We chat about landscaping problems with a lot of homeowners throughout the year, and one topic that seems to come often is backyard flooding.
It may seem strange to talk about flooding in July, but we find it’s best to plan ahead.
If you live in an area that gets rain regularly, you may want to start thinking about your options now so you have time to protect your yard from flooding.
To help you get started, we put together a quick guide that provides tips to consider as you get started.
Let’s dive in.
If you thought that synthetic grass was a solid, plastic surface that water gathers on easily, then it is time to think again. You should picture it more like a natural grass lawn that lets rain run through it than like a concrete drive or tiled roof that water runs off.
The best type of artificial grass is highly permeable, as it has drainage holes built into it. This means that any water will just pass right through it without any problems.
The drainage holes are small holes that are dotted throughout the grass, and they can only be seen by looking at the underside, so they won’t spoil the look of your beautiful new lawn in any way. By sticking to high-quality synthetic turf you will get grass that looks great and won’t give you any flooding issues.
With the right type of synthetic grass, your lawn will never be flooded again, no matter how heavily it rains or for how long. If the area where you live is prone to heavy rain and flooding, then this is sure to be a massive relief.
Once you have chosen the right kind of grass for your needs, the next step is to get it installed properly. This is absolutely vital if you want to have the best possible drainage and a wonderful-looking lawn.
You can do this yourself or call professionals to do it for you. In either case, you have to put down a waterproof membrane together with a drainage base layer of sand.
Finally, you need to add an infill layer of sand, which will help with drainage as well as give a fantastic finished look. By ensuring the lawn is perfectly flat and even, you will give water no places where it can gather and cause puddles that take longer to clear way.
If you have had problems with drainage in the past then perhaps you have been using a natural slope for your existing lawn. When you make the switch to synthetic turf, this is no longer an issue.
This means that you have the option of removing the slope and getting a beautifully flat lawn if you want to. On the other hand, if you want to carry on with the same sloping lawn, then this is also an option.
You won’t have any problems with installing artificial grass on a slope, although you will want to be sure to fix it down well if the slope is steep. Fixing it with nails and avoiding using a sand infill are a few techniques you might need to use.
Generally speaking, a gradient of 15% or less is necessary for walking on, while a steeper slope means that you will probably use your lawn for purely decorative purposes. Of course, no matter what type of grass you use, you will also want to ensure that you aren’t just sending the excess rainwater somewhere else to gather and cause puddles to form.
An artificial lawn gives you a tremendous amount of possibilities when it comes to finishing it off with decorative touches, but you need to be careful that they don’t ruin your chances of keeping your lawn free of water.
Don’t forget that you also need to leave a clear route for any surface water to run off from your lawn when it rains. If you block the water run-off, then you will undermine everything else that you have done up to now.
While this water will soak through, it will take longer to do this, as you will be forcing more onto the lawn than is really necessary. This is exactly the same problem that you will suffer from a natural grass lawn or an artificial one, so if it is already an issue, then maybe you can do something about it while making the switch to artificial grass.
By doing this, you will give the water nowhere to go and force it to stay on the lawn. This problem is most commonly seen when people use the likes of timber edging but make it higher than the finished grass line.
The increasing presence of built-up areas with concrete surfaces is one of the reasons why cases of flooding have increased in various parts of the world. It is also part of the reason why planning permission is commonly needed for turning part of your property into an impermeable surface.
Thankfully, there is no such problem with an artificial lawn. The fact that it is highly permeable means that rainwater won’t just run off it to cause problems elsewhere.
This means that you won’t find that other parts of your property get flooded or that your neighbor gets angry at the damage you are causing to his property. Indeed, you can also feel confident that you are doing your bit to lower flooding risks in the area as a whole.
If you are moving from a concrete garden or some other impermeable surface then, you should notice a positive effect on the amount of water that runs off elsewhere after heavy downfalls or sustained periods of rain.
There is no need to worry about your synthetic lawn being a flooding risk. Provided that it is of good quality and is professionally laid, you will get a fantastic surface that drains a lot more easily than you might expect.