| Key Takeaways |
|---|
| • Diagnose first: Watch where water flows after a rain, and test how fast your soil drains. • Start small, scale up: Fixes range from quick, low-cost jobs like filling low spots to bigger projects like French drains and rain gardens. • Know when to call a pro: If standing water keeps returning, a pro can pinpoint slope and soil problems before they harm your lawn or foundation. |
Water standing in your yard for more than a day almost always signals poor drainage.
Compacted soil, low spots, or clogged gutters are often the culprits, though water can sometimes stream in from a neighbor’s yard. Start by diagnosing the problem, then choose from the 7 ways to improve drainage in your yard below.
Clearing clogged gutters and yard debris is often the messy first step. If you would rather skip the mess, LawnStarter offers yard cleanup services to get you started.
Ways to Improve Drainage in Your Yard
| Method | Best for | Effort |
| Build up low spots | Puddles in sunken areas | Low |
| Aerate the lawn | Compacted, slow-draining soil | Low |
| Clean gutters, extend downspouts | Roof runoff near the foundation | Low |
| Create a swale | Slowly moving water to a better spot | Medium |
| Add a dry creek bed | Moving water with rock | Medium |
| Install a French drain | Redirecting subsurface water | High |
| Build a rain garden | Absorbing runoff attractively | High |
Before You Choose a Fix
“The first step is to understand the water on the property,” says Laurie Fox, a horticulture research associate at Virginia Tech’s Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center.
She recommends walking your yard during or after a hard rain and asking:
- Where does the water come from? Usually it’s the roof or driveway, the largest impervious surfaces on most properties. It can also come from a neighbor’s yard, the street, or a nearby creek.
- How does it move, and where does it leave the property? Water always follows the path of least resistance.
- Where can you step in along that path to slow, absorb, or redirect it?
- What else affects it? Trees, the mix of lawn and landscape beds, irrigation, and compacted soil all change how water behaves.
Test your soil. Dig a hole about 1 foot wide and 18 inches deep, fill it with water, and time how long it takes to drain. If it’s gone within a day, your soil drains well. If water still stands after 3 days, you likely have a compaction problem to fix first, Fox says.
Plan for more than one fix, and for overflow. Many yards need fixes that work together, Fox says, such as a swale carrying downspout water to a rain garden. And, sooner or later, a storm will overwhelm any system, so decide in advance where the excess will go, she says.
1. Build up Low Spots
Sunken spots collect water and drain slowly. Mound topsoil mixed with compost or rotted manure over the low areas to create a slight rise above the surrounding soil. If standing water returns, repeat once or twice.
Once the low spot is stable, sow grass seed and cover it with straw to protect it from birds, removing the cover when the grass sprouts.
If a low spot keeps coming back, have a landscape pro assess it.
2. Aerate the Lawn
Foot traffic, cars, and construction can compact soil so tightly that rain runs off instead of soaking in. Aerating opens it back up. The goal, Fox says, is to “make the compacted soil into a sponge.”
For a small area, punch deep holes with a digging fork. For a lawn, rent a core aerator (about $100 per day) or hire a pro ($107 to $202 for an average yard). Leave the soil plugs the aerator pulls up; they break down within a couple of weeks.
Then spread compost and work it into the holes, especially in clay soil. Compost absorbs water, and Fox says it also keeps the soil from compacting again.
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3. Clean Gutters and Extend Downspouts
Clogged gutters overflow and dump water at your foundation. Clean them, or hire a gutter cleaning pro to handle the job for you.
Then attach a vinyl downspout extender, buried if possible, to carry water 10 feet away from the foundation. A downspout can also feed a swale or rain garden, putting roof runoff to work.
Considering a rain barrel? First ask yourself what you’d use the water for, Fox says, such as watering vegetables or washing the car. She recommends emptying barrels within 3 to 7 days, before mosquitoes start breeding.
Pro Tip: Check for local rebates on rain barrels before you buy.
4. Create a Swale
Like a ditch, a swale moves water from one point to another, but more slowly. “A swale is shallow and wide, and it slows the water down,” Fox says, giving water a chance to soak in, evaporate, or be absorbed by plants.
Swales often carry downspout water into the landscape or a rain garden, she says. If your house sits below a slope, a swale can catch water running downhill and divert it around the house.
Many homeowners already have one along a road without curbs and gutters, or in the low point between closely built houses. A swale is meant to move water, not hold it, she adds. If yours stays wet for more than 4 days, it isn’t working.
Plants help a swale absorb water, and bare soil erodes. Fox recommends a dense, weed-free stand of grass and suggests asking your local Extension office which type grows best in your area.
Keep the swale clear. Debris can build up in a swale, especially at driveway culverts, and cause flooding. Building a swale costs around $0.50 per square foot.
