Land Care

Imagine if you always have to clean up the house because your shoes always bring in mud when you walk in. This is because your compound is always water-logged. None enjoys doing such tasks. 

Water-logged areas in your backyard or around the house can create a lot of harm. For example, plants will die if they are underwater for too long.

Even the wet areas can also act as a breeding spot for mosquitoes. Mowing your yard over wet ground becomes a difficult task too. These swampy areas may be caused by heavy rainfall or wrong plants that prevent water from being absorbed into the ground.

Why you should be concerned… 

If water flow is left uncontrolled, it can be awful because water may flow into any part of the house. And if left unattended, it can cause structural damages. For any structural damage in your home, you can reach out to ProRana. They offer the best consultations in remodeling and water damage restoration. 

What to do? 

In this article, we would look at simple Do-It-Yourself (DIY) drainage solutions. Many lands have natural drainage by which excess water flows from a water-logged area to lakes or rivers nearby. However, this natural drainage may be inadequate; hence, the need for human-made drainage.

If your land always looks muddy, use the following DIY land drainage tips to create a dryer land:

1. Extend the downspouts to lead away from the house

Downspouts are vertical pipes that can be attached to your house to drain rainwater from the roof. Extending the downspout away from your house usually solves drainage problems.

How to extend a downspout: 

• Measure where your downspout currently ends at the length you wish to extend it to.
• Attach a downspout elbow to where it currently ends with a metal screw, pointing it in the direction you want.
• Attach the desired length of extension downspout to the other end of the elbow. 

• Create a rain garden

Having a rain garden is one of the best DIY solutions for land drainage. This is because a rain garden can help soak in excess water as water-loving plants. Also, a rain garden may be situated a few meters away from your house, and you can direct the extended downspouts towards the garden. 

All you have to do is survey your compound for a dry spot that can easily retain water. Then plant the right kind of plants on the land.

How to create a rain garden: 

• Plants with deep fibrous roots are the best to plant.
• Replace hard surfaces like concrete with penetrable concrete, porous brick, and stepping stones.
• Example of plants for these are ferns, small, native trees, and wildflowers. You’ll find these plants at local plant nurseries close to you. 

• Create a Dry Well

Dry wells are human-made holes filled with stones or gravel to receive drainage water and allow it to soak away into the ground.

How to create a dry well:

• Dig the ground to the water capacity you want it to retain. A dry well could be large enough to receive a 10 or 15 minutes rainstorm.
• You can expand the capacity of the well by burying special dry well containers.
• Get the container of your choice to fit into the ground.
• Surround the container by using gravels or any other porous materials when placed in the ground.

• Make use of a rain barrel or basin

Rain barrels are large containers, just like the containers used for dry wells, placed at the bottom of a downspout. They are used to collect the water. The good part is that you can use the water collected water your garden and lawn when they are dry.

How to make use of a rain barrel

• Get a barrel of different sizes, depending on your choice.
• Place the barrel at the opening of the downspout.
• If you have more than one downspout attached to your roof, get more rain barrel.

• The more downspouts you have, the more water you can collect with the rain barrels. 

• Construct a creek bed 

A creek is a natural flow of a small body of water which is often smaller than a river. A creek may also be human-made. A creek bed acts as a pathway where water runs through from a high water-flow point to a low spot. 

A creek bed is best used if the slope of the high water flow is directed towards the low spot because it would flow naturally.

How to construct a creek bed

• Identity channels where water flows through especially after rain. 
• Mark the natural flow with landscaping paint.
• Dig a trench along the markings which could be 5 inches deep. 
• Preserve the soil that you dug up as it would serve as part of the gravel.
• To prevent weeds from growing in the trench, line the creek bed with landscaping fabric.
• Cover the entire bed with gravel and the soil already dug up.
• Carefully arrange the pea-sized pebbles from the largest rocks to the smallest into the trench.

Other ways include installing an under-ground drainage pipe or installing a French pipe

How ProRana can help… 

Before taking on any DIY home improvement project, you can get proper professional guidance from ProRana. We are house remodeling, property maintenance, and water damage restoration experts.

Contact us today to learn how we can help transform your home!

Summer is at an end, and the beautiful gardens that made summer so bright are looking dull but not to worry. We’re in the fall, the last few days of great weather before winter comes around. 

There’s a lot to be done to prepare for the winter, and keeping our lawns prepped for spring is one of them. 

It’s time to start prepping your lawn and garden for another year of bright summer flowers, and this fall is the time to do it.

