Paul James Solves Your Garden Drainage Problems

But the most wearisome problem of all is the poor drainage. Water moves into this area from a higher grade left of the shed and flows to an area on the right side, particularly during heavy rains. In addition, water flows off the shed roof and splashes mud all over the front porch. Those two problems combined means that the area stays muddy for days on end, especially after a heavy rain. Nevertheless, there is a relatively simple and inexpensive solution.

James connects the other end of the drainage pipe to a section of PVC pipe in a stone wall that he had installed several weeks ago in anticipation of this project. He fills the trench and gaps around the catch basin with the excavated soil. When it rains, the catch basin will collect the water, and the water will move through the drainage pipes away from the shed.

That takes care of drainage issues upstream, so next James deals with matters downstream. On the other side of the stone wall, he digs another trench roughly eight inches deep and eight inches wide to accommodate three sections of drain pipes. "The trick here is to make sure the trench slopes gently downward from the high side to the low side. Otherwise the water could pool on the high side and make a real mess."

James uses a level every few feet to verify that the slope is progressing downward as desired. Once he's satisfied with the depth and angle of the trench, he lays the drain pipe in the trench and connects one end to the pipe installed in the stone wall. He fills in the trench and covers the pipe with three to four inches of excavated soil. "You may be wondering where all this water is ultimately going to wind up," he says. "For now, it's going to flow out of the pipe and into a trench that I dug several months ago and finally out into the lawn. It's not an ideal solution, but at least it takes care of the lawn in front of the shed."