Landscaping around the house to prevent water

4/8/2024

Landscape around your house to prevent water

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Landscaping is very often overlooked in importance when it comes to developing a property. However, landscaping around your home to prevent water from congregating is an important commodity.

Water sitting around your home can lead to a multitude of problems which can become costly to repair. Boggy gardens and damp soils can also dramatically reduce the desirability of your garden and home overall.

Long gone are the days of simply pluming access storm water into the drainage network. Drainage policy now requires any excess surface runoff from your property to be accommodated on site. Therefore landscaping around your home to prevent water run-off is of upmost importance.

In this article I summarise the whole topic of landscape drainage around your property. I explain how to identify and diagnose drainage problems and how to solve them.

Why is water sitting around my house?

The two most common reasons for water sitting around the home are surface levels and saturated ground. When it rains if water is travelling towards your home it means surrounding levels are directing water towards your property.

This can be altered by re-working the levels and falls of adjacent lawns, borders and paving. If your garden has existing drainage problems it will have saturated ground. This ultimately means the water in your garden has nowhere to escape to in times of heavy rainfall.

Such circumstances can be solved by installing drainage which we will explain later in the article. Other typical reasons for water sitting around your house include:

Clogged gutters

Over a series of years roof gutters can become clogged with moss, leaves and other debris. Over time this can build up leading to clogged pipes. When it rains the gutters become overwhelmed pouring water down your walls and onto surrounding surfaces. This can be resolved by clearing out your gutters fully.

Blocked drainage channels

Drainage channels come in a range of different drainage features and products. The most common of these include grated channels which collect storm water run-off from paving. Like gutters drainage channels can easily become silted and blocked over time. If water is sitting around these drainage features give them a thorough clean out. Once debris is removed they can be flushed out with warm water.

Ruptured pipes

Although rare, ruptured pipes can lead to standing water around the home. Ruptured water mains will be obvious as there will be a continuous and vigorous flow of water. However most water mains run under the front of buildings and are very robust. Ruptured pipes are almost always fractured terracotta pipes which were a part of an old drainage system. The tell tale signs of these are random boggy areas or standing water isolated in a single location.

High water table

A water table is the level under the ground where water naturally sits seasonally. If you were to dig a deep hole in your garden the level at which water sits is your water table. The level of this depends upon your local weather, geology and topography. If you live within a river basin this will be higher and in more elevated areas much lower. A high water table means you may experience standing water in times of very heavy rain. Your local flood risk assessment should offer you specific information on this.

Sinking ground

Sinking ground is generally quite rare, however, there are a few reasons why it can happen. Recent excavations such as service trenches can result in subtle sinking as the ground naturally re-compacts. Incorrectly laid paving can also sink if the correct sub-base is not installed. Such slumping and low spots can help water to congregate and stand around your home. This can be solved by re-grading levels around your property, more on this later.

Nearby construction

Nearby construction of any kind can change the landscape drainage dynamics around your home. On a basic level any increase in local surface run-off can lead to standing water around your property. Surrounding properties only have so much garden space dedicated to lawn and flower borders to absorb excess water. Consequently, new patios, driveways, garden offices, conservatories and extensions all contribute to excess water run-off. Even if such surfaces come with drainage soak-aways the water is still being directed into the ground. This leads to excess soil saturation.

Dangers of standing water around your home

Flooding

Flooding where water actually breaches the entrances to homes is extremely rare and is mainly restricted to extreme regional flooding events. However very saturated sites at the lower end of slopes are at risk of localised flash flooding events. Even slight flooding can breach air bricks leading to damp foundations, and floor joists. Consequently, standing water around the home should be mitigated before freak weather events exacerbate the problem.

Damp

Standing water around your home increases the risk of splash back and rising damp. Even though most buildings have damp proof courses saturated ground can still be a problem. Dampness around foundations can lead to high humidity making joists and floor boards damp

Subsidence

In extreme cases too much water around the home can lead to movement within the surrounding ground. This can particularly be the case in regions of certain geologies and elevations. Water can lubricate small particles within the subsoil increasing the risk of movement and subsidence.

Freeze and thaw action

Freeze and thaw action is when moisture within masonry materials freezes and expands. The expansion of freezing water molecules leads to the fracturing and weakening of masonry structures. The result is a flaking and cracking to brickwork and porous concrete work. Consequently, making sure your homes masonry work is dry during the winter months is of upmost importance.

