How to Landscape on a Muddy Lawn Area

A muddy lawn is often a result of clay in the soil. Clay prevents water from draining, creating pools of standing water. If it takes more than four hours for your soil to drain after a 15-minute rainfall, then you probably have a significant amount of clay in your soil and it should be amended. The other common cause for poor drainage is a severe compacting of the soil. This is usually found in areas where heavy machinery has recently been present. New construction often falls victim to this type of drainage problem.

Aeration tool
Rototiller
Sphagnum or manure
Shovel
Pea gravel
Flat stones
Water-loving plants

Instructions

- 1
  Use an aeration tool to pull plugs from the yard. This will remove soil and create better drainage in the muddy area. Although this may be the only thing you need to do, if you have a significant amount of clay in the soil this is only the first step in the fix process.
- 2
  Spread sphagnum or manure over the muddy area and rototill. By mixing in these soil amendments, the drainage will be immediately improved. The sphagnum and manure both contain larger air pockets than clay so they drain water faster.
- 3
  Dig a French drain system in the muddy area. Dig out a trench about 2 inches wide and the length of the poorly draining area. Fill the bottom 4 inches with pea gravel and cap it with flat stone. Fill the trench back in. This creates an artificial drain in the field.
- 4
  Plant water-loving pants in the area if there is no way to amend the soil. This can happen in