mb3
Sapphire
Posts: 4,500 Likes: 20,802 
|
Post by mb3 on Feb 24, 2018 10:55:46 GMT -6
So our backyard routinely develops what my H jokingly calls “our pool” after a heavy rain. It’s not as bad as several of our neighbor’s yards and it’s in an area that is lower than our house (but near our detached garage). We’ve been trying to brainstorm solutions that aren’t as big as regrading the hard.
Some of the ideas we’ve been given previously are to put in a French drain, to plant a tree (especially a willow tree) in that part of the yard, and to put gutters on our garage and add a rain barrel. I’m not sure the gutters would solve it completely as that area is lower than the alley and the water landing on our garage roof isn’t the only thing we are contending with.
I’m interested in doing a raised garden bed, particularly for vegetables, and this would be the only spot in our yard to put one. Would that solve my water issue- as in would the excess water be soaked up and used by the vegetables? Or would my vegetables just drown? If a raised bed will work, do I need to do anything special, like use something other than wood to build it so it doesn’t rot from the water on the ground?
|
|
|
|
Post by mommabakes on Feb 24, 2018 11:05:22 GMT -6
We have our raised beds in a part of our yard that is prone to turning into a swamp/ flooding. The plants do not soak up the excess water.
My mom planted a Willow tree in a very wet area of her yard, and that has definitely improved things for her.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2018 11:13:29 GMT -6
I’m afraid the plants would drown. Does it dry down pretty fast after it floods? Maybe if you build an extra high raised bed with gravel at the bottom, they’d be ok.
But also, what about your access to the beds when it’s flooded? Does it happen frequently?
|
|
|
|
Post by queenofwildthings on Feb 24, 2018 11:15:54 GMT -6
Could you do something like this to redirect the water?  |
|
mb3
Sapphire
Posts: 4,500 Likes: 20,802
|
Post by mb3 on Feb 24, 2018 11:27:12 GMT -6
I’m afraid the plants would drown. Does it dry down pretty fast after it floods? Maybe if you build an extra high raised bed with gravel at the bottom, they’d be ok. But also, what about your access to the beds when it’s flooded? Does it happen frequently? I’d be ok building extra high. Flooding is maybe 1.5” of water on the low part so it’s not like I can’t easily walk through it to get to the planters. We’ve lived here since June and it’s happened 5-6x. I was going to delay raised planters til next year unless this seems like a great way to address the yard. If it doesn’t I’m not going to make myself nuts pushing to get the work done now. |
|
mb3
Sapphire
Posts: 4,500 Likes: 20,802
|
Post by mb3 on Feb 24, 2018 11:36:22 GMT -6
Could you do something like this to redirect the water? I wish, but I don’t think it would work because I have no where to redirect it to. Our area is primarily homes from the 1950s, and we have gravel alleys that most people’s garages (ours included) are accessed by. The town regrades the alleys every year by adding more gravel so those are higher than some parts of yards. Additionally, both our next door neighbors have homes that were built ~10 years ago when the original homes were torn down. Their lawns were regraded at that time and the one on the side where this happens is decently higher than ours. So for us, the “flooding” is a result of that being the lowest point in our yard and then the surrounding areas that I don’t have access to are also higher. I should say we are lucky- on the other side of the alley we have neighbors whose entire yards flood it looks like. 😳 |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2018 11:59:56 GMT -6
I’m afraid the plants would drown. Does it dry down pretty fast after it floods? Maybe if you build an extra high raised bed with gravel at the bottom, they’d be ok. But also, what about your access to the beds when it’s flooded? Does it happen frequently? I’d be ok building extra high. Flooding is maybe 1.5” of water on the low part so it’s not like I can’t easily walk through it to get to the planters. We’ve lived here since June and it’s happened 5-6x. I was going to delay raised planters til next year unless this seems like a great way to address the yard. If it doesn’t I’m not going to make myself nuts pushing to get the work done now. Oh that’s not too bad. Some rubber boots and high beds and I’d think you’re good to go. |
|
AmyG
Ruby
Posts: 15,355
Likes: 33,942
|
Post by AmyG on Feb 24, 2018 12:34:37 GMT -6
Can you find someone putting in a swimming pool and ask what they are doing with the dirt. That's how we built up low areas for really cheap and hand leveled most of the yard or spend $100 to rent a small bobcat.
