Landscaping Tricks to Manage Stormwater Runoff
Sep 03, · Drainage Solutions To Drain Water Away From Your Home. 1. Dry Creeks. This is a subtle and creative solution for backyard drainage issues that offers a bonus: it’s pretty. A shallow trough is lined with 2. Trench Drains. 3. French Drains. 4. Site Grading. 5. Dry Wells & Reservoirs. Oct 17, · Depending on the cause of water runoff, you can either sue for damages, do a DIY or perhaps create a contractor solution—such as building a drainage system or a water wall. For most water woes, a drainage system is going to be the best solution to water runoff.
Last Updated: August 18, References. To create this article, 42 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.
This article has been viewedtimes. Learn more Storm water runoff is precipitation that does not soak into the ground where it falls. This is one of the greatest threats to water quality in much of the industrialized world. When water runs off yards, streets, and parking lots into storm sewers or directly into waterways, it carries with it sediments that clog streams and reduce oxygen in the water, as well as chemicals that poison aquatic ecosystems and can render water supplies undrinkable.
Runoff also contributes to flooding, and because it doesn't recharge how to stop rain water run off supplies, it exacerbates water shortages in many areas. As more and more people move to cities and towns, the storm water runoff problem worsens, because the flattened, impervious surfaces and lack of natural vegetation in these environments prevent precipitation from soaking into the ground. While runoff is a problem of immense scale, there are plenty of simple steps you can take to reduce storm water runoff on your own property.
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Plants absorb much of this through their roots, and some makes its way down to the water table, being purified as it gradually percolates through the soil. The "built environment," however, is characterized by impervious surfaces surfaces that don't absorb waterso that a large portion of rainfall or snow melt becomes storm water runoff.
Reducing the amount of impervious surface on your property therefore reduces the amount of runoff. You can use paving stones or bricks for patios, walkways, and driveways. Water can seep down into the spaces between the individual pavers, thus reducing the amount of runoff. Take out the center of your driveway. Only the tires of your car touch the ground, so two strips of pavement should suffice for a driveway. You can then plant grass or mulch the center of the driveway, reducing the amount of pavement substantially.
Replace all or part of your driveway with the kind of pavers shown here. Low plants can even grow up between the openings. Replace the pavement at the bottom of your driveway with a French drain or grate. This will collect the water that falls on the rest of your driveway and allow it to soak into the ground, rather than flowing into the and, eventually, into waterways.
Installing a French drain with the capacity to take in all the runoff from your driveway can be very expensive, but every little bit helps. If an area must be paved, use porous asphalt or permeable concrete, which will allow at least some water to soak into the ground.
Keep in mind that the effectiveness of these materials is limited because water tends to run off them before it can permeate them, especially if there's any slope. It's also important to make sure there is a percolation field of permeable ground beneath the pavement. Line impervious surfaces with gravel trenches. Figure out where water runs off your driveway or patio, and then dig a small trench along the edge.
Fill it with gravel to slow the runoff and allow the water to seep into the soil. Use the water that drains off your roof. A 1, square foot roof can produce more than gallons 2, If your downspouts are connected directly to a storm drain, disconnecting them is the single most important step you can take to reduce runoff.
Instead of allowing water to go directly into the sewer or to run into the street, direct your downspouts toward a vegetated area, such as your garden or lawn. Use extensions to ensure the water comes out at least 5 feet 1. Alternatively, install rain barrels or cisterns to collect the water so you can reduce the risk of soggy yards or basement flooding and save some rain for a sunny day. If you don't have any way to make good use of the stored water, consider Dutch drains, gravel-filled barrels with holes at the bottom which slow the flow of water to allow the ground to absorb it all.
Replace lawn areas with native plants. Lawns aren't particularly effective at absorbing and retaining water, especially during heavy rains. This is a problem not only because more natural precipitation runs off them, but also because they may require a lot of irrigation, which in turn can create even more runoff. Native plants, such as how to make a homemade pinata in one day and wildflowers, tend to develop more extensive root systems that take in and hold water much better than lawns.
