My back yard holds alot of water in certain areas?

my yard holds water in the outside edges of the wall and the edges of my fence and on rainy days it's just a sloppy mess. I was thinking about putting mulch and flowers in those spots to soak up some of the water. Do you think that I should do this or should I do anything before doing this? or do you ahve any suggestions as to what i should do?

My back yard holds alot of water in certain areas?
Agree w/Yaboo, you must address the reason for the water.


French drain or raise the grade. Just planting something won't work.
Reply:You mention a 'wall' and a fence... is the wall part of the fence or maybe you are talking about the wall of your home... no matter...





A french drain!! I had to put one in next to my home to keep water from running under my house. The water was actually washing the ground under my house away and it looked like the house was going to fall if that kept up...





anyway for the french drain, just dig a trench along the wall or the fence line, then put small rock (not sand but a gravel or decorative rock) in the bottom then lay the pipe (you can get at Home Depot or Lowes) then cover the pipe with the rest of the rocks. Then you can plant plants or a shrub anything.





actually in some cases just digging a trench leading the water away from the area (maybe to a ditch) and adding gravel in the hole then covering it back up with dirt may be enough to give the water a way to leave your yard. (but the french drain pipe helps a lot!)
Reply:I would do as you are thinking. Build a bog garden and use plants to soak up the water. Here's an article I wrote on how to build a bog garden:


http://www.gardenandhearth.com/Backyard-...



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