I have a little landscaping challenge. The drainage in my backyard is terrible. I have clay soil and after a rain, the water just pools on the surface, squishing under my feet when I walk back there. In the spring, I'm plan to add some organic matter, compost, coffee etc. to help with drainage and aerate the lawn and whatever else I can do to improve the drainage. In the meantime, my neighbor has one of those huge metal water barrels that after a heavy rain, it overflows and runs downhill into my small yard. Would it be impolite for me to ask him to divert the water elsewhere? Is there a nice way to approach this situation or should I not say anything and figure out something else. They are very pleasant neighbors. I appreciate your help with this.
Not only is it impolite for them to let water drain onto your place, it may even be illegal there. To get significantly drier conditions you need to install your own drainage system. An acceptable place to drain the water into must be available.
Thank you Ron. Well, we are going attach a pvc drain pipe to the downspout at the front of our house and run it along side of our our house to the backyard where just beyond the cedar hedge, there is huge ditch where the water can divert to. My neighbor's water from his barrel runs directly into my yard. Maybe he can figure out a way to redirect it to big water ditch as well.
i would definitely talk with the neighbor!! they're probably completely unaware of the problems the run-off from their barrel is causing in your yard! no need to be overbearing - just remain matter of fact about what is happening. if they are pleasant, generally, i'm sure they'll work with you to resolve the problem. basically, it sounds like they may need a second barrel and/or to set the one up in a way that it is easy to empty it so that it's not always at a point of overflowing.
Joclyn, Thankyou for your suggestion. My neighbor is a very pleasant man. Oh yes, It's definitely unintentional. My problem was just not being confident in how or if I should approach him. I think I do now though. Thanks again for helping.
If I may, be ever so courteous to your neighbour, and knowing that, the problem that you have is legally known as a private nuisance. You do have legal recourse, on this issue, however you may wish to resolve it in a non tort venue. They should be aware of how it is damaging to your property.
Yes, if you were to sue him you would "win" in the legal sense. That is, you would spend a lot of money and you would make an enemy of him and of some of your neighbours forever, but you would get an injunction; this is what some lawyers call "winning". To really win, talk to him and explain the problem; unless he is a sociopath - they do exist, of course - the problem will be solved.
Ok, now to your own drainage problem. You can call in professional landscapers but that is very expensive, and you can lose your yard for part of the season. I had a nightmare landscaping job done once, and didn't have a garden that year. Horrid. HOWEVER. You can do it yourself! When you start next year, start by rototilling some sand and gravel into your yard - you'll basically be doing for it what you'd do for a compacted plant in a pot, just on a larger scale. You'll have to take back your sod to do this, but that's easier than it sounds - just cut it into long strips with a sharp garden knife, and roll it back. Then till away. Most places that sell gravel and sand also rent rototillers, so you can probably do this in a weekend if you call on some determined friends to wield shovels for you. I've found that offering them a BBQ meal and cold beer at the end of it all normally works. That amendment should help the water not pool. Your other option is to build raised beds and wood walkways right overtop of the existing yard. Then you control the drainage and are assured of not going "squish" when you walk. This is also a fairly easy project, but it helps if you saved your leaf-mulch and have a compost heap - it takes quite a lot of material to fill raised beds. (yes, I have something against grass. I think that it's a waste of space because I can't eat it. I maintain one pasture in grass for my cow and burro, and that's it. Better to plant edibles, I say....)
