Lawns - Swampy yard

We just bought our house this last june and during the remaining coarse of the summer, the ground saturates with rainwater and doesn't have anywhere to go. Leaving us with pools of water and the stuff doesn't want to dry up. This winter gave us a january thaw and yet again, the lawn was mushy. We had two trees topple over in high wind because the ground was so soaked. It is basically the whole yard, atleast a good 1/4 acre. We are fortunate enough that whoever did the foundation, did it right, we haven't had any leaks to speak of yet. The landscape is basically the house is slightly offset from the middle, with the grade sloppy away in one direction and flat in the other three directions. The neighborhood sits a top a large hill, there are no nearby creeks or streams that could be keeping my yard swampy.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to move this water?

Find the highest point and install a french drain. Then dig a trench and install corrogated or pvc pipe so that the water flows somewhere off of your property. Make sure there is enough of a downgrade for the water to flow, I have a sump pump in mine and even heavy rains get pumped from the back of our house to the street.

We used to have a swamp for a month after the rainy season, now it dries out completely after a couple weeks.

You can google "french drain" or "landscape irrigation" and get some ideas.


DIY network also has some good shows with detailed instructions.

i think stumped meant the lowest point in the yard. you could also plant for water friendly landscape. ferns, willow, riverbirch,etc. they will help dry out the yard.

Oops. yes, lowest point. Unless you want a swimming pool, then you could call it an overflow drain.

thanks guys, both are excellent ideas, I think i'll try out a little of both ;).