How do I get rid of standing water in my Olney MD yard?  It’s a question we get fairly often, and unfortunately, there are no easy answers because every yard and every situation is different.  It’s an excellent question though, and we’ll explore some of the possibilities in this article.

Identifying Root Causes

The first step in answering the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Olney MD yard?’ is to try and identify what’s causing the water to pool.  Broadly speaking there are two possibilities here.  One is based on your habits, which is to say, specific things you may be doing or not doing that are contributing to the problem.

The second, we’ll call a design-based problem, and it stems from the physical aspects and characteristics of your property.  Of the two, the first issue is substantially easier to deal with.  The question then, is how do you know which type of issue you’ve got?

Initially, answering the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Olney MD yard?’ comes down to doing a bit of experimentation.  If the issue is habit based, then there are two major things to check and try.

First, visually inspect the flora and fauna on your property to see if the water is pooling around your plants.  Here’s a common example of what you might find:

If you created a plant bed that borders your house, you may have used decorative stones to partition the area off.  Unfortunately, your efforts to create an aesthetically pleasing border might also be creating a basin from which water has difficulty escaping.

If the downspouts connected to the gutters around your home are emptying into this, you’re creating your own problem.  The water doesn’t have anywhere to go and can’t drain from the bed you’ve created quickly, so it’s likely to start seeping into your foundation, where it will ultimately cause serious damage.  Not good.

Fortunately, that’s an easy problem to fix.  Either create a few drainage channels so the water has an easy way out of the bed or extend your downspouts and angle them such that they’re not emptying into the bed.

Second, experiment by watering your existing plants less.  It could be that you’re simply overwatering, which is creating the issue.  Cut that back, and the problem should go away on its own.

But what if you’ve investigated both of those possibilities and the problem isn’t getting any better?

Some people try to answer the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Olney MD yard?’ by planting additional flora and fauna in the area where the standing water exists.  At first glance, this approach seems to make sense.  After all, the roots of those newly installed plants should soak up the excess water, neatly solving the problem, right?

Unfortunately, that’s usually a bad idea unless you’re very careful about what you choose to plant.  Most plants will die due to the presence of the excess water long before they have a chance to do what you’re hoping they’ll do, so what does that leave?

At that point, there are a number of other possibilities to consider.  These are design-based issues, and include things like:

• The presence of thatch – This term refers to organic debris that exists in a layer between the vegetation you can see on the surface of your lawn and the soil beneath it. In order for water to drain, it’s got to be able to get to the soil.  If there’s a thick, dense layer of thatch covering your lawn, it may be preventing the water from doing that.
  This is also a relatively easy problem to fix.  Simply get rid of the thatch layer and aerate the soil, and the problem should go away.
• The presence of hardpan – Soil comes in two basic flavors: Topsoil and Sub-soil.  Almost everyone is familiar with topsoil.  Sub-soil is the layer beneath it.  Sometimes, this layer of sub-soil can become so dense and tightly packed that it’s practically impossible for water to drain through it.  Hardpan can occur naturally or be created by the presence of heavy construction vehicles.
  Hardpan can be broken up, but it takes serious effort and some specialized equipment.  If you’re a committed do it yourselfer, that may be something you can tackle on your own, but if you’d rather not, we can help with that.  It’s one of the many services we provide.
• Your soil doesn’t drain very well, or your property is poorly graded – Soil composition can vary widely from one property to the next, and if your soil is mostly heavy clay, any water that winds up on it is going to just sit there, for the most part.

It could also be the case that your property just isn’t graded optimally.  There are low lying areas where the water just tends to naturally collect.  The solution to this issue and the issue of dense soil with poor drainage qualities is the installation of some type of drainage system on your property.

There are lots of possibilities here, but the most commonly deployed solution is the installation of a French drain.  This is a bit more of a process and is something generally beyond the capabilities of all but the most experienced do it yourselfers.

The good news is that you don’t have to go it alone.  Whatever’s causing your drainage issues, we’ve got you covered.  If you don’t have the time to investigate the matter yourself, just give our office a call.  We’ll get to the bottom of the issue for you and devise a comprehensive solution.

