Tired of having a yard that is always wet and muddy? We’ve got lots of practical suggestions to help you figure out how to dry up a wet yard fast! You’ll learn what causes water to accumulate in your yard and how to fix it.
Are you dealing with a wet yard that never dries out properly and is causing issues for your family or pets?
The problem with wet yards is that they are a messy inconvenience. Your poor waterlogged plants can suffer or die if they are underwater too long. In addition, standing water can turn your yard into a mosquito breeding ground. If you are dealing with any of these problems, you know what we are talking about here too well! And don’t even get me started on the mud!
Don’t despair; we can show you how to clear up a wet yard fast! These techniques will work in any size yard, so you can act fast and start enjoying your outdoor space again!
In a Hurry?
Need to know how to dry up a wet yard fast? Here are our top 7 suggestions
- Find and fix any leaks
- Level out low spots
- Locate and divert underground springs
- Improve soil structure
- Aerate and dethatch grass
- Improve your drainage
- Plant a rain garden
Finding Out Why Your Yard is Wet
Before you start trying to dry out a wet yard, you need to determine where the water came from. There are many possible causes. Take note of which areas of your yard flood most frequently and when they flood. Then you can determine what steps to take. Common causes of a muddy yard include:
- Heavy rainfall in the area where you live.
- Leaks in your incoming water lines
- A broken sewer pipe is leaking water
- Inadequate drainage in your yard
- Low lying areas
- High clay content
Once you identify where the excess moisture is coming from, you can work on how to dry up a wet yard fast! This is a long post, so click on the table of contents and jump to the sections that interest you.
Heavy Rainfall During Rainy Season
During the rainy season, the yard will likely be wet. This is perfectly normal, and things will dry up naturally in a few days.
However, you will know you have a problem if part of your yard stays underwater for more than 2 days after a rainstorm. Have you noticed that puddles and soggy areas persist for longer than 2 days after rain? Does your yard tend to accumulate more water than others in your neighborhood? If so, then you likely have a problem that must be fixed. Here are some issues to check.
Check For Leaks
Make sure the downspouts and gutters on your roof are working correctly. Small leaks in pipes can sometimes cause moist patches around your house.
This helpful article shows you where leaks occur in downspouts.
Also, check your outdoor water sources for leaks. These would include things like
- Outdoor faucets
- Water features like ponds and fountains
- Your pool or hot tub
- water sprinkler system
- Garden hoses
These kinds of leaks can often be fixed by the homeowner. Here are some helpful videos.
How to fix leaky gutters
Fixing a leaky outdoor faucet
Fixing downspouts
Leaks in water mains
If none of these seem to be the problem, you may have a leak in the incoming water line. Signs of a broken water line include
- Lawn flooding for no apparent reason
- Water pooling in your garden when it hasn’t been raining.
- Muddy, boggy areas that were previously dry.
If you suspect a leak, try turning off your home’s water supply to see if your water meter continues to increase. If it does you have a leak somewhere and that is causing the water in your yard.
Finding this post helpful? See all our lawn care articles.
Leaks in Sewer Line
A sewer line leakage is not hard to spot. You will notice a slow and gradual buildup of water, which can only be described as soupy and foul-smelling. In fact, the smell will probably be your first clue. Sewer line leaks pose a serious health risk and need to be dealt with immediately.
Dealing with Major Leaks
Contact your municipality if you suspect that a water main or sewer line has broken. Depending on the kind of damage and the city you live in, repairing damaged underground lines may be the responsibility of your municipality. Otherwise, you will need the services of a plumber.
Is Your Topography Causing Problems?
Topography looks at where and how your garden fits into the landscape. It will include things like the soil composition, the slope of the land, exposure, and things like creeks or underground springs. If you are wondering how to dry up a wet yard fast, consider the following 5 issues.
Do You Have Low Spots
Are you in a low-lying area? Water always flows downhill to the lowest spot, and gardens located in low-lying areas will often have water problems.
Low spots are found when your yard is not properly graded. You will notice low spots in your yard after heavy rainfall because water will pool there. Low-lying areas tend to absorb and hold onto more moisture than other parts of the yard.
Fixing Small Low Spots
This article tells you how to fill small low spots in your yard.
The basic steps are as follows.
- Mow the grass and dethatch if necessary.
- Mix up filler from two parts sand, two parts topsoil, and one part compost.
- Remove the grass from hollows deeper than 2-3 inches. A sod lifter makes this job more manageable.
- Fill the hollows and replace the grass.
