Are you in the unhappy position of having to deal with pools of standing water in various places around your property after each and every hard rain? If so, you’re not alone and it’s a sure sign you have a drainage issue.

If the water is pooling at a safe distance from your home and any outbuildings you may have on your property, it’s probably more of an eyesore and a nuisance than anything. Even so, they still serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other pests, and they give you less space for planting and entertaining, which can be a significant downside.

If the water is collecting up close to your house though, the issue goes from being a nuisance to being a dire threat. Few things are more damaging to your home than water, and its presence for any significant period of time can cause thousands of dollars in damage to your foundation.

In either case, if you want the water gone, a landscape drainage system on your Potomac MD property can neatly solve the issue for you.

One thing we don’t recommend though, is rushing right out and spending money to have something designed and built, even if the water is pooling up right next to your house. It pays to take a longer term, more strategic view, especially if you have any other landscaping projects you’d eventually like to do.

Here’s the core issue: If you rush out right now and spend money on a landscape drainage system for your Potomac MD property, then when you eventually do get around to doing the rest of the projects you’ve got on your wish list, you might find the drainage system to be in the way, or sub-optimally placed once all of the landscaping work is done.

Your best bet then, is to begin by creating a master landscape design document. Don’t let the fancy name fool you. It’s just a document you use to gather all of your landscaping plans, goals and ambitions in one place.

When you do that though, you get much more than a blue-sky wish list of ideas. The list takes on a certain power and life of its own, and it gives you a number of powerful benefits.

For one thing, if you have any landscaping projects that are big, budget-busting affairs that might be too daunting to attempt, you’ll be able to spot them and break them into smaller pieces that are much more budget friendly. That allows you to make steady, consistent progress, rather than finding yourself paralyzed by an impossibly large project on your list.

Another key advantage is that it allows you to order your list and spot projects that depend on the completion of other projects, ordering those accordingly as well. For example, if you have steeply sloped property, you’ll need a retaining wall to create a terraced space before you can actually do something with that terraced space, obviously, so you know the retaining wall has to come first.

Speaking of retaining walls, that might be one of the key elements to the landscape drainage system on your Potomac MD property. A properly designed retaining wall is built with a robust drainage system, so depending on the particulars of your situation, that’s all you may need.

Many people don’t realize it, but there’s no such thing as a ‘generic’ retaining wall. There are actually a number of different flavors or variants. Here’s a quick overview:

Wooden Walls – Tend to be shorter and usually have about 40% of their height beneath the surface. They feature support beams spaced a minimum of one foot apart and are anchored into the soil itself for additional support.

Sheet Pile Walls – An ideal choice for a retaining wall that needs to be built in a confined area and provide support for loose soils that shed water fairly quickly. These are usually made of steel or wood plank, and about two thirds of their height are buried, with only the top third visible.

Gravity Walls – Rely on their mass to hold back the soil and water. These tend to be resource intensive and constructed of heavier materials, being much thicker at the base and gradually thinning out near the top of the wall.

Cantilevered Walls – Structurally similar to gravity walls, but they require less material to construct because they feature a concrete base which extends deep into the soil.

There’s no way we can tell with any certainty which of these is the best fit for your property and your particular situation until we’ve had an opportunity to survey the situation and assess your needs firsthand.

If you decide you want to work with us, that will be our first priority. Once we’ve done that, we’ll be in a position to give you our professional recommendation along with a free, no obligation estimate so you’ll have a clear understanding of exactly what it will take to design and build the landscape drainage system for your Potomac MD property. If you need an assist with creating that master landscape design document, we’ll be more than happy to lend a hand there too.

Whatever your landscaping goals and ambitions are, we’ve got you covered. Since the day we first opened our doors, we’ve built our reputation by exceeding the expectations of every client we work with and we’d love to add you to our growing family of satisfied customers. Give us a call today.