5 Best Landscaping Drainage Solutions: Yard & Lawn Draining Techniques

Poor drainage can create all kinds of problems: Water seeping toward your foundation can cause your basement to flood, water moving toward your neighbours’ yards can cause complaints, and water that pools on your lawn can kill your grass and other plants.

Fortunately, there are a number of different techniques you can use to improve the drainage of your yard. Here are 5 landscaping techniques we frequently recommend to our clients in Winnipeg: 

Regrade Your Lawn

One of the first things to consider when your lawn has drainage problems is to regrade your lawn. Change the slope so that water doesn’t pool and is instead gradually absorbed by the soil. 

Changing the slope of your yard is complex; you need to choose the right type of soil and take precise measurements to ensure that the slope doesn’t leave any spots where water can pool.

Replace Your Hardscape Materials

Another tactic to consider is replacing your hardscape materials (the hard materials that makeup sidewalks, pathways, patios, and more) with more permeable materials. These materials can include:

• Concrete pavers with voids between them

• Gravel

• Sand

Install a Drain

There are a number of different types of drains you can install to improve drainage in your yard. These drains include:

• Channel drains are cut into hardscaping and send water away from driveways, sidewalks, and other hard surfaces.

• French drains are trenches featuring a perforated PVC pipe that’s covered with permeable materials like gravel. The pipe transports the water away from your home or other structures and toward the soil where it drains.

The type of drain you’ll choose will depend on where your drainage problems are occurring, as well as a number of other factors. 

Build a Rain Garden

Rain gardens are a beautiful, functional way of improving the drainage of your yard. They’re small depressions in your yard filled with shrubs, flowers, and other plants. The idea is simple: Water will run off into the rain garden; it will hold water, which will slowly drain down to the roots of the plants. The plants will then absorb the water. This has the added effect of filtering pollutants out of the rainwater runoff.

Change Your Plants

By using a mix of shallow-rooted and deep-rooted plants, you can improve both the structure of your soil, drainage, and the biodiversity in your yard. There are a variety of plants you can consider here in Winnipeg; Big Bluestem is an excellent option for a deep-rooted grass that can improve drainage. You should also consider purchasing shrubs, trees, flowers, and other plants. 

Conclusion

Most of these landscaping techniques can be used in conjunction to fix drainage problems. By implementing some or all of these techniques together, you can increase the health of your lawn, beautify your yard, and improve drainage, all in one go.

Looking to improve drainage for your lawn? The team at Bulger Brothers can help! We offer drainage services in Winnipeg; give us a call!