Here is a kickass list for fall lawn and yard maintenance. 

1. Clear up the Debris

Fall comes with messy flowers and leaves strewn all over the road and walkways. Grab your rake and get to work clearing up the debris, especially near your flowerbeds. 

• Prepare your Soil 

After clearing the debris on your lawn, prepare the soil for the next planting season. Begin by harvesting your garden and then pulling out the roots of the previous vegetable plants. When the entire area is free of old vegetable plants, apply compost to the area. 

• Clean Out Dead Trees and Shrubs

Dead trees and shrubs make your lawn look half dead and uninviting. They also take up valuable space that could be used to plant new trees or add to your hedgerow. Cut them down and prepare the area for planting. 

• Don’t Stop Mowing

Keep mowing and don’t stop. Grasses are still growing well right now, and you don’t want to have an overgrown lawn on your hands. So keep mowing and don’t stop until the grass stops growing. Mowing should be at least once a week to maintain the desired grass length. 

• It’s Time to Seed

Do you want a beautiful lawn in the spring? Give yourself an edge by seeding this fall. If you live in areas where the soil doesn’t freeze during the winter, now is the best time to get a great lawn come spring next year.

Plant your seeds and then cover them up with mulch to help store up food for them. If you live in areas with severe winters, hold off on your planting till early next year. Anything planted now would surely be of no good. 

• Dethatching and Aeration

Dethatching and aeration are two activities you should never overlook. Detaching removes those dead grass stems that never seem to go away and are great at multiplying quickly.

Aeration helps your soil to breathe and easily absorb nutrients from the soil. For dethatching and aeration, make use of a hand detacher and a shoe aerator. 

• Clean Out Your Garden

Yes, you have to. It’s time to get rid of all the leftovers from last years bountiful harvest and clean out your garden bed. Till the soil and rake up all the leaves and roots. A new planting season is here. 

• Find out the State of your Soil and fertilize Your Lawn

What’s the state of your soil? Is it acidic? Does it lack certain nutrients and if it does, what can be done for it? There are different ways to test your soil for its nutrient content, but we’ll go with the use of dolomite limestone. Spread it out on the soil and wait for results. If your soil is lacking in any nutrient, then you should get a guide on how to apply fertilizer. 

• It’s Time to Mulch

Mulching isn’t such a problem not when you have all those leaves and grasses you packed up earlier. Pack them up and use them as mulch. 

1. Snip Snip Snip

Say what? Pruning, that’s what. It’s time to prune your flowerbed. Snip off every plant that looks out of place and does not compliment your lawn. The same thing should be done to tree branches that stand out; they are a hazard, especially in winter. 

1. Time to Plant

It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for. Now that your garden is ready to be planted in, it’s time to do the actual sowing. I’ll share a trick with you to make this whole thing easier? Map out and design your garden on paper. Then transfer your ideas onto your physical garden. 

1. Protect Your Plants from Cold and Pests

Winter is coming, and you’re not the only living being shoring up for the cold, cold weeks ahead. Other pests, especially rodents, have already begun to get ready for the winter months ahead by feeding on your plants. To avoid this, take drastic measure against them. 

To protect your plants from rodents this winter, wrap a wire gauze around the trunk of your trees. Thank us later. 

There are certain shrubs and flowers that can’t stay through the winter without losing all their shine and beauty. To protect these fragile plants, wrap them up in burlap sacks to maintain their moisture. 

1. Water your Lawn 

Many times we forget to water our lawn. Water is an essential part of growth. If your lawn isn’t receiving as much water from natural rainfall, then it’s time to set up a watering regime.

You don’t want your garden to enter the winter looking dry because if it does, you’re going to have a damaged lawn when spring rolls around. 

1. Reduce the Perennials, Go for the annuals 

Lean towards annuals than perennials. You can have beautiful flowers pop up and a full vegetable patch in early spring. 

1. Care for Your Tools

In all the rush to get everything on this list checked, you might have forgotten that your tools need to be cleaned and maintained. Wash your tools, dry them, lubricate, and keep in a dry spot. Who knows you might need to break them out soon.

It might seem like a lot of work to keep your lawn ready for the forthcoming winter months. It is, but no worries, It will look great when early spring sets in – it is worth all the hard work!

However, if you need professional help, ProRANA has got you covered! Our team of experts will provide you with the best lawn and yard maintenance solutions. Contact us now to learn how we can help!