I have a problem with poor drainage from my lawn. I have dug a soak away but still the rain water does not go away. The house & surrounding area is built on clay which is very deep, I know this from the amount of digging I have done in it. Does anyone have any idea's ?

On Mon, 15 May 2006 15:15:34 +0000, davejoemeg
wrote:


I have a problem with poor drainage from my lawn. I have dug a soak away
but still the rain water does not go away. The house & surrounding area
is built on clay which is very deep, I know this from the amount of
digging I have done in it. Does anyone have any idea's ?


There are several solutions, but the picking the most effective one
will be based on the specifics of the area. One solution is to add
layers of soil to the lower areas--you can add 1/2" at a time to a
lawn area without disturbing the existing grass. Of course, this
means you must have a mound of soil to use. If your situation is
really bad, you may need to re-grade the entire area, then re-seed the
lawn. If you pick this method, this would be an excellent time to add
organic matter, such as mushroom compost, to the soil and till it in.
Another method is to install a perforated pipe and have it drain off
to another area.

Thanks, I have tried a perforated pipe but to no avail. I believe the water has no means of escape & as my lawn is west facing the specific area in question does not get much sunlight. I have been told that bruching sharp sand into the lawn may do the trick?

Dave,

More information please. If you visit the doctor for a $50 office call,
you will not expect him to help you if you provide little more information
than "my stomach hurts; I tried some Tums; my stomach still hurts."

You are seeking advice for a problem which is much bigger than a $50
issue. I'm willing to offer advice and I'm certain that others will also,
but you need to take the effort to give us some details.

Please describe you problems and describe the terrain: Standing water,
poorly graded lawn, wet basement, saturated soil (clay), estimated depth
of topsoil (if any!), estimated depth of surface clay (until you hit hardpan),
runoff from adjacent properties, natural springs in your area, etc. ? You
don't have to answer all issues, but the more the better.

Describe you attempted fix: DIY "soak away" system or a "professionally
installed system", type and size of aggregate used, type and diameter of
drain pipe, installed using civil engineering transit/level/tape/leveling rod
or just hillbilly guess & dig approach, pitch of terrain, pitch of drainage
system, distance between laterals, specifics on the "soak aways" (dry
basins), depth of laterals, etc. Once again, it is best if we aren't guessing
about your specifics.

From my experience, 90% of subsurface drainage systems are improperly
installed. About 50% of them fail to work adequately in the first year,
another 25% eventually fail as the poorly installed systems degrade, and
the other 25% work moderately well to extremely well, based upon blind
luck rather than the skill of the installer. I know professional sports turf
builders (golf course builders in particular) who can't understand why the
exact same drainage design worked in situation #1 but not in situation #2.
Their method of installation is quit simple:
"That's the way we've always done it."

The more you tell us, the more we can help.

FYI: If you are attempted to correct poor drainage in a large area with
extremely high clay content, you are usually wasting your effort unless
you have laterals spaced at 3' or less. Yes, that sucks, but that is the
reality of trying to make clay "soil" behave nicely. Even with 3' laterals,
you need to have a reasonably good understanding of some soil engineering
principals. Also, that pretty white crushed stone that everybody uses
is one of the worst choices for aggregrate. It works fine for a while, but
ultimately degrades as it shifts, compacts, and fills with clay.

Good luck,
Gideon

================

dave wrote in message ...

I have a problem with poor drainage from my lawn. I have dug a soak away
but still the rain water does not go away. The house & surrounding area
is built on clay which is very deep, I know this from the amount of
digging I have done in it. Does anyone have any idea's ?

"davejoemeg" wrote in
message

I have a problem with poor drainage from my lawn. I have dug a
soak
away but still the rain water does not go away.

What do you mean by "soak away"?


The house &
surrounding area is built on clay which is very deep, I know
this
from the amount of digging I have done in it. Does anyone have
any
idea's ?

Do you mean you have to dug down several feet to get to the clay?

--

Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8
Sunset Zone 5

"davejoemeg" wrote in
message

Phisherman Wrote:
On Mon, 15 May 2006 15:15:34 +0000, davejoemeg
wrote:


I have a problem with poor drainage from my lawn. I have dug
a
soak away
but still the rain water does not go away. The house &
surrounding
area
is built on clay which is very deep, I know this from the
amount
of digging I have done in it. Does anyone have any idea's ?


There are several solutions, but the picking the most
effective
one will be based on the specifics of the area. One solution
is
to add layers of soil to the lower areas--you can add 1/2" at
a
time to a lawn area without disturbing the existing grass.
Of
course, this means you must have a mound of soil to use. If
your
situation is really bad, you may need to re-grade the entire
area, then re-seed the lawn. If you pick this method, this
would
be an excellent time to add organic matter, such as mushroom
compost, to the soil and till it in. Another method is to
install
a perforated pipe and have it drain off to another area.


Thanks, I have tried a perforated pipe but to no avail. I
believe
the water has no means of escape & as my lawn is west facing
the
specific area in question does not get much sunlight. I have
been
told that bruching sharp sand into the lawn may do the trick?

What does "brunching" mean?

--

Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8
Sunset Zone 5

Travis M. wrote
What does "brunching" mean?

===============

Please note that he said "bruching" and not "brunching."

Perhaps he is referring to the practice of core aerating a lawn
and then topdressing with so-called "sharp sand" (ie, course
sand). The topdressing is rake to get as much as possible
down into the aeration cores.

I don't like the term "sharp sand" - I prefer the phrase "course
sand."

Travis M. wrote
What do you mean by "soak away"?

================

I'm not the original poster, but I believe that he is referring
to a system in which a lawn drainage system terminates
in one or more dry wells. The water is, in theory, drained
from problems areas, routed to dry wells, and hopefully it
"soaks away" underground far from the original problem
area.

For any sort of serious drainage problem, especially in heavy
clay, this is generally an unsuitable approach. Instead, drain
"to daylight" and get the water as far away as possible.

"Gideon" wrote in message

Travis M. wrote
What does "brunching" mean?

===============

Please note that he said "bruching" and not "brunching."

Perhaps he is referring to the practice of core aerating a lawn
and then topdressing with so-called "sharp sand" (ie, course
sand). The topdressing is rake to get as much as possible
down into the aeration cores.

I don't like the term "sharp sand" - I prefer the phrase
"course
sand."

I don't find the word "bruching" in any dictionary I own.

--

Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8
Sunset Zone 5