Are you experiencing drainage and erosion control issues on your Bowie MD property? If you are, then know that you’re not alone. It’s an issue that a great many of the clients we work with ask for our help in dealing with. The good news is that there are a number of simple, relatively low-cost solutions available. In this article, we’ll cover the basics.

Before we do that, however, let’s talk about your overall landscaping goals. If you’ve got some major landscaping goals planned, it’s important to spell them out clearly and succinctly before you start any project designed to address the drainage and erosion control problems on your Bowie MD property so that your efforts in solving for those problems don’t interfere with the other work you have planned.

The best way to go about doing that is to create a Master Design Document. This document serves as an umbrella that gathers all of your landscaping desires in one place. Once assembled, this document allows you to take a high level view of your plans, prioritize your various initiatives and break larger projects down into more budget friendly components.

Of course, solving for those drainage and erosion control problems on your Bowie MD property will feature prominently in the document and be pretty high on the list. Let’s look at the three best options to solve for those issues:

• Grasses And Low Shrubs – This is the cheapest and most obvious solution. Grasses and shrubs create a tightly woven network of roots that help hold your soil in place, keeping it from washing away when it rains.
• A Diversion – Another very simple, cost-effective solution. Where the first one targeted erosion specifically, this one targets drainage. The simplest diversion is an open drainage ditch. Since water always seeks the lowest point, it will naturally gravitate to the drainage ditch and flow to wherever the ditch ends.
  You have lots of options on this front. If your property has a creek on it, you can simply divert the water into it and your problem is solved. If not, a drainage ditch that leads to a municipal water treatment system works just as well, as does a dry well or decorative pond.
• Terraces – This is a more expensive, but also a more comprehensive solution that’s especially well-suited to steep slopes on your property. Creating terraces requires the building of retaining walls and the installation of proper drainage systems which usually take the form of French drains.
  While this is the more expensive approach, the results look spectacular and tie in well with a wide range of many other landscaping initiatives, making it a great all around choice.

Whatever your landscaping goals and ambitions, we stand ready to assist. Give our office a call today and let’s talk about the possibilities.