Bacteria

Moisture and water sitting for a period for time provides the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. This is especially so during the summer months when germs breed at a faster rate. This can lead to the risk of infectious disease to your household and local animal life.

Odours

Saturated surfaces are challenging to clean making them susceptible to bacterial growth and bad odours. These are especially off putting around lawns and garden seating areas.

Mold

Mold is a dust like growth formed by certain types of air borne fungi. These mold fungi thrive in damp conditions and particularly upon paper, card, clothing and timber products. Water around the home can increase humidity levels leading to the risk of mold establishment. Mold can cause bad smells as well as an allergic reaction especially in people with Asthma.

Pests

Excess water around your home encourages the establishment of microscopic plants such as algae. Over time this leads to a base of other microscopic creatures and ecosystems. Such environments eventually encourage larger pest species such as insects, invertebrates and vermin. The less water you have around your home the less chance there is of encourage unwanted guests.

The problem with modern storm water legislation

There is no doubt that sustainable drainage legislation attempts to solve flash flooding and the pollution of waterways.

However, there are many unintended consequences of implementing such rules. Current legislation requires all water runoff from new development or hard surfacing to be retained on site. Overtime this can dramatically increase the amount of ground water around urban areas.

Particularly during heavy rainfall the natural ability for soil to absorb water becomes compromised. This leads to boggy soil and flooded gardens.

Eventually this leads to unusable backyards and in extreme cases can cause ground movement and subsidence. Directing water into soak-aways and french drains works for so long until these installations become overwhelmed.

The best solution to resolve the problem would to be to create expansive wetland parks outside towns and cities.

These wetlands would be designed to accept and clean urban runoff using native wetland plants. The storm water could be completely contained from existing waterways whilst providing recreational parks and habitats for wildlife.

One of the biggest barriers to this becoming reality is space and cost. Real estate around urban areas is some of the most expensive and difficult to develop.

How to diagnose your drainage problem

Boggy lawns and flower borders

Boggy lawns and borders are a sign of ground saturation. Saturation occurs when your existing backyard cannot naturally absorb the amount of water running to it.

If this is a recent problem it may be the case that your locality is experiencing greater volumes of surface runoff. This could be due to heavier rain fall, recent building work or a change in levels to surrounding or adjacent properties.

Standing water on paved surfaces

If you have standing water sitting on paved surfaces it is clear the water has nowhere to escape. It could be a patio drainage system has failed or a grated channel drain has become blocked. If your paved surfaces have puddles it is possible the levels are not allowing water to fall away. This could mean you need to relay some areas or install a drainage system.

Isolated puddles of water

If your garden has developed a spontaneous puddle of water in one area it could be a broken or leaky pipe. Very often isolated puddles in lawns and flower beds are a result of broken pipes. The most common reason is old broken clay or concrete land drainage pipes. In such cases you should carefully excavate around them to expose the source.

Landscaping around the home to prevent standing water

Surface levels & Gradients

One of the most fundamental elements of preventing water sitting around your home is surface gradients. Water will always flow to the lowest level so you need to analyse your existing site. Are surrounding properties gardens higher than yours? If so your garden could be absorbing all of your neighbour’s storm runoff. In such a case you will want to raise your gardens surface level and ensure levels fall away from your property. Water can be collected in a garden drainage systems and directed to a soak-away or retention vessel. Patios around your home should fall away from your walls to prevent daming.

Daming features

Daming features are physical features which prevent water from escaping from a given area. Typical examples of these are the root mass of hedges, raised beds, retaining walls and poorly laid lawns. If you have standing water around your home try to identify what is preventing water from draining away. If these cannot be altered you may have to install a sump drain to allow the water to escape.

Landform

If your garden has an undulating land form it is possible this is causing standing water. During times of heavy rain surface water naturally flows from high areas into low areas. This makes landform a significant factor in directing water in various directions. If you think your undulating surface levels are encouraging standing water they can graded level with an excavator. This work is best undertaken during the summer while installing a land drainage system.

Retaining walls

Retaining walls have the potential to trap water within low areas of the garden. A typical scenario is when backyards slope down towards the house and back patio. Such patios normally have a retaining wall around them to hold back sloping soil from the level patio. The problem is water can puddle on the patio if insufficient patio drainage has been installed. Grated channel drains along the building are a good way to drain surface water away from the home.

