Drainage Improvements Don’t Have To Be Ugly

Posted by on Jul 31, 2020 in Tips | No Comments

We have been experiencing ever increasingly strange weather patterns over the past several years, and you don’t need to be a Climatologist or Environmental Science Major to be aware of it. After weeks of no rain it has returned with a vengeance! We received over 3″ in 30 minutes the afternoon of July 30th alone. That’s an awful lot of water that needs to be diverted somewhere and it’s gonna move quickly.

Now we have all seen the black corrugated pipe that snakes from downspouts. Some of us have even tripped on the outlets that have been buried & daylighted to drain into the yard, and if you have a rat guard at the end of that pipe then you know how you are perpetually monitoring it & cleaning it out.

In a lot of cases you can substantially improve drainage while making it highly attractive without having to install a full blown French Drain. Drainage swales can be a thing of function and beauty. Some of our clients even elect to place stepping stones into the swale to allow easier access to parts of the property. We are seeing swales & dry creek beds utilized regularly on commercial projects in an effort to capture & slow stormwater runoff. Even going so far as to utilize boulders to create natural check dams.

With so many people gardening this year a rain barrel may also be an option. Some go so far as to hook timers to their barrels and create an automated irrigation system to water their vegetable plants.

With the increasing cost of municipal water a rain barrel is a practical and inexpensive way to keep costs to a minimum and utilize what is falling in your yard.

The options for drainage improvements are are only limited by the imagination. Don’t intimidate yourself into thinking that a drainage improvement project will be cost prohibitive either. Most often times the sooner you can address a water problem the less expensive it is. We are at the ready to discuss options and ideas with you.