Garden flooding

[Esther Knapicius]

Yep, we get that also. areas that flood. it is what it is.

 

[Sheal]

Chuck I think creating just a berm would direct the water across the front of my son's property and completely flood that area, possibly his house as well. I think your first suggestion of a berm and swale is his only choice. I thank you for your help with this and will get back to you when he makes a decision or starts work on the problem.

 

[Chuck]

Chuck I think creating just a berm would direct the water across the front of my son's property and completely flood that area, possibly his house as well. I think your first suggestion of a berm and swale is his only choice. I thank you for your help with this and will get back to you when he makes a decision or starts work on the problem.

I don't think you understand what I am saying. In the last picture the land in the farmers field slopes from left to right including your sons property. If a berm was built along the back fence, and towards the house on the right side fence, the only water you could get would be from rain. As it is now all of the water from the farmers field drains into where there is standing water. If a "wall" or berm were to be made about as high as the left side of the back fence all the way to the right and upwards towards the house, all of the water which drains to where it drains now would be diverted further to the right. And if a berm were to be made on the right side all the way to the house the entire yard would stay dry except for actual rainwater. A picture showing the land to the right of the last picture would be a big help. The only other thing you could do is to make the entire back yard level with the left corner and if you do that you would probably kill the trees and it would take a lot of soil.

 

[Sheal]

I'm hoping this bad bit of drawing will help Chuck. The diagram faces the same way as the picture which is below it. The squiggly lines roughly denote the area of the water. The field has a gentle slope in from the left and a slightly higher slope in from the right, both are funnelling the water down into the garden. The water laying outside the front garden boundary is lying in a slight dip on a grass verge area between the end of the drive and the road.

 

[Chuck]

I'm hoping this bad bit of drawing will help Chuck. The diagram faces the same way as the picture which is below it. The squiggly lines roughly denote the area of the water. The field has a gentle slope in from the left and a slightly higher slope in from the right, both are funnelling the water down into the garden. The water laying outside the front garden boundary is lying in a slight dip on a grass verge area between the end of the drive and the road.


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View attachment 49751

That's kinda what I figured. Here is what I would do. Find the drop in elevation from the left corner where the gate is to the high water mark of the squiggly lines outside your sons property. Do this with a string level. This measurement will give you the MINIMUM amount of height of the berm at the properties LOWEST level

 

[Sheal]

Thanks Chuck. We're thinking along the same lines, I suggested this to my son a couple of months back and told him to mark the spot. There's no point until he's ready to commit to the work needed as one of his dogs will remove the marker.

 

[MaryMary]

The flooding has got worse and it now covers half the length of the right side of his garden and half of the frontage as well,

Last year's total precipitation in Columbus made it the wettest year on record. They said on the news four days ago that they've already had double the amount of precipitation they had at the same time last year.

 

[G.W]

My son has lived in the Columbus area of Ohio amongst farmland for three years. As you can see he has a problem with part of his garden flooding. The ground is completely flat, but the field beyond the trees and fence on the left has a slight slope which doesn't help the situation. To the right, outside the fence there is a green verge with a road just beyond that. It looks as if a previous owner of the property has tried to alleviate the problem by planting a Willow, unfortunately that isn't enough.

Any suggestions on how to drain this area would be very welcome please.

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Hey y'all, I have lived in NC for 22 years and not many areas near the coast that stay dry year round. But we have purchased a dirty water sump pump and set it in the low lying areas and ran PVC piping from unit to where we wanted water to flow. We did this before the big hurricane this past fall and we were great. It is near electricity however but you could probably set it up to a generator and relocate your water. Hope this helps. I lived on a farm in Pennsylvania for 10 years as well and wet land isn't a friend to anyone!

 

[Sheal]

Thank you G.W, it's and idea to think on. I don't know where the water could be pumped to though?

 

[G.W]

Thank you G.W, it's and idea to think on. I don't know where the water could be pumped to though?

Hahahaha! Anywhere but your property! ....it can be tricky if you are the low lying area. Are you able to put in drainage piping underground or French drains? A French drain leads to a sump pump then is sent out of your property. We have the finch drains in our back yard and just a sump pump in the front yard. Is it just seasonal.........or year round?

 

[Sheal]

This is not my property but my son's @G.W. He lives in Ohio, I'm in the Scottish Highlands, where flat land is virtually non existent.

His garden and the surrounding area, with the exception of the sloping field is completely flat and there's no where to pump the water too.

Piped drainage would be good but he's on a tight budget so we think a swale is the cheapest option. The flooding isn't seasonal but all year round, rain or snow.

 

[DirtMechanic]

This is not my property but my son's @G.W. He lives in Ohio, I'm in the Scottish Highlands, where flat land is virtually non existent.

His garden and the surrounding area, with the exception of the sloping field is completely flat and there's no where to pump the water too.

Piped drainage would be good but he's on a tight budget so we think a swale is the cheapest option. The flooding isn't seasonal but all year round, rain or snow.

So tell me about haggis?

 

[Mike Allen]

Such an interesting thread. Roadrunner, might you be a soil scientist of kinds?

Please no offence meant but, as in so many walks of life, our friends across the pond live life to the full. Here in the UK, despite aging years, wowee! how I'd love to have so much land.

Reading the replies. No sorry, I don't think adding tonnes of soil will improve matters, it would prove too expensive and have very little if any advantage. As one member suggests, treat it as a bonus and convert/adapt to a water feature. From a soil scientist aspect. Question 1. Where is the water coming from? To me. It appears to be subterranian fed, so unless the landowner is made of money. The venture stops HERE. No mention has been made asto whetherornot this flooding is petiodic or otherwise. Personally I would go for leaving it alone, but on the edge perhaps planting wilows and other wetland loving trees etc.

 

[Sheal]

So tell me about haggis?

I don't like it as it tastes like liver to me, but what would you like to know @DirtMechanic?

 

[DirtMechanic]

I don't like it as it tastes like liver to me, but what would you like to know @DirtMechanic?

I get the impression it is some form of sausage like boudain from Louisiana. Rice and so forth added. Is there a right kind and a wrong kind? Local vs commercial versions?