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.