How do I get rid of standing water in my Olney MD yard?  Give us a call.  We’ll be there when you need us.

Maybe you didn’t notice the issue when you initially purchased your property, but after the first hard rain, it became obvious.  There are areas in your yard where the water pools, collects and linters for days, and sometimes, even longer.  Now you’re faced with trying to find an answer to the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Silver Spring MD yard?’

Unfortunately, there’s not a single, simple answer to that question, because there are so many different things that can cause or contribute to your standing water issue.  In this article we’ll take a look at the more common causes and outline the best solutions in each case.

The first thing to note is that these types of issues can be broken into two broad categories:  habit-based and design-based.

As the name suggests, habit-based issues are ones that arise from things you’re doing or not doing.  Answering the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Silver Spring MD yard?’ in these cases tends to be a straightforward proposition.  Here are the two most common examples:

#1 – Simple Overwatering – This is far and away the most common of the habit-based issues.  If you’re giving your plants more water than they need, and more than the soil around them can absorb, it’s going to pool and collect until you give it time to recede.  The very first thing you should try is to water less and see if the problem goes away on its own.

#2 – Decorative Planting Beds – Many people like to build decorative beds for planting herbs, flowers, or vegetables.  Unfortunately, these creations are sometimes built without proper drainage channels incorporated into the design, which means that excess water in the beds doesn’t have an easy way to escape, so it pools where it is.

This problem is compounded in cases where people build decorative beds immediately around their homes, especially in cases where they don’t redirect the downspouts connected to their rain gutters.  Anytime it rains, the water collects there, where it can seep into the foundation of the home and cause significant damage.

Simply building or expanding your drainage channel will solve the problem in most cases like these.

Design-based issues arise from features or characteristics that are specific to your piece of property.  In these cases, answering the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Silver Spring MD yard?’ is more labor intensive, but still quite possible.  We’ll outline the most common of these types of issues next.

Poor or Improper Grading

Of all the design-based issues, this one is the most difficult to address.  Poor or improper grading creates a situation where the water pools in the lowest areas of your property, and there’s no solution in place to move it from there.

While it’s possible to bring in heavy equipment and dramatically alter the grade of your property, the simpler solution is the installation of a French drain.

If you’re going to do this, however, it pays to think ahead to the other landscaping work you may want to do in the future.

If you’ve got a long list of landscaping initiatives you’d like to undertake, the best approach is to create a Master Landscape Design document which will help you organize and prioritize the projects you have in mind.  Armed with that knowledge, we’ll be able to install the drain in such a way that it won’t interfere with the future projects you have planned.

Clay

Soil composition is a major factor that determines how well or poorly water drains from a given section of your property.  Areas that have high concentrations of clay can’t absorb much water, no matter what you do.  The solution here is identical to the one we outlined above.  The installation of a French drain will redirect the water away from the area, and either into a nearby stream, drainage ditch, or perhaps a decorative pond.

Thatch

This is a layer of organic material that exists between your grass and the topsoil that supports it.  Over time, this layer can become highly compacted and tightly interwoven, to the point that water has a difficult time filtering through it and draining away.

In this case, the answer to the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Silver Spring MD yard?’ is to remove the thatch layer and aerate your lawn.  Doing this requires the use of some specialized equipment but is generally a project that a serious DIYer can undertake on his own.  If it’s not something you want to tackle solo though, we’re happy to provide assistance.

Hardpan

Hardpan can either occur naturally, or it can be manmade, usually by the presence of heavy equipment moving repeatedly over a given area.  It’s a condition where the layer of sub-soil beneath your topsoil becomes so tightly compacted that water can’t filter through it.

Here, the answer to the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Silver Spring MD yard?’ involves bringing in specialized equipment to break up the hardpan.  It’s a big project that all but the most committed do it yourselfers will want help with.

Whatever the root cause of your drainage issues, we’ve got the skills and experience to correctly identify the root cause and solve the problem for you, giving you one less thing to worry about.  You don’t have to put up with areas of standing water anywhere on your property.  Give our office a call and we’ll take care of it for you.

