Landscape Drainage
Downspout Drainage
Everyone has gutters around their house that typically exit into your landscape or your yard. This will usually lead to washed out mulch, noticeable debris or movement in your landscape rocks, a wet spot in the yard, or a pain in the butt gutter you have to move every time you mow your lawn. Downspout drainage is the practice of taking rainwater underground and discharging it where it can more easily leave your property while not washing out your neighbors yard.
In order to achieve proper downspout drainage and to ensure you don’t end up with a wet basement we typically take the water a minimum of ten feet away. If we can get farther than that from the house we try to do that but as a general rule we always strive for at least ten feet into the lawn. We also always provide a cleanout for the pipe at the downspout just in case leaves or any other debris end up clogging the drain. We also don’t use pop-up type drains because they become easily clogged and can create a very wet spot in the lawn. Instead we use a spee-d basin, drill holes in the bottom, and dig a two foot by two foot by two foot hole protected with geotextile fabric and filled with clean gravel to aid in the removal of water into the subsoil. This ensures that the rain water will infiltrate into the ground water source where it is meant to be instead of being on your lawn causing you headaches!
Wet Yard/Lawn Drainage
A lot of people who live in the greater Toledo area have very heavy soils which make it rather difficult for water to drain out of their yard naturally. In other areas such as Blissfield, Monroe, Dundee, Bedford/Temperance/Lambertville and the surrounding towns, people have high water tables or soil that is extremely rich in organics. While this isn’t necessarily a problem, a high water table or soils with high amounts of organic matter a wet lawn is more prevalent.
The most effective way to dry up your lawn is to install a French Drain. The French Drain has been described in many different ways by many different people, but the basic anatomy of an Outdoor Oasis French Drain is as follows: 6-12” wide trench, 12-18” deep, filled with 2-4” of clean gravel at the bottom, with a 4 or 6 inch perforated drain tile which is then covered with more clean gravel. The gravel is encased in a non-woven geotextile fabric to separate it from the native soil to allow for free draining, and the pipe is angled slightly toward where it discharges to allow water to move where we want it to. The top 3-4” of the trench is filled with top soil slightly higher than the existing lawn to allow for settling and either new grass seed is planted or we put the original sod back over the trench so it looks like we never left.
A French Drain is by far the best way to deal with minor wet spots in your yard. However if there is something more serious such as standing water for days after a heavy rain, we use a large catch basin that a French Drain will empty into or the catch basin will empty into a French Drain to be discharged to a Spee-D basin at a different spot in the yard. For something like a wet spot like this we may also be able to tie it into the city system where you live or run it close to the edge of your property so the water can discharge into a natural ditch or more slowly enter the municipal system. When designing a drainage system like this we work closely with NDS Drainage experts to determine the best solution for you and your family so you can enjoy your home and lawn as much as possible!
