"David J Bockman" wrote:

Did you do the retaining wall yourself? If not, then how the water drains
out from behind the wall is a mystery that probably needs addressing. How is
the retaining wall laid? Can you see any daylighting perforated pipe that
seems to run back to the base of the retaing wall, or are there sufficient
weep holes in the wall?

I rent the first floor of the house. The wall has been there 15-30
years. It is a rough/jagged stone wall. I'm guessing there may be
concrete binding it together but I don't recall seeing obvious amounts
of concerete. When it stops raining I'll go take a look. Last year I
recall seeing openings inbetween rocks into dirty pockets (Cicada
Killer Wasps were digging nests in some) I'm not sure if they are
intentional drains or not. I had intended to find and dig into them to
see if there is a physical pipe there. If I dig down deep enough maybe
I could do something to cause better drainage. The ground closer to
the wall definitely doesn't drain well. The lawn further away will be
firm after a rain while closer to the wall it is still soft and wet to
muddy.

DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
2nd year gardener