As an added bonus, they require less maintenance than a lawn does. If you do decide to keep your lawn, though, water it efficiently to conserve water and reduce runoff.
Add organic matter to your soil. Adding compost how to cover up birthmarks on leg mulch to your soil can make your plants happier, but it can also reduce runoff. Spread a " layer of organic material once a year.
Don't leave soil exposed. Depending on your slope and soil type, bare soil can be nearly as impervious as concrete. If you can't or don't wish to plant vegetation on an exposed patch of soil, cover it with mulch, wood chips, or gravel. This is especially important for newly landscaped yards that don't yet have established vegetation. Plant trees and preserve existing ones. Trees' immense root systems effectively absorb water over a large area.
In addition, the canopy of a tree slows the fall of rainwater so that the ground is capable of absorbing larger amounts than it otherwise would be.
Plant native trees or trees which take in a lot of water and are well adapted to your environment, and take care of your existing trees. For new home constructions, leave trees in place if possible. Don't create runoff when washing your car. Bring your car to a car wash preferably one that recycles its wateror wash your car on your lawn. You can also wash a car without waterif you prefer. Create a rain garden. A rain garden is a garden, planted in a slight depression in the ground, that collects water and allows it to gradually permeate into the soil.
Rain gardens come in many sizes and are typically planted at the base of a slope or even at the outlet to a downspout--anywhere where water naturally flows or can be directed. Water-loving plants and a base of permeable soil enhanced with fertile loam and a topcoat of mulch allow the rain garden to quickly absorb even large amounts of water, usually in just a few hours.
Reduce the slope of your yard. If your yard has a severe slope, the soil will have a hard time absorbing even moderate rains. Consider excavating to make steep slopes more gradual. In order to prevent basement flooding and foundation damage, make sure there is an adequate slope away from the house for at least 10—15 feet 3. Install berms and vegetated swales. A berm is a slightly raised area, while a swale is ditch with a mild slope.
Berms can be used to slow runoff on steep slopes, and swales planted with grass or other plants can direct water to a rain garden. Swales can also direct water toward a storm drain or street: since they significantly reduce the amount of runoff, very little water that enters a vegetated swale will actually make it to the street or drain.
My neighbor's house is very close to mine. They put in a new sidewalk that angles rain water onto our side, causing the sidewalk to be underwater ankle deep. There's is a 12" strip of ground between. What can I do? You or your neighbor preferably and legally your neighbor need to install a collection drain within that 12" strip and keep the water off your property or at least out of your house. Yes No. Not Helpful 3 Helpful Use buckets, pipes and hoses to capture and divert the water to a storage location at the bottom of the property.
Not Helpful 7 Helpful What can I do for a hill in back of my property that is full with natural springs, with clay type hard ground under the top, making what is qualified audit report run off toward my house?
You need to regrade and crown the yard, so water runs off to the outside areas of the house and flows harmlessly out to the street. How to make musical instruments from recycled materials Helpful 4 How to stop rain water run off 8. A neighbor has dug a ditch to another neighbor's property that drains mud and water under the fence.
What should I do? Ask them to correct their work.
Rainscaping is a landscaping technique that has become a popular new trend Rainscaping is the use of sustainable landscape design and management practices at both the household and community scales Purdue Rainscaping on a larger scale can prevent polluted runoff from reaching bodies of water by directing the storm water runoff to be absorbed by plants and soils in a localized and desired area. Last week I talked a bit about how a green roof is one way to help manage stormwater runoff. Another simple and straightforward way is to make sure that the landscape of your garden is permeable, including your hardscaping, paths, decks and driveways.
Free Shipping. Bestselling Outdoor Furniture. Ultimate Dining Room Sale. Ultimate Bedroom Sale. The Vanity Sale. Appears in. Latest From Houzz. See also. Gardening Guides. After spending many years as an architectural designer in the high-efficiency residential Italian market, I now run a company that specializes in advanced construction science and Passive House design. We are located in Denver, Colorado, and Northern Italy, and we work internationally with builders, designers, and manufacturers of high-performance projects and products.
