Your home’s yard is often the first impression people get of your home. A lush landscaped yard can draw attention for all the right reasons. But, a dark and flooded yard can attract the wrong stares. With Spring and Summer and the sporadic rain downpours that are expected, knowing how to naturally get rid of standing water is important.
First, it will be helpful to understand why standing water may be occurring to then determine the best course of action to fix the problem.
Water tends to pool in yards because of a few reasons:
- Yard slope
Your yard may slope downward that naturally causes water to pool at certain spots due to gravity.
- Impacted soil
When your soil is too packed in, sometimes due to construction, like the installation of an inground pool, it becomes hard for water to get absorbed. The same is true if your soil has a high clay content as well. It makes it harder for water to seep into the ground, so it forms large pools.
- Walkways
In some cases, you may have a sidewalk that runs through your front yard that could be blocking the flow of water to street drains.
Once you’ve identified the culprit, you have a few low-cost and creative natural ways for getting rid of the standing water.
Here are some solutions for standing water:
- Stop watering your lawn. If you’re watering your lawn more than once every other day, you could be oversaturating the ground. So, when it rains, the water has no choice but to collect.
- Extend your downspout. This is probably the easiest fix and will enable you to channel more water away from your home. You’ll want to extend the downspout so that you are sending the water to a storm drain, otherwise you’ll encounter the same pooling problem (just a few feet away from the house this time).
- Create a water garden. This is ideal for sloped yards that are naturally going to create large pools of water after a storm. By planting water-loving plants like ferns and mosses, they can absorb the excess water and give your yard a nice added touch.
These are just a few ways that you can manage and reduce standing water in your yard. For other ideas, feel free to follow our blog and to also reach out to a reputable landscaper who may be able to provide other creative options.