Check with your city cause other properties are not supposed to redirect their water from rain into your yard and they could be fined or have to fix that.
Would increasing the drainage of the soil be helpful? Like is there clay keeping the water from soaking in?
|
|
|
|
Post by yoginikiki on Feb 24, 2018 13:26:39 GMT -6
You might just need to be more strategic in designing your raised bed....maybe use cinderblocks and a first layer of sand and then buildup the soil from there? Cinderblocks won't rot out like wood eventually will and the sand is free draining. If you build up the soil enough above the sand it won't impact the grow medium too much. This is what my MIL does and she lives a few blocks from the beach which has flooded with storms more regularly in the last few years.
|
|
mb3
Sapphire
Posts: 4,500 Likes: 20,802
|
Post by mb3 on Feb 24, 2018 14:47:20 GMT -6
Can you find someone putting in a swimming pool and ask what they are doing with the dirt. That's how we built up low areas for really cheap and hand leveled most of the yard or spend $100 to rent a small bobcat. Check with your city cause other properties are not supposed to redirect their water from rain into your yard and they could be fined or have to fix that. Would increasing the drainage of the soil be helpful? Like is there clay keeping the water from soaking in? No swimming pools going in unfortunately- we have tiny lots. I’d have to look into the second point about neighbors redirecting since it’s not like they’re directly draining to us. When you talk about increasing the drainage of the soil, can you elaborate on that? I know almost nothing about our soil and I’m totally new to gardening outside of container gardening. |
|
|
|
Post by numbears on Feb 24, 2018 14:53:04 GMT -6
I'm sure I don't really know what I'm talking about, but I had these pinned on my Gardening board since we live in a low-lying area that floods. Could you put a rain garden infront of the vegetable bed so that it soaks up the water?   |
|
mb3
Sapphire
Posts: 4,500 Likes: 20,802
|
Post by mb3 on Feb 24, 2018 14:57:49 GMT -6
I'm sure I don't really know what I'm talking about, but I had these pinned on my Gardening board since we live in a low-lying area that floods. Could you put a rain garden infront of the vegetable bed so that it soaks up the water? I can look into this for sure! It’s beautiful. My parents actually gave me a book of perennials native to our county so I have some ideas to work with. I also found a county soil survey from 2011 that I can dig through. It’s over 750 pages so it might take me some time to find our soil composition. |
|
Pistol
Diamond
Posts: 28,064 Likes: 62,420
|
Post by Pistol on Feb 24, 2018 16:18:08 GMT -6
I would not do a willow tree. They have long roots and being close to your garage can cause foundation/concrete issues.
|
|
mb3
Sapphire
Posts: 4,500 Likes: 20,802
|
Post by mb3 on Feb 24, 2018 17:38:17 GMT -6
I would not do a willow tree. They have long roots and being close to your garage can cause foundation/concrete issues. Thanks for letting me know! I knew they could mess with pipes and all of ours go out the front of the house but I hadn’t considered the foundation. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2018 10:43:44 GMT -6
I'm sure I don't really know what I'm talking about, but I had these pinned on my Gardening board since we live in a low-lying area that floods. Could you put a rain garden infront of the vegetable bed so that it soaks up the water? I can look into this for sure! It’s beautiful. My parents actually gave me a book of perennials native to our county so I have some ideas to work with. I also found a county soil survey from 2011 that I can dig through. It’s over 750 pages so it might take me some time to find our soil composition. To find out the composition of your soil, you can just get your hands dirty. 😊 Take a golf ball sized clump of soil and start working it in your hand. You may need to add a few drops of water to make it pliable. Start working it through your thumb and first finger to form a ribbon. If it makes a 2”+ ribbon before falling apart, it’s mostly clay (poor drainage). You can add sand, calcium (oyster shells), and gypsum to clay soil to improve drainage. |
|
AmyG
Ruby
Posts: 15,355
Likes: 33,942
|
Post by AmyG on Feb 26, 2018 23:01:05 GMT -6
mb3 We have a lot of hard clay soils or sandy soils to deal with, so I can't say exactly what you should do. We dealt with our non draining clay soil with gypsum and sulphur additions. Ask your local garden center, nursery or even home depot about soil testing and helping the soil to drain better for the type of soil in your area you can also do a mason jar soil test Google it. They are simple and give you an idea of a starting point
|
|