Save Comment 66 Like Many family rescue teams had to be sent out to retrieve my furry friends. Part of this was surely due to the fact that the Texas summers would dry out the land, and the big rains would be too much for the land to absorb so quickly.
The result was a huge torrent of water gushing down the hill. Last week I talked a bit about how a green roof is one way to help manage stormwater runoff. Another simple and straightforward way is to make sure that the landscape of your garden is permeable, including your hardscaping, paths, decks and driveways.
I am by no means a landscaping expert, but in designing homes I often need to specify pavements as well. The following are a few applications where porous paving could be a good call.
Driveways No one wants an asphalt airstrip in front of the house, but we sometimes assume that dense paving is necessary to take the load of a carport or driveway. Many people park on plain, unsupported grass, or turf that has been reinforced with flexible grass pavement or an open-celled paving grid. Remember, though, that not all turf is created equal. In this photo the lawn is only as big as the parking area. One of the reasons that large expanses of turf, sod or lawn are hardly visible in sustainable landscaping plans is that the shallow root systems of many kinds of grasses make them high-maintenance water guzzlers in the summer.
The roots mesh together with the compacted earth to form a fairly tightly knit sod, decreasing the rate of water infiltration compared to other kinds of landscaping.
For added support, flexible plastic grass pavements are grids that virtually disappear under the turf but keep your driveway sturdy enough to handle the traffic of your daily life. Note: These usually require that you stay at low speeds. On the plus side, they can last longer than many other solutions. Open-celled paving grids like this one can be a sturdy way to introduce grass into a driveway, although they can sometimes cause trouble in colder climates depending on the material.
The advantage of grids is that they prevent the soil and shallow grass roots from forming that compact and impermeable layer, making it a little easier for stormwater to make its way down into the ground. Not to be forgotten, porous gravel paving systems can accommodate heavy loads and traffic. They are low maintenance and do a great job of keeping the gravel from moving around and piling up where your tires turn.
They are even stable enough to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards, and are often used in universal design applications. There are even pervious asphalt and concrete options that can replace traditional materials on high-traffic driveways or entry roads. Basically, the structure of these materials is similar to that of conventional concrete but with wider pores.
It seems that even though the initial cost of materials is higher, some people believe that the porous system ends up being cheaper over the life span of the driveway or road. Bear in mind that a proper conventional asphalt road or driveway should incorporate a stormwater collection and treatment system, which would affect the overall cost.
Porous asphalt is now being used across Europe in highways because of the reduced risk of accidents from standing water or ice. From what I understand, research is still being done on the performance of porous concrete in cold weather. Patios and Decks Pavements can take up twice as much area as our houses and are a main culprit in all kinds of environmental problems, including polluted runoff, depleted groundwater, high temperatures, unnecessary erosion and stunted tree growth.
This beautiful patio has just enough stone to provide a clean, modern edge, but a percentage of it is permeable because the center is filled with gravel. Find a local patio and deck builder. This house has an alternating pattern of stone and grass for an outdoor surface that is 50 percent permeable to allow infiltration of water. A good old-fashioned wooden deck is a classic and beautiful example of a pervious surface that can also handle pedestrian traffic, making your garden more livable.
In this example the owners have probably saved quite a bit of money over the life span of this deck. Paths and Steps Remember that even with a classic gravel path, properly installing the subgrade, the base course and the surface layer can give you a much more durable result.
Instead of just throwing some gravel down in your garden, consult a landscaper to get some good recommendations on plastic grids and fabric backings that discourage weed growth. A change in grade can often be tricky, so you may want to use the steps as a location for some feature stones while maintaining the gravel look as contrast. In a similar way, you could use wood or masonry frames to give a cleaner edge to your gravel path. Notice the small area of the garden that resembles a Texas riverbed.
It basically is a deeper section of the garden filled with river rock and pebbles, where the stormwater can gather before slowly being absorbed back into the ground. My mom then added a stone path with gravel joints to balance accessibility and permeability. No more worrying about floating pets! See 66 comments. Explore Related Topics.
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