How do I get rid of standing water in my Potomac MD yard?  It’s an excellent question, and one we get quite frequently from the clients we work with.  Water issues are tricky, and there are no simple answers to the question because every person and the particulars of each piece of property are different.  In this article, we’ll outline the most common causes of standing water issues, and the various solutions that can be deployed to fix them.

First things first though; broadly speaking, you can break standing water issues into two basic categories:  Habit-based and Design-based.  Habit-based issues arise from things you’re doing or not doing, and the solutions to those types of issues tend to be relatively easier to fix.

Design-based issues arise from specific features or aspects of your property.  These issues are more complex, but in every case, they’re still fixable.  We’ll talk about both, starting with habit-based issues.

The first thing to try when seeking an answer to the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Potomac MD yard?’ is to water your plants less.  It could be the case that you’re simply giving them more water than the roots and soil can absorb, and in that case, the problem vanishes the moment you stop watering as much as you currently are.

Another manifestation of habit-based issues arises when you build a decorative bed for planting and don’t build in a drainage channel that allows excess water to escape.  This problem can be compounded if you’ve built decorative beds immediately around your house and haven’t extended or redirected the downspouts attached to your rain gutters.

In this case, anytime it rains, the downspouts empty into the decorative beds, and absent a suitably robust drainage channel, it pools there.  If the problem isn’t remedied, those areas of standing water can cause serious damage to the foundation of your home.

Again, answering the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Potomac MD yard?’ in cases like these is a pretty straightforward proposition.  Things get trickier when you’re dealing with design-based issues, which we’ll talk about next.

Improper Grading

This is the most serious and complex design-based issue to deal with.  If your property is poorly or improperly graded, water will naturally collect in the lowest areas.  While it’s possible to bring in heavy equipment and alter the grading of your property, the simpler and more effective solution is to install a French drain.

Here though, it’s important to take into account any other landscaping you may want to do in the future.  The best way to do that is to create a Master Landscape Design Document, which captures all of your landscaping goals under a single umbrella and prioritizes them.

We can help you create the document, and armed with it, we’ll be able to make sure the drain is placed in such a way that it will work seamlessly with everything else you ultimately want to do.

Clay

Soil composition can be highly variable, even in different areas of the same piece of property.  If you have an area dominated by the presence of clay, it’s going to be all but impossible for water to drain from that area without help.  As with the grading issues described above, the answer to the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Potomac MD yard?’ involves the installation of a drainage system.

Thatch

Thatch describes the layer of organic material that exists between the grass you can see and the layer of topsoil that supports it.  Over time, the thatch layer can become so tightly interwoven that it makes it very difficult for the water to filter through it and get to the topsoil where it can drain away.

In this case, the solution to the problem is to remove the thatch layer and aerate the soil.  While this does require the use of some specialized equipment, if you’re a committed do it yourselfer, this is probably a project you can undertake on your own.  If you’d rather not, we’re happy to help!

Hardpan

Hardpan can occur naturally, or it can be created by the presence of heavy equipment moving continually over a given area.  It’s a condition where the sub-soil that exists beneath the layer of topsoil on your property becomes so highly compacted that it’s virtually impossible for water to percolate through it.

In this case, answering the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Potomac MD yard?’ involves breaking up the hardpan, which requires the use of highly specialized equipment.  It’s a big job that most people are happy to outsource, but an experienced DIYer might be able to do it on their own.  Again though, if it’s a project you don’t want to handle on your own, it’s something we can easily take care of for you.

The bottom line is, whatever the ultimate cause of your standing water issue, there are solutions available.  One phone call to our office, and the issue is well on the way to being solved.  We’ll assess your situation, identify the root cause, and propose the optimal solution.  Before any work begins, we’ll provide you with a free, no obligation quote so you’ll know exactly what it will take to put the problem behind you once and for all.  Give us a call today!

As the area’s top-rated landscape design company, we get lots of questions from the clients we serve about a variety of issues.  One of the more common questions we get is ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Laurel MD yard?’