- Water until the grass is re-established.
The other thing you can do with a low spot is to create and plant a rain garden.
Do You Have An Underground Spring?
There is also the possibility that an underground spring is bringing water to the surface. Springs of this type are more common in clay-soil hilly areas, but they can occur anywhere.
Several signs indicate the presence of an underground spring.
- The ground appears oversaturated. You may notice that the grass feels soft or spongy. It could also be muddy. You will also see puddles of water even though it has been a dry day.
- There is an unusual growth of plants and weeds in certain areas, and they never need watering.
It is pretty easy to check for underground water. First, remove any standing water from the surface. Then take a shovel and dig a few inches into the ground and wait. Watch for water seeping back into the area. This is a clear indication that water is present. If you have ruled out leaks, you may have an underground spring or a high-water table.
You can divert an underground stream by using drainage trenches.
This article gives lots of information about detecting underground springs and dealing with them.
Which Way Does Your Land Slope?
The slope is another factor that affects how water moves through your yard. Areas around the house should slope away from the foundation walls. Your yard should also slope in such a way as to prevent standing water.
How Fast is Water Absorbed By Your Soil?
The type of soil in your yard can cause water accumulation problems. If rain is falling faster than the soil can absorb it, you will have problems. The water tends to sit on or just below the ground’s surface, causing it to remain wet and soggy.
Soils with a high percentage of clay
Clay is particularly problematic because it tends to compact and does not drain well. If you have ruled out the other things that cause flooding, it is worth checking your soil.
Other soil problems
Other problems include those soils are those close to the bedrock or those with impermeable layers of minerals under the surface. These kinds of soils prevent water from soaking into the ground.
Testing your soil
Most gardeners have a good sense of the kind of soil they have. Still, it is easy to test if you are not sure. Take a large glass jar, and fill it with soil from the wet area. Fill the jar with water, shake it well, and let the various of the soil settle in layers.
Clemson University has produced a fact sheet that details how to do the jar test and calculate the soil type from the results.
To test the soil’s absorbency, dig a 1-foot deep and 4 inches wide hole and fill it with water to see how fast it drains. If it takes more than an hour, your soil probably won’t soak up water fast enough to prevent flooding.
Improve Your Soil
Add compost to clay soil.
Adding organic matter to your soil will make the soil less dense and more porous. This means that water will enter the soil faster, so there is less runoff. Adding organic matter also helps your soil because it provides nutrients and a long-term food source for the plants in your garden. There are two approaches you can take depending on the severity of your problem.
Creating a compost blanket (less disruption)
Basically, this involves laying down a thin layer of compost on your lawn and garden. Rake it in, taking care not to bury your grass or existing plants. You can add a thicker layer to bare spots or unplanted areas of your property.
What kind of compost should you use? Organic compost is available in most gardening centers, but check out what your municipality offers. There are pick-up sites for free leaf mulch or compost in many areas. Don’t forget to recycle organic material your garden and kitchen produces.
- Compost garden and kitchen waste.
- Leave grass clippings on the lawn
- Mowing your fallen leaves onto your grass instead of bagging them.
I can tell you from experience that the compost blanket method is a slow process. I used it on a flower bed that had a high clay content. It took many applications over 5 years to see a difference, but I got there in the end. You may need to wait 4 to 5 seasons before you see a noticeable difference in the soil.
High-intensity soil amendment (very disruptive)
Heavy soil amending is more intensive and requires you to dig up your yard. The results will be immediate and noticeable, but this option is more expensive and very disruptive. You may want to do this in sections or bite the bullet and do the whole yard at once. It depends on how much disruption you can handle and how many trees and shrubs you need to work around.
Decide which area of your property you want to improve first. You can calculate how much compost you’ll need based on the size of the site. Use a rototiller to mix your compost into the soil by tilling down at least 10 inches. There is no set rule, but the University of Maryland recommends using a 2- 4- inch layer. If you are digging up your yard anyway, you might as well go the whole nine yards..
Add something to break up the clay.
This posts contains affiliate links. This means we earn a commission from sales made via product links in this post. Read our full affiliate disclosure.
If you are tilling up your garden, you can also add something to break up the clay. We recommend Gypsum. It needs to be tilled into the soil, and it takes a while to work. You may have seen posts advising the use of sand. DO NOT add sand to your clay soil. When it rains, you will get something resembling cement, and it dries just as hard. I speak from personal experience here.
Does Your Grass Need Aeration or Dethatching?
