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How to Improve Lawn Drainage
How to Improve Lawn Drainage. Poor drainage quickly affects the look and quality of a lawn -- pooling water drowns the roots of grass, leaving bare patches and dead clumps in its wake, and saturated soil remains muddy long after the rest of the lawn has dried. In severe cases, poor lawn drainage spills water into houses and basements. Poor grading...
Poor drainage quickly affects the look and quality of a lawn -- pooling water drowns the roots of grass, leaving bare patches and dead clumps in its wake, and saturated soil remains muddy long after the rest of the lawn has dried. In severe cases, poor lawn drainage spills water into houses and basements. Poor grading and overly compacted soil create many of the water problems in yards, and homeowners can improve lawn drainage by taking steps to correct these conditions.
Things You'll Need
Shovel
Rake
Topsoil
Aerator
Organic soil amendments
Tiller
Level out any small mounds or depressions in the yard, which cause water to pool and drown grass. Remove small mounds or bumps with a shovel. Fill in depressions or holes using topsoil or the dirt removed from mounds. Rake the areas smooth afterward.
Aerate the soil in the yard if the drainage problems are more widespread than isolated depressions. Make at least two passes with a core aerator, once horizontally and another in vertical lines perpendicular to the first pass. Make more passes if the lawn seems especially compacted.
Cover the lawn with organic matter such as compost, leaves or grass clippings. Water the organic amendment and allow it to decompose into the lawn's soil. Add more organic matter to the soil regularly to improve its drainage properties.
Start over if the lawn is incredibly compacted or uneven. Spread 1 to 3 inches of organic matter over the yard. Till the top 12 inches of the lawn to loosen the soil and work in the organic matter. Adjust the grading of the yard with a shovel and rake, smoothing out any humps or depressions. Slope the ground away from the house at a rate of 2 to 3 inches of vertical change every 10 feet.
