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I've been in my house now for 2 years and hate the yard. My backyard has a low spot that fills with water on a hard rain, such as the 2 past tropical storms plus this latest march storm. It doesn't get near flooding the house so I'm not worried but there is about a 15 X 40 ft area in my backyard that fills with roughly 6 to 8 inches of water on a major storm. even gets some on a regular rain storm since the ground is pretty saturated now. It takes about a day or two to drain. My front yard has a couple smaller areas which puddle in a rain storm as well. It is a fairly wooded lot though the backyard is fairly open.
Is there any prep I should do before filling or is it just a matter of having a truckload of topsoil dumped on my driveway for me to spread around on the low spots over top of whatever grass I have where needed? Then sprinkle some grass seed on the newly filled dirt?
Usually fill sand is in order and not top soil. Topsoil will just sit on the top whereas sand will filter down in the lawn roots. Plus top soil is loaded with weed seeds or so I have heard.
6-8 inches of water in a 600sqft area of your back yard?
That is a problem that requires more than fill dirt. You need a grading and drainage plan before any fill is to be considered.
^^^This I would say is your best advice. You may need to contact your area county/city planning and zoning dept for this size of a job because you probably will effect drainage runoff to a neighbors yard or other unacceptable area.
Your other choce for drainage could be having a drainage or seepage pit installed to allow fast drainage.
6-8 inches of water in a 600sqft area of your back yard?
That is a problem that requires more than fill dirt. You need a grading and drainage plan before any fill is to be considered.
Bulldog is right. We had a low area that was filling with stormwater too, and we watched to see where it was coming from -- neighboring property of course. We didn't want to berm it up and back it up onto the neighbors' property, so we made it into a catchment pond that leads into a dry creekbed that we made at the same time. The creekbed cuts across the property and drains into a natural drainage area at the far side. This was a big project, but it has really managed the stormwater very well. It is also a nice opportunity to plant more stuff!
I've been in my house now for 2 years and hate the yard. My backyard has a low spot that fills with water on a hard rain, such as the 2 past tropical storms plus this latest march storm. It doesn't get near flooding the house so I'm not worried but there is about a 15 X 40 ft area in my backyard that fills with roughly 6 to 8 inches of water on a major storm. even gets some on a regular rain storm since the ground is pretty saturated now. It takes about a day or two to drain. My front yard has a couple smaller areas which puddle in a rain storm as well. It is a fairly wooded lot though the backyard is fairly open.
Is there any prep I should do before filling or is it just a matter of having a truckload of topsoil dumped on my driveway for me to spread around on the low spots over top of whatever grass I have where needed? Then sprinkle some grass seed on the newly filled dirt?
While you have gotten some very good advice on what you might be able to do from the gardening end you may not want to act on it, yet. Please find out the laws governing your property. Lots of people in unregulated areas have no idea how much trouble you can be getting yourself into by filling and/or changing a wetlands area- and what you have may very well be a legal wetlands. Maryland has some strict wetland laws in place that you need to be aware of. A wetland is often determined by multiple factors such as soil types and existing vegetation and some jurisdictions have very costly fines and remediation costs should you fill in a wetland and it get caught.
In some locations with laws for wetlands you will have to leave the area "as is" including a buffer zone around it that has to remain untouched. In some states you may "improve" (making it more garden like) the wetlands by creating a habitat of suggested native species but will have to submit a plan for approval. Rarely can you make ponds or divert the water unless you can demonstrate a "no net loss" of wetland. Different municipalities have different additional requirements that you may have to consider. You may want to check with your local Town Hall to see what you have to do to get permits and how to submit plans. I've seen the result of someone going ahead and filling in with a truckload or two of dirt in their yard and then being fined and having to pay for a restoration project. It would have been far cheaper and less painful to have gone through the application and plans process.
I've been in my house now for 2 years and hate the yard. My backyard has a low spot that fills with water on a hard rain, such as the 2 past tropical storms plus this latest march storm. It doesn't get near flooding the house so I'm not worried but there is about a 15 X 40 ft area in my backyard that fills with roughly 6 to 8 inches of water on a major storm. even gets some on a regular rain storm since the ground is pretty saturated now. It takes about a day or two to drain. My front yard has a couple smaller areas which puddle in a rain storm as well. It is a fairly wooded lot though the backyard is fairly open.
Is there any prep I should do before filling or is it just a matter of having a truckload of topsoil dumped on my driveway for me to spread around on the low spots over top of whatever grass I have where needed? Then sprinkle some grass seed on the newly filled dirt?
I have had some issues like this and have corrected them with a combination of French drains and grading. My guess is a truckload of topsoil spread around on the low spots will not fix the problem based on your comment of 6-8 inches of water that takes a day or two to drain. My guess is after spreading the topsoil and replanting grass, you will wonder where the topsoil went after a year.
You need to determine a spot on your property away from your house where the excess water could be re-routed and not impact a neighbor's property. I'm assuming that your property is very flat so regrading should be doable with a minimal amount of work. I have done this with a rented rototiller and landscaper's rake. This alone probably won't solve your problem so the next step is the French drain. Find an area where excavation would be easiest for your French drain (i.e., free of obstructions like trees). You need to create your own mini-slope to carry the water down to its destination.
You can Google French drains and find a lot of information and videos on how to install them. Here is one site for example. How to dig and install a French drain
I did all but one of my French drains with a pick and shovel but you can rent a trencher that would allow you to complete the digging in a day or weekend depending on how long the drain is. The key is to get enough slope in the trench and to use landscaping material including a sleeve on the perforated pipe.
Thanks for the reply's. I somehow had a feeling it would be more involved then I was hoping. Things usually are for me.
As far as the wetlands issue, this definetly is not. Though I live on the coast, I'm in an actual community on a 1/4 acre corner lot. My backyard is fairly narrow and the neighboring house sits close to the property line with a small side yard. Of course, his house is on a high spot like mine is. Of course in this flat area a "high spot" is not very high. Just enough so all the water drains away from the house. The big low spot is in my back yard.
This was not an issue until "Irene" passed over us in Aug 2011. Then we didn't have any problems until "sandy" skimmed us last year. After that we have had a lot more rain then normal so of course this last big storm soaked us as well. Some yards here are worse. I guess it was more noticeable in this past storm because the ground (even though its sandy soil here) must be saturated from all the rain we've had since "Sandy".
As far as drainage, this area has usually been pretty good. My side yard borders on a fairly large drainage ditch which there are many spread all over this community. And my front and other side have a smaller drainage that parallels the road. Enough of one which requires a drainage tube under my driveway. That drains really quickly and does not build up. I was hoping that if I filled in my low spot I would stop the pooling so the water could naturally drain into the roadside drainage. As my "lake" grows to within a few feet of that roadside drainage with a high spot of only a couple of inches stopping the water from being guided into the drain.
Bulldog is right. We had a low area that was filling with stormwater too, and we watched to see where it was coming from -- neighboring property of course. We didn't want to berm it up and back it up onto the neighbors' property, so we made it into a catchment pond that leads into a dry creekbed that we made at the same time. The creekbed cuts across the property and drains into a natural drainage area at the far side. This was a big project, but it has really managed the stormwater very well. It is also a nice opportunity to plant more stuff!
That is beautiful. This poor person started talking about a truck load of dirt.Looks like nice solutions can get really expensive. OP how about putting up a NO SWIMMING sign and let it go at that?
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