New house and drowning yard. Drainage, grading, plant guide or arc building instructions are welcomed. Seems to be a soil problem. Very clayish below one foot. Circling the drain. Lifeline, please. Thanks
If serious enough need professional help. Otherwise, may be able to install ADS drainage pipe yourself. Need to have someplace to drain water into.
We had the same problem here with red clay soil and poor drainage. We have much the same climate as you but, likely more rain. I even got my 4x4 truck stuck in the back lawn. We had 3-4 " of sand placed and leveled over the entire lawn. We then reseeded with Kentucky Blue grass. The roots went through the sand layer into the water retaining clay and ended up with the only lawn on the block that didn't turn brown in the late summer. It took several months and many rains to compact it into a firm footing and an additional rolling to even out the bumps. Clay is horrible to work with when dry and too gummy when wet but' its about the best nutrient rich soil that you can find. It will readily take any humus or peat moss worked into it and makes for a fine flower and veggie garden. Its hard to enjoy clay but, adapt and it works well.
you might want a multi-phase plan. 1. immeadiate control or comfort needs to be established 2. long term plantings mature in the meantime 3. plus what do you like laying pea gravel under your top soil and then covering it with landscaping cloth and then putting your top soil back in is pretty ok but like Ron B says, you need somewhere for the water to drain off to. There is a great book with sections on planting for a purpose and you can buy it for $2.73 on Amazon. I have a copy here and i'll give you a few of the names. It's called "Sunset Western Garden Book" if you want to buy it i saw a link: western garden book trees that do well in wet soil and in Seattle type climate: -pear -red maple acer rubrum -willow salix willow are harder to garden underneath of, due to root concerns bushes: -willow salix<there's lots of kinds -bog rosemary andromeda polifolia it gets to be one foot tall has pink flowers in April -marsh marigold caltha palustris needs to be wet all the time is two feet tall yellow flowers self propagates sows easily flowers: -lily lilium -iris -primula vegetables: -lettuce -strawberries<use "everbearing" varieties -peas -and prolly most cool season veggies ground covers: -moss<grows pretty fast -mazus reptans freezes to the ground in winter has neat multi-colored flowers and koi ponds are nice raised planters will grow you anything you want and then you could have paths around and through them? if you want normal soil at ground level. prolly all you need is to put down 18in of something and let the worms have at it. but then you have to put down another 6inches or so every year after that to keep the wave riding high and strong. stuff like manure, sawdust, compost, etc. Visiting other gardens can give you ideas too. usually there will be a few choice conservatories or garden tours, especially in an area as well heeled and socially progressive as Seattle.