Aerate lawns to improve water absorption
Moisture cannot be effectively absorbed by compacted soil. As a result, your lawn will remain wetter longer than it should. Compacted soil under grass needs to be aerated to promote soil water absorption and reduce flooding. In addition, it will also be good for your plants and gras.s
The most effective way to aerate is to use a spike or core aerator. Rent these from your local hardware store if you don’t want to purchase one. The process of aeration opens the soil and increases the rate of absorption. It is also good for your lawn as the water will reach the plant’s root zone.
Dethatching your lawn
Thatch is a layer of decomposing grass clippings that accumulate between your turf’s green vegetation and its root zone. A thick layer (more than 1/2 inch) of thatch can prevent water absorption. Obviously, this is not good for the grass, but it can also cause a soggy lawn.
Dethatching reduces compaction in the lawn and increases water absorption. It also stimulates new growth by removing dead material that can prevent nutrients from reaching the grassroots.
Remove thatch with dethatching machines or special rakes. Again, you can often rent the devices if you don’t want to purchase one.
Do you Have Adequate Drainage?
Your yard may hold pools of water because it does not have adequate drainage. This is usually the case in clay-soil yards that do not absorb moisture well. The ground will become saturated, which can lead to puddles, mud patches, and slow draining surfaces.
If your yard does not have natural drainage, you can still solve the problem. You need to put in a drainage system that will channel water away from your yard and into an area that can be absorbed naturally.
Fixing Drainage Problems
Check your slope
The initial slope for the first 10 feet around your house should be 5%. In other words, the ground 10 feet away from your foundations should be 6 inches lower than the ground right next to the house. After that, you are looking for a slope of about 2%. This means that the elevation of the soil lowers by about 1/4 inch over 1 foot. Obviously, the steeper the slope, the better the drainage.
This video shows you how to measure the slope of your property with just a few tools.
If you don’t have the required slope, re-grading the yard would make a huge difference. This is a large job, though, and you would probably need to contract a landscaping company to deal with it.
Install a French Drain
It sounds rather fancy, but a French drain is nothing more than a gravel-lined ditch with drainage pipes that carry water away from wet spots. A wider drain pipe will be more effective, so you are looking at digging a trench at least 12 inches wide and between 18 and 24 inches deep.
You can cover the ditch with gravel and top it with soil if you want it concealed. Alternatively, you could camouflage it with small rocks and boulders to make it look like a dry creek bed.
The trenches can be dug by hand, but you may want to rent a trench digger to save your back. Be mindful about where you are diverting the water. The last thing you want to do is drain your yard into your neighbor’s garden.
Check out this post with step-by-step instructions for building a french drain.
Do not forget to call your utility company BEFORE you start digging! You don’t want to cut through utility lines by mistake.
Build a Dry Well
This is a good option if you don’t can’t use a drainage trench to divert water from your yard. Essentially, a dry well is a large perforated container buried underground and surrounded by stones.
The container fills with excess water during spring melt or storms. This water slowly drains into the surrounding soil and doesn’t cause flooding. A dry well can be covered with soil and grass, so it is quite discreet.
Many homeowners use dry wells to divert the water from downspouts away from the house. You could also combine a French drain with a dry well. Arrange the drain, so the water flows directly into the dry well.
You can find detailed instructions for building a dry well here.
Planting Water-Tolerant Plants
If all else fails, consider planting water-tolerant plants in your wet patches. Besides soaking up extra water, these plants also attract wildlife.
Water tolerant plants include such plants as
- Ferns
- Cattails
- Marsh marigolds.
- Lily of the Valley
- Elephants ear
- Canna
The University of Illinois has published a list of perennials that are tolerant of wet soil.
Build a Rain Garden
The rain garden is an excellent way to deal with excess water in your garden. It absorbs a lot of water and prevents excess run off. In addition, they provide a habitat for birds, butterflies, and beneficial insects, such as dragonflies.
Upkeep is minimal once these gardens are planted. They are filled with beautiful, hardy plants that don’t need a lot of water.
You can find step-by-step instructions for building a rain garden here.
Final Thoughts
A wet yard can be a real pain, but do not despair. There are actionable steps you can take to fix this problem. We hope this post helped you better understand how to dry up a wet yard fast. We’ve provided you with lots of information to help you resolve your moisture problem. Why not act today, so you dry up your yard and get back to enjoying it with family and friends?
Once you have dried out your yard, you will want to cover up the muddy spots. We’ve got 9 genius suggestions to help.