services:

• Backfill with topsoil to improve your newly constructed property’s porosity.

• Grade your yard to even the surface and to avoid water flowing toward your home.

• Add a French drain and perforated piping, so water flows off your property.

• Build a slope that includes perforated piping to move the water to a dry well or a French drain.

• Build a retaining wall, so water stops before entering your front yard.

If you live in Branson or Springfield, MO, or Harrison, AR, you need to call Zanescapes Tree and Yard. Customers in Branson, MO, know that Zanescapes does quality work and will fix your yard drainage problems professionally.

Contact Zanescapes today by calling 417-332-2333 or filling out our contact form.

Zanescapes serves the following metropolitan areas: Branson, MO, Springfield, MO, and Harrison, AR.

Sources:

Aibd.org, “6 Backyard Flooding Solutions for Landscaping a Storm-Proof Yard.”

HGTV.com, “How to Improve Yard Drainage.”

Ibid, “Solving Common Drainage Problems.”

TheSpruce.com, “Removing Standing Water from a Yard.”SavingOldStuff (YouTube), “How to Fix a Negative Slope.”