Standing water is more than just an eyesore.  If it’s close to your house, it can cause serious damage to your foundation, leading to staggering repair bills.

Even if it’s not, it can lead to members of your family constantly tracking mud into your house, creating an ongoing mess for you to clean up, to say nothing about the fact that it reduces the amount of useable space you’ve got to work with, or the fact that it’s a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Unfortunately, there’s no one answer to the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Laurel MD yard?’ because every situation is different.  Cookie cutter solutions just don’t work here.  Below, we’ll take a closer look at the possible causes of, and solutions to the issue of standing water.

Broadly speaking, standing water issues can be broken into two categories:  habit-based or design-based.

Habit-based issues are things you’re doing that contribute to the problem.  One of the most common issues here is overwatering your plants.  The first, simplest thing you can do is just try watering less and see if that takes care of the problem.

Another thing we see on a regular basis is that many times, people build decorative planting beds, but fail to build drainage channels which allow excess water to leave the bed.  If you overwater the plants in the beds, it’s going to pool and collect.

The problem can be particularly bad if you’ve built decorative beds around your home, especially if the downspouts connected to the rain gutters on your home are pouring into those beds.  That’s almost certain to create pools of standing water right next to your home, which, as we mentioned at the start, can cause serious damage to your foundation.

In both of those cases, the answer to the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Laurel MD yard?’ is simple and straightforward.

Design-based drainage problems are caused by specific characteristics that exist on your property.  These tend to require more work to fix, but there are plenty of viable options.  We’ll outline the more common issues next.

Hardpan

Hardpan can occur naturally or be created by the presence of heavy machinery moving repeatedly over an area.  In a nutshell, hardpan is a layer of tightly packed sub-soil that sometimes exists beneath the topsoil on your property.

The problem is that hardpan is so tightly packed that it’s virtually impossible for water to seep through it.  In this case, the answer to the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Laurel MD yard?’ is going to be fairly labor intensive, involving breaking up the hardpan, which requires specialized equipment.

It’s possible for experienced, committed do it yourselfers to handle an issue like this on their own, but most people seek professional assistance in dealing with hardpan, and it’s something our team has lots of experience with.  We’d be happy to help!

Thatch

Thatch is the layer of organic material that exists between the grass you see on the surface of your yard and the topsoil beneath it.  Over time, this layer can become tightly packed and highly interwoven, creating the same basic issues you see when dealing with hardpan.

In this instance though, the answer to the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Laurel MD yard?’ is much simpler than it is with hardpan.  Getting rid of the thatch layer is fairly easy, and that, coupled with aerating your yard should make the problem vanish.

The Presence Of Clay

Soil conditions are highly variable.  It’s entirely possible that even on the same piece of property, you’ll find very different soil compositions in close proximity to one another.  If a portion of your property contains a high concentration of clay, then water in that area isn’t going to drain well without help.  In this case, the solution is a bit more involved, and we’ll cover it after we talk about the next root cause, because the solution for this item and the next one is the same.

Improper Grading

Water, being water, flows downhill and seeks the path of least resistance.  If you’ve got low lying areas on your property, you can bet that no matter what the composition of the soil is in that area, you’re almost certain to have standing water in that area.

You can bring in lots of heavy equipment and radically alter the grading of your property, but the simpler solution is to install a drainage system that will direct the water away from that area, and into a swale, a nearby stream or drainage ditch, or perhaps even a decorative pond.

The installation of a French drain is the most common solution to this type of issue, and issues where you’ve got areas with high concentrations of clay.

While this is technically something that a committed DIYer can do, most people prefer to have help.  Again, this is something our company is frequently called upon to do.

Whatever is ultimately causing your standing water issue, help is just a phone call away.  Give our office a call today, and we’ll help you get to the bottom of the issue, and recommend the most appropriate and effective solution.

One of the more common questions we get from the clients we serve is ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Hyattsville MD yard?’

