Techguy
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Joined: Tue May 08, 2018 1:15 am

Grading issue

My backyard lawn just slopes down toward the front fence and on the two sides as well...like depressed trench per se. Appears the water path is given along the fence as down spout on each side of the house is facing to the fence and so is the next door neigh ours on each side. I really want to make flower beds along the fence but am worried if the water will flood it away or would it be ok?
I really want a flat lawn with flower beds on all 3 sides and am ready to do it myself but don't want to be redoing all my hard work in case water path.may be blocked by this.
Any tips and help is much appreciated.

Thanks
TG

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

I can’t help with physically grading, but if all you want is to grow flowers in the low spots where it gets too much water, then my simple suggestion is to grow water-loving plants, possibly even bog-plants.

Where in the world are you located? Let’s try thinking of suitable flowering plants if this is the direction you want to consider. Choosing locally native flowers would be a better move since they will be adapted to local conditions and create habitats for local wildlife — butterflies, birds, etc. — increasing biodiversity. More details about sun exposure of the areas would help.

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MoonShadows
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Location: Stroudsburg, PA - Zone 6a

I like applestar's suggestion. If the contour of your yard is a lemon, make lemonade. Why fight Mother Nature...go with it. It will be less physical work, and you'll have beautiful native plants that can better adapt to the situation.

Welcome to the forum!

Techguy
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It's not mother nature but the gift given by home builder that I need to find fix for. I'm hung between the idea of just making flower bed and give it a shot it may be ok until problem found OR throw a underground drain pipe along the fence line directing water where it needs to go and create regular flower/plants bed.

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applestar
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Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

It sounds like you are leaning towards earthmoving, but just to explain better what I’m talking about, here’s an excerpt from one of my posts —

Subject: Sunflower is blooming!
Mon Jul 21, 2014
applestar wrote: Image

I dug a bog garden in the far corner to capture the rainwater from the neighbor's downspout because the previous owner landscaped his yard to basically pipe everything to our side of the property line and that area was constantly soggy. You can see the pink Joe Pye weed starting to bloom. Other plants enjoying the extra moisture include Blue flag iris, Arum, Virginia sweetspire, Royal fern, White turtlehead, Winterberry, Cardinal flower, Ditch Daylily, and. Marshmallow hibiscus. The bog exits under the fence to the front yard. Across the spillway, the first fruit tree in the espalier fence row is a Prok persimmon.

Image
Prok persimmons and Arkansas Black apples

A red osier dogwood on the other side of the fence looks very nice against the white picket fence, and most of the smaller bog flowers are grouped there along with a Husker Red Penstemmon and a tiny struggling blueberry. A swale directs the bog water to the base of my triple PawPaw planting dubbed "Paw and Paw and Baby Paw" and a developing clump of Elderberry.

I have another RainBog Garden at the base of one of our main roof rain gutter downspouts. A rainbarrel collects the water then double overflow hoses direct the rainwater here and to the "Ostrich Fern Alley." Top-right photo is my little patch of wildflowers across a little brick path from the RainBog Garden.
Image
Image
This water-loving Buttonbush is situated next to the rainbarrel overflow. The bees love the pompom blossoms.
Image
...As a part of my individual environmental footprint/watershed solution, my personal goal is to capture and sequester every drop of rain and irrigation water on my property, and not let them wastefully flow out to the street-side gutter to wash pollution down to the local watershed and to the ocean.

Techguy
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Joined: Tue May 08, 2018 1:15 am

Applestar,
First off thanks so much for taking time and share your wonderful post with examples...that's humbling...and you really got me thinking along this line to pick the right plants for it. My only concern is by making a bed along the fence won't block the water path resulting in way too much moisture plus slowly sliding away soil from my bed and root rottening?
I will post pictures in my next post so you have an idea what I'm talking about.
Thanks again for a lovely response....much appreciated.

Cheers
TG



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