Permeable paving

Permeable paving is hard surfacing which enables water to percolate through its surface and be absorbed by the underlying ground. A good example of such a surface would be loose gravels laid upon a porous sub-base. However if your underlying soil is naturally saturated permeable paving may not be the best option. Permeable paving over saturated ground can lead to slow absorption levels and puddles.

Impermeable paving

Impermeable paving is paving which does not allow surface water to penetrate the surface. This would include most paving products such as pre-cast and natural stone pavers on the market. The benefit of impermeable paving is it allows you to fall water away from the home or into a collection feature. The storm water can then be channelled into a drainage system, retention vessel or naturalistic wetland.

Lean too structures

Lean too structures are basically shelters which attach onto the side of buildings. Historically these have taken many forms with varying functions. Primarily these have provided sheltered spaces for seating areas, drying washing and storage. A well constructed lean too can also ensure that rainwater is directed away from your homes walls and patios. This means they can be a useful way to prevent water sitting around your home.

Installing drainage

Installing landscape drainage around your home is an effective way to combat standing water and boggy conditions. Garden drainage can be quite an in-depth topic with plenty of causation for drainage problems and potential solutions. The most common garden drainage systems however typically involve free draining channels, channel drains and soakaway systems. For a more comprehensive article on the topic of garden drainage why not visit our in depth resource here.

Free draining landscape channels

Free draining landscape channels come in a range of different types and under a few different names. Typical examples include lawn drainage channels, French drains and gravel drains. Ultimately these landscape drainage channels consist of a linear trench filled with free draining gravel encasing a perforated drainage pipe.

Soak away systems

Soak-aways are large voids excavated deep into the ground to collect excess storm water run-off. The sizes of these vary but a cubic metre in size is typical for most average gardens. For many years soak-aways were simply large holes filled with broken builder’s masonry rubble. However today it is more common to use drainage crate systems. These are reinforced plastic cages which slot together to form a robust void under the soil. These are much more efficient at storing ground water away from the home than the old rubble method.

Water retention vessels

Water retention vessels are typically tanks which store collected rain water for future use. The most typical example of these would be domestic water butts connected to roof gutters. However, there are many, much larger water tanks on the market that can hold anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 litres of water. These can be submerged deep underground for long term water storage. The advantage of water retention vessels is they allow a generous drainage facility to collect storm water. During hot summers these can be tapped into via a pump for landscape irrigation.

Ecological wetlands

Ecological wetlands are naturalistic looking wetland habitats designed to absorb and store urban water runoff. Not only can these wetlands create attractive features they can also serve as a great habitat for wildlife. An ecological wetland can be as simple as a seasonally flooding ditch planted with native wetland meadow species. These depressions and wild ponds can be a great place to drain excess water from around your home.

Creating free draining soils

One of the most common problems with gardens that flood is soil compaction. Very often, the surrounding soil is not that saturated however but water finds it difficult to percolate soil particles.

This leads to a boggy and impervious top layer which often holds standing water. The key to resolving such an issue is to work the soil to a more free draining structure.

This can be achieved by alleviating compaction and working free draining materials.

The soil should be excavated, turned over and plenty of organic matter and sharp sand added. This will help to break apart the soil clods and prevent them becoming stuck together.

The soil can then be tilled using a tiller machine to work the soil to a fluffy consistency. This work is best undertaken in late spring early summer.

Why not visit our article on how to improve your garden soil here.

Conclusion

Sometimes the reason for surface water around your home may not be that obvious. Most of the time however, landscaping around your home will be either the problem or the solution.

Working levels, landform, drainage systems and soil types correctly is the perfect way of landscaping around your home to preventing water and boggy conditions.

Landscaping around home services

If you require garden drainage services do not hesitate to contact us. Based in Amersham, we provide a wide range of garden landscaping services including:

paving, patios, driveways, paths, edging, raised beds, garden drainage, lawn drainage, gardening, fencing, new lawns, garden walls, ponds, re-levelling, planting, wildlife gardens and vegetable gardens.

Our landscaping services cover a 10 mile radius from Amersham and typically cover:

Amersham, Aylesbury, Bovingdon, Chalfont, Chesham, Hyde Heath, Great Missenden, Princes Risborough, High Wycombe, Penn, Beaconsfield, Tring, Gerrard's Cross and Denham.

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