15 Wise Ways to Prevent Water From Flooding Your Yard

It’s a nuisance when poor lawn drainage results in flattened flower beds and dying grass. And stormwater runoff in your yard often leads to more serious issues, such as soil erosion, foundation damage, and waterway pollution. Standing water also makes an ideal breeding ground for pests, molds, and pathogens. 

Luckily, you can mitigate these issues with a little pre-planning. With the trend for more frequent and intense precipitation set to continue because of climate change, these wide-ranging backyard flooding solutions couldn’t be more timely.

1. Raise a Rain Garden

You don’t always need to take on the cost of a professionally installed landscape drainage system. Rain gardens are practical and attractive additions to any yard prone to flooding. They're simple to create and promote the growth of native, flood-tolerant perennial plants. According to the Groundwater Foundation, rain gardens allow for 30% more water to soak into the soil than a standard lawn cover.

Set up the plant-filled shallow depression at least 10 feet away from your home's foundations and septic tank. Select a spot where the runoff from your downspouts, roof, and other hard surfaces flows to. The captured water then percolates through the well-drained ground (often a mix of sand, topsoil, and compost).

2. Plant Trees

Planting a tree or two in your yard comes with many benefits, including that they can help reduce flooding. According to the Woodland Trust, trees minimize surface water runoff by up to 80% more than asphalt. Their extensive root systems help water absorb deeper into the ground, and their canopy slows and reduces the amount of rain hitting the ground through interception and evaporation.

Trees such as river birch, black tupelo, and red maple are good examples of species tolerant of soggy soils. Contact a local certified arborist for more advice if you’re unsure what tree is best for your space and conditions.

3. Choose Your Mulch Wisely

A heavy mulch, such as wood chips, is a great way to help absorb excess water in your garden. Light mulch won’t suck up as much moisture, and it can get washed away during floods—you’ll have a bigger cleanup job, and it can create further problems by blocking drains.

Keep the mulch at least 6 inches away from the edge of your home, as you don't want moisture spreading into your walls and foundation.

4. Amend and Aerate

Loamy and sandy soils drain better than heavy clay. Adding a 2- or 3-inch layer of loose organic matter, like compost, bark, sawdust, or leaf mold, helps break down dense soils.

Neglecting lawn care leads to a build-up of thatch (a thick layer of dead leaves, stems, and roots mixed with living grass) and compaction. Regular dethatching and aeration to loosen compacted soil is a simple task that helps reduce the puddles forming on your lawn.

5. Level Sloping Ground

Sometimes flood water gathers because the grading of your yard isn’t optimal. Leveling out the slopes stops pools of water from developing. Regrading your garden tends to be a big job best left to a local landscape grading contractor. Still, it might be worth the investment, especially if the water flows towards your home’s foundation.

6. Create a Swale

Like a rain garden, a swale is a depression in your landscape where water gathers. The difference is that ditch-like swales follow the slope's contours to slow and redirect the water, allowing it to escape into a more appropriate place.

7. Ditch the Asphalt

Your impermeable driveway could be one of the biggest drivers of flooding caused by stormwater runoff. While adding additional yard drainage helps, if you rarely use the driveway and you already need to replace it, why not consider better-draining gravel, spaced paving, grass cover, or a wildflower garden instead? 

8. Install a Rain Barrel

There are plenty of benefits of adding a rain barrel to your yard. You can conserve water, lower utility bills, reduce erosion, and effectively collect water to use in your garden via downspouts without spending too much. 

And, there are no worries about runoff from your roof causing floods because of blocked drains or improper grading. Just make sure to check the levels regularly, especially after a big downpour—you don’t want water cascading uncontrollably over the side of the barrel back into your garden. 

9. Keep Storm Drains Clear of Debris

Regularly raking and clearing your yard and checking drains are kept clear helps to reduce the chance of pooling water. Leaf litter and other yard waste can gather around storm drains, leading to flood-causing blockages.  

10. Fit a French Drain 

French drains aren’t just there to prevent basements from flooding. Simple outdoor versions, also referred to as trench drains, work by digging a long, narrow ditch complete with perforated piping surrounded by gravel. This process directs water away from your property and landscape to a lower, more suitable place. 

If you don’t already have one, it might be possible to install a French drain yourself, but always call 811 to make sure you don’t cut across utility lines. Alternatively, get in touch with a French drain professional near you to ensure the job is done right.

11. Decide on Dry Wells

These large, underground, out-of-sight containers have a strategic position at the lowest part of your yard to allow water to collect. Then, they will slowly release the water rather than allowing it to spill out uncontrolled across your landscape.

However, if you’ve got poorly draining soil, your yard might not be a good candidate for a dry well. Plus, they’re a considerable investment benefiting from hiring a local drainage contractor. Either way, a visit from one of these pros can help you decide if this is a good option for you.

12. Go for Sump Pumps

If your yard often feels more like a swimming pool, you may want to consider hiring a local pro to install an exterior sump pump. The pump goes into the ground in an area where the water gathers. It then lifts and discharges it into a more appropriate space. Sometimes this is into a well-drained area in your yard that flows downhill (away from your and neighbor’s homes). 

There it percolates slowly into the ground, or you can collect it for later use (in a rain barrel). Often the water is redirected to an exterior storm drain, but it should never drain into city sewer lines. This is illegal in many states as it can overwhelm the system when rainy weather arrives.

While this can be a particularly pricey option, it sure beats dealing with a soupy lawn.

13. Minimize Shade

Try to minimize shade in your yard to help it dry out after a rainstorm. Shaded yards take longer to dry after heavy rain and snow, because the shade blocks sunlight that helps evaporate moisture. You can cut back on shadiness by trimming tree branches. Another option is to replace your grass with artificial turf, so it holds less water.

14. Install Patio and Walkway Drains

Install patio and walkway drains to prevent water from collecting. These trend drain systems typically go along the base of a wall or step to help redirect water away from the hardscape. Standard patio and walkway drains use removable grates that do the job effectively. These drains will not only help prevent flooding in your yard, they'll also help direct water away from your home and foundation. 

15. Add a Rain Barrel

Rain barrels are 55-gallon containers that collect and store precipitation that drips down from your gutters and downspouts. There are many benefits to installing a rain barrel, not the least of which is flood prevention. Every gallon of precipitation that collects in a rain barrel is a gallon that isn’t soaking your yard. Another perk—once you’ve collected the free rainwater in your barrel, you can use it for other household tasks.