Managing Yard Water on Clay Subsoil

This lake has a water line that is four feet higher than in the swale on this side of the berm. The berm is all clay which is a perfect example of heavier soils holding onto water.

The swale that we have here has 19 inches of all from one end to the other. We are putting in a french drain to move the water more efficiently and discharge it off of this property. Before we came, water was essentially saturating this side of the lot.

Here you can see the stone in the french drain channel, we are working on folding all the fabric over top.

This lost was hydro-seeded, we plan to put some soil on top of the fabric followed by straw and grass seed. We will start watering this area and we should have some grass growing in a few weeks.

At the end of this french drain channel, we put in a 12 by 12 probasin at ground level. The swale continues into a marshy area. At the end of the French drain stone channel, we have 12 per 12 probasin. It is at ground level and the Swale continues to marshland.