It’s a fair question and it’s easy to see where the concern comes from.  Not only is standing water on your property an eyesore, it can also be a breeding ground for mosquitoes, reduce the amount of useable space you’ve got to work with, and if the water is pooling up close to your house, it can damage your foundation, which can leave you staring at expensive repair bills, something no homeowner wants.

Sadly, there’s no easy answer to the question, because there are so many different things that can cause water to pool and collect in various places on your property.  Below, we’ll look at the most common possible causes, and their solutions.

Before we do that, we’ll start by saying that broadly speaking these types of issues fall into one of two categories.  They’re either habit-based or design-based.  Habit-based issues are issues that arise from some specific thing that you’re doing or not doing.  Design-based issues arise from particular characteristics of your property.

Answering the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Hyattsville MD yard?’ tends to be significantly easier when dealing with habit-based issues, so we’ll take a look at those first.

If you have water pooling around certain plants or trees in your yard, the very first thing you should try is to start watering less.  In many cases, that’s the root of the problem, and reducing the amount of watering you do will not only solve it, but improve the health of the plants in that part of your yard.

The second most common habit-based issue has to do with decorative planting beds many homeowners create.  Too often, the need for drainage isn’t taken into account, so these homemade beds either don’t have a drainage channel built in at all, or the channel that is built in is too small to allow excess water to drain properly.

This problem is made worse if the planting beds are built right next to your home, because often, the downspouts attached to your rain gutters will be emptying into one of your beds.

On the face of it, that seems like it would be a good thing.  It’s a simple way to water your plants without having to think about it, but again, in the absence of a robust drainage channel, it can easily result in water pooling right next to your house, which as we mentioned at the start, poses a threat to your foundation.

Here, answering the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Hyattsville MD yard?’ is a two-pronged approach, involving creating more robust drainage channels in your beds, and making sure the downspouts are angled away from them.

Now, let’s take a look at the most common of those design-based issues.

Hardpan

Hardpan is a layer of soil beneath your topsoil that is incredibly tightly packed and compacted.  In fact, it’s so compacted that it’s almost impossible for water to pass through it and drain away.  It can occur naturally, or it can be created by the presence of heavy machinery passing over a given area of your yard.

Whatever the cause, the solution is the same.  To solve the problem, you’ve got to break up the hardpan.  Doing so is a big project that involves specialized equipment and even the most committed DIYers might find it a bit too much to handle on their own.

Thatch

Thatch is a layer of organic material that’s just out of sight under your grass, resting atop the layer of topsoil on your property.  Over time, this thatch layer becomes increasingly tightly packed and intricately interwoven.  Like hardpan, it can reach a point where water has a very difficult time passing through it.

In this case, the answer to the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Hyattsville MD yard?’ involves removing the thatch layer and aerating your lawn.  While this also requires the use of some specialized equipment, a committed DIYer can usually undertake this project on their own if they were so inclined.  If it’s something you’d rather not deal with, however, we’re happy to provide assistance.

Clay and/or Poor Grading

We’re lumping these two together because although they are different issues, the solution is the same.  If you’ve got high concentrations of heavy clay on your property, then water isn’t going to drain from those areas without help.  The soil just can’t handle it.

In a similar vein, if your property isn’t graded properly, water, being water, will flow to the lowest areas on your property and pool there.  Unless it has help, it’s not going anywhere.

In both cases, the answer to the question ‘how do I get rid of standing water in my Hyattsville MD yard?’ is to install a French drain which will redirect the water out of the area in question and into a nearby stream, cistern, swale, decorative pond or drainage ditch.

In this case, it pays to think ahead, so before you have the drain installed, think carefully about any future landscaping plans you might have.  If you have an extensive landscaping wish list, you would be well-served to take the time to create a Master Landscape Design document which organizes the landscaping initiatives you want to do and allows you to prioritize them.

If you need help putting that document together, we’re happy to lend you our expertise, and armed with that information, we can install the drain in such a way that it won’t interfere with your future landscaping projects.

Whatever the ultimate cause of your drainage issue, there’s just one company to call.  Let us put our experience to work for you.  Give us a call today.