Front Lawn Drainage problem

[dannyw]

Hello...new to this site, hope sombody has an idea to help. I live in NE Ohio, and 6 years ago, the city put in water pipes and completely changed the slope and drainage of my front lawn. If you put a rope from the edge of the road to the front of my porch (approx 80 ft) and pulled taught, there would be a 1 foot "sag" in the lawn, and to make it worse, I have two 30 ft mature black maples right in the middle. I have tried adding dirt/top soil ( about 50 yrds topsoil and 2 dumps of dirt)) but if I add more, the trees would be affected. Now the real problem, I live across from city hall, and all winter extra salt is dumped right in front of my house, it melts and I get a river a street salt all spring and very nice brown riverbeds. Adding dirt every spring and re-seeding gets expensive and redundant...any ideas???

[The Helpful Gardener]

Liming before the grass greens up can lock up a lot of the salt...

HG

[Bestlawn]

What is the reason you didn't make the city fix the problem they created?
Just curious though it's too late now.

Please explain what happened with the about 50 yrds topsoil and 2 dumps of dirt you applied before. Why do you have to add more? Are you saying the city literally left a hole in your lawn?

I guess I just don't understand what you're trying to describe. If it was evenly graded and properly sloped before the city dug it up, why can't you get it back to grade and slope without affecting the trees? I think there is more than I am able to envision. Maybe get a landscaper from your local garden center to advise you with it, someone who can see what is happening.

[The Helpful Gardener]

BL, I think they left a swale (probably on purpose), and he is getting salty road run-off down the swale...

Have I got it, Danny?

So BL, what do you think of the lime idea for salt?

HG

[Bestlawn]

I like the lime idea for salt and doing it before greenup sounds ideal to prevent uptake.
He can also counter salt with sugar. Spraying beer or soda pop will do it. LOL

[The Helpful Gardener]

Sugar is a new one on me, Bestlawn. I know that would stimulate bacterial growth which would stimulate protozoal popualtions, which would add nitrogen and start mineral etching, but don't see the salt reduction...

Or are you pulling legs?

HG

[Bestlawn]

LOL Nope I'm not pulling your leg. I guess I have some s'plainin to do, but it's really very simple. Enzymes in the soil are produced by the microbes. Beer is an enzyme catalyst and boosts microbial activity (the way you explained). Sugar feeds the microbes, thereby increasing populations, but will also help to bind the salt, which creates a new compound that leaches away with water.

It's not all that scientific and I don't know of any studies. The only reason I know this works is that I used Nitron A-35 on a 4x4 area that always caught the de-icer salt due to a crook in the pavement of my walkway. Rain routinely washed it right into the grass there, and melting snow drained into the grass. I spent several years unable to get the grass to grow in that spot until I tried the Nitron for an entirely different reason (to relieve compaction, etc).

Nitron is an organic product, but the manufacturer is very secretive about the ingredients. Thanks to several people I communicate with (someone had it tested), I'm certain Nitron is comprised of much the same ingredients Jerry Baker recommends that uses beer, baby shampoo and other ingredients. I'm no fan of Baker, but we already know his recipe works for aeration. Gardeniq lists the benefits of Nitron on [url=https://www.gardeniq.com/store/product/Nitron-A-35,150,93.aspx]their website[/url]. What I found is that it works for other things, too. Dannyw can purchase the Nitron, or he can just use beer for enzymes and soda pop for sugar since his problem is not soil compaction but salt.

The lime will work just fine. It's just I am always afraid of liming without a soil test to determine soil pH and if lime is needed to remedy acidic soil. With beer and soda pop, you're not adding anything that isn't there or anything that isn't needed.

[dannyw]

Everybody, thanks for the ideas about my lawn, I guess explaining it better would help, after the city put in the water pipes, they tried (very minimal) to slope it but towards the side of my yard but never quite finished the job..to make matters worse, the company that did the work went bankrupt. The city washed their hands of the matter and considered it closed. Due to the cost of topsoil and the fact that the two maples in my front lawn are sitting directly in the middle of the lawn (any more dirt would start to cover the trunk of the trees) I have run out of options. I also was told to put a 3ft wall of dirt and throw grass seed on it (about 15ft from the road). I cannot put in a ditch (city wont allow it). well. I'll try the lime and maybe put up the dirt baracade. Once again, thanks for the imput and I'll put your ideas to work....Danny

[The Helpful Gardener]

Berming to redirect water might work, but careful not to get into a diversion issue with a neighbor or worse, the town.

What types of maples, Dan? Some will tolerate seasonal immersion and I have been in red maple swamp I could see tha Atlantic Ocean from on the Cape; it's pretty salt tolerant too... perhaps the right feature here isn't lawn but a dry streambed and a raingarden around the maples... movews this polluted (yeah, I said it) water into soil hydrology faster to start cleaning it up...

Best Lawn, we'll chat aside about the science; I'm intrigued...

HG