Landscaping Help

by Greg Holzer
(Pittsburgh)

Here's my story. I have two-333 sq foot sections of front...land. Last spring I removed two big stumps with a stump grinder, and that basically destroyed my lawn (which wasn't very good to begin with). I spent last summer installing a french drain and sealing around my foundation as best I can. Now I want to rebuild my lawn, but I want to also divert rain fall away form the center of my house because water is still seeping in there.

What I want to do, is dig about 10 inches deep, slope it to one side, layer it with heavy construction plastic, place about an inch of gravel on top, fill it up with the existing clay until there is about 2 level inches left. Then lay sod. Will that work?

Greg

Answer from our Professional Landscaper:

I think you are on the right track. However the gravel layer you are suggesting will quickly pack up with the clay. The plastic will help for a while, but I think you need to look at another option.

I hope that your french drain has a perforated drain pipe in it. If not, now us the time to pull back some gravel and install a perforated drain pipe. This should have a couple of outlets leading away from your home. This should solve a lot of your water issues.

Now on to the lawn issues. The idea is to give the water somewhere to go away from the house. If a couple of ground level drain boxes are installed in the grass, the water will have somewhere to go. These drain boxes come in all different sizes and can have green or black tops. A solid drain pipe needs to be attached to each box and outlet to daylight. These drains need to be separate from the french drains, but they can be in the same trench.

This leads to my next point. These drain pipes need to be installed at least four inches under ground, the pipe is four inches also. So our trench needs to be at least 10 inches deep. A walk behind trencher is available for rent anywhere.

The grading of the lawn should be done to lead the water to the drain boxes, and help lead it away from the house. Next, the stump grindings will need to be removed for optimum drainage. New top soil should replace it.

Always call Miss Utilities before digging! This is a free service! I hope this is helpful and not too drawn out.

Chas Hendrickson
Ask The Landscaper