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Flooding

kellic

By Kellic

Iowa, United States

I just moved into a new home. As I began doing some landscaping my new neighbors informed me that the back of my yard (and theirs) becomes a stream during rain. I am wanting to take full advantage of the small yard I have. Does anyone have any suggestions as to something that would grow in extremly wet conditions? I thought about some sort of dam but that only piles the water in my neighbors yard. Whatever I plant there will also have to be able to survive normal conditions. Right now there is sod there.




Answers

 

What do you have beyond the end of your garden? Is it empty ground? A hill? Someone else's plot?

21 Apr, 2008

 

Have a look at Bilbo's blog of the 19th April - there may be some suggestions there to help you, or at least give you some ideas!

21 Apr, 2008

 

Hi I also suffer from excess rain water to such an extent that I have dug a small drainage channel and filled it with gravel, Next to this I have a gunnera and equisitum growing/ferns/hostas etc.
Take a look at some of my garden pics as it will be easy to see what I mean.

21 Apr, 2008

 

Maple,
Beyond the area in question there is a hill. I had hoped at some point to do some tiered gardens in the hill but am limited right now as to budget. The main reason I am trying to address this now is because both neighbors on either side have warned me to expect flooding in the backyard during the summer. Instead of having a mess I would like to have a solution.

Treesandthi....
How did the drainage channel effect your neighbors? Being new to the neighborhood, I do not think upsetting them is a good idea. (smiling). I do not want to force more water into their yard.

21 Apr, 2008

 

Luckily for me it drains off down a slope to a patch of woodland.
Do you have room for Willow? I planted a tree where it get's damp and boggy as well as willow stocks I trained into a dome. These are very thirsty and dont mind having their feet wet. I clip the willow tree to keep it managable as I dont want a 50ft tree in my garden at the moment. There are pics of this on my homepage.

21 Apr, 2008

 

Treesandthi...

I am not sure about the Willow. The yard is small already and I am afraid a Willow will overpower it. One thought I have is laying the channel with some sort of small pond catch at the end. It would still spill over into the neighbors but maybe not as much. I am very new to this but if I line the channel with stone and then plant some water hardy plants along it and around the pool then I may catch more than I pass on. I would still have the problem of a large water bill should the weather get dry though so choosing the plants will be a challange. Do you have any ideas?

25 Apr, 2008

 

Hi again, Equisitum is very hardy. Loves the damp conditions and should survive if it gets dry. Its a very architectual looking plant. Grows to about 4ft straight up. But it can be invasive as it sends roots out so you could plant it in a pond basket to keep it under control, lift it out every now and then a trim the roots and shoots.

2 May, 2008

How do I say thanks?

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