See Related: 12 Ways to Get Rid of Standing Water in Your Yard
5. Add a Dry Creek Bed
A dry creek bed, also called an arroyo, is a shallow, stone-filled trench that becomes a creek when it rains. It carries water to a drainage area, such as a swale or catch basin, without washing away soil.
“A dry creek bed is meant to be a simple form of erosion control”, says Casey Graves, a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC) and the founder of St. Louis-based Drainscapes.
He recommends lining the trench with geotextile felt or heavy-duty weed barrier, and using stones at least 5 inches across, since smaller stones can wash out. “The larger the stone, the better it will stay in place,” he says.
Plant perennials or shrubs along the edges, not in the bed itself. Because it needs mostly rock, gravel, and landscape fabric, it’s one of the more budget-friendly drainage projects.
6. Install a French Drain
A French drain is a gravel-lined trench up to 2 feet deep with a perforated pipe laid on the gravel, backfilled with soil or stones. It collects water that soaks into the ground and carries it away by gravity, so the trench must slope steadily downhill.
It’s designed for areas where water pools after a storm, Graves says, but not for water flowing across the yard. “Surface runoff will flow past a French drain in a storm event,” he says.
For surface runoff, a swale can intercept the water at a fraction of the cost.
Because the grade has to be right, a French drain is best left to a landscape company. LawnStarter’s guide to French drain costs says projects range from $1,650 to $12,250.
See Related: How to Install a French Drain in Your Yard
7. Build a Rain Garden
A rain garden is a shallow depression, usually 6 to 8 inches deep, that collects runoff so it can soak in or evaporate. Or as Fox says, “It’s a puddle with plants.”
Plants, soil, and microorganisms filter pollutants from runoff, and roots absorb extra water. Even when a rain garden overflows, Fox says, the water leaving it is cleaner than the water that came in.
Water should drain within about 48 hours, and no more than 3 days, she says.
Where to put it: At least 10 feet from your foundation, and away from steep slopes, utilities, septic fields, heavy clay, and high water tables. Run the soil test first.
Size it right. “Capacity is the main mistake,” Graves says. An undersized rain garden pools and attracts insects.
To find the minimum size, measure only the hard surfaces that drain into the garden, such as the section of roof feeding one downspout plus the driveway, then divide the total square footage by 20, according to a Virginia Cooperative Extension fact sheet Fox co-authored.
Going bigger is always better, Fox says. Short on space? Build a row of smaller gardens so one overflows into the next, she says.
Building a rain garden costs about $2 to $5 per square foot if you do it yourself.
See Related: How to Build a Rain Garden: 6 Steps
Why Improving Drainage Matters
Water that lingers can be detrimental to your lawn and property. Standing water may:
- Drown grass and plants
- Breed mosquitoes
- Seep into your foundation
In addition, runoff carries pollutants like fertilizer and pet waste into streams and lakes. Come winter, standing water can freeze into icy patches on walkways.
How to Save on Drainage Projects
Knowing what the water is doing on your property lets you “have an intelligent conversation” with a contractor, Fox says, and helps you avoid paying for an expensive fix when a simpler one would work.
Check for incentives, too. Some cities and counties offer rebates, utility bill credits, or cost sharing for drainage projects. In Virginia, Fox says, soil and water conservation districts can help design stormwater projects and may cover about half the cost.
Contact your local public works or soil and water conservation office, and check your state Extension service for free how-to guides.
When to Call a Pro
Filling low spots, aerating, and cleaning gutters are weekend jobs. French drains, rain gardens, and swales are not. They depend on reading the slope, soil, and how water moves, and if you get the grade wrong, you move the problem instead of solving it.
Call a pro if water keeps standing more than a day or two after rain, pools near your foundation, or comes in from a neighbor’s yard. LawnStarter connects you with local drainage installation pros who can find the cause and install the right fix.
FAQs
Aerating and working in compost helps compacted soil absorb water, and a rain garden collects runoff so it can soak in. Moisture-loving perennials, such as cardinal flower, swamp milkweed, and sedges, absorb extra water, too.
Sometimes. A gravel-filled pit, called a dry well, can collect water and release it slowly into the soil. It works only if the surrounding soil actually absorbs water, so run the soil test first. In heavy clay, a dry well fills up and stays full.
Read More:
Sources:
- Laurie J. Fox, horticulture research associate at Virginia Tech’s School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Virginia Beach, VA. Personal interview.
- Casey Graves, founder of Drainscapes, Chesterfield, MO. Personal interview.
Main Image: Man clears mud from a drainage ditch beside a gravel driveway. Photo Credit: K Quinn Ferris / Shutterstock
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