How can we get rid of some of this water in backyard?

We have a mini pond in our backyard every rain. Our yard is lower then everyone elses in the neighborhood. This one area on the right of the yard is the worst. The townhouse behind us had water that sat in their driveway all the time and they had some kind of drain put in to run the water in their backyard which of course our backyard is backing to theirs so now we get even more water in that one location since their project. Our neighboor on the right of the picture has a maple tree built up with dirt around it in his back yard so the water seems to come to our side of the fence more so then his yard also. Any suggestions on what we can do? Id rather hear a cheaper solution first before a costly one. any suggestions would be great!!

You might build raised flower beds along the property line - both for beauty and flood control. Maybe 18" high. These could be filled with veggies and flowers and look beautiful as well as block the water flow.
My only other thought is to dig a gi-normus hole and fill it with rock and have french drains leading to it from all of the low areas...

I don't know if you'd want to do this or not, but you may have some legal recourse against the neighbors who put in a drain that channels more water onto your property. I don't know what the rules are where you live, but here if you make changes to the drainage on your property which causes more water to go onto your neighbor's property than what would go there naturally then you can get in trouble. Raised beds could work, but the trouble is any time you change the level of the ground anywhere in your yard you need to think about where the water will go if it can't go where it goes now...maybe next it will wind up around the foundation of your house which would be very bad, or if it drains onto a neighbor's property then you could potentially get in trouble for that, etc. If you can afford it, having a pro install some drainage is probably the best solution. Or make lemonade out of lemons...dig it a bit deeper and turn it into a permanent pond, grow some water plants in it and some bog plants around the edge, etc. Of course that takes a big chunk of usable area out of the yard so you may not want to do that!

This is a good site about trench drains and French drains. Be sure to check out the "related articles" section too.

http://www.askthebuilder.com/721_Trench_Drain.shtml

You might get a couple of large dump truck loads of mixed soil and compost to raise the level of the yard. That may be the cheapest route if you have to hire someone to dig and install the drainage.

Hi, Jess - You may want to check out this link -- that area may be perfect for a Rain Garden!! Make lemonade out of lemons - these folks really know how to help your situation without expending ALOT of cash - hope it helps - Dax

http://www.raingardennetwork.com/

If Jess's house has a basement, that amount of standing water nearby is unacceptable. Sooner or later it will damage the foundation. The water table is too high; putting soil on top of it won't help.

Trench drains are not expensive!

Thanks ClayPa, My brothers griping about the expense of hiring out the french draining of his yard must have just been griping at ANY expense.

He had to have it done because he was getting dampness in the house due to ponding underneath it. All of the water has caused some uneven settling of his house. His drains out to the street through a small cut in the curb.

Yes, it's no fun spending money on gravel and plastic pipe compared to other things, but you gotta do what you gotta do..

The drain pipe can be had for $50 for a hundred feet, which is probably more than you'd need. Gravel, and however you accomplish the labor of a 6 inch wide trench two feet +/- deep are the remaining costs - maybe some wyes or tees, maybe a fabric sock to slide over the pipe. A few hundred dollars to not have to worry about seeing that ponding is worth it. Maybe you can get with the neighbor and share the cost of large sump pit, or maybe you can run it off your property without them noticing or being a problem - too many unknowns from the picture, property lines, elevations, etc. to say exactly what needs to be done

You could certainly still have a rain garden, or water-loving plants to take advantage of all that water, but you need to be in control of where it goes. And you can still grow a lawn over the trench drains, no problem.

Has any of that drained away yet? You might be able to skate on it in a couple days!
There's a lot of this going on around here too. I just had to deepen my sump basin, no fun at all.

Yes the water has gone down alittle sence then and the kids and dog love the ice! We live in a twin so not sure how a drain would be run in that situation. Here is todays photos..

Here is me standing on the ice by the shed looking the other way up the yard.

It looks like you could lower the dirt between the birdbath and the fence and let a lot of it drain out.

I never heard of a rain garden. I have looked at the link that is posted and it is such a cool idea. I have a perfect location for one. Thanks so much for the idea!

I'm glad you liked it, Kathy. It even helped me to convert a dry place to a moist one. I placed the pond run-off to a lower dry bed, and also the other run-off from the north side of the pond. It's worked great! The pic shows the stone run-off from the pond, and the Rain Garden bed below it. Believe it or not, after a rain, that bed has about 2-3 inches of water in it. Too bad it won't work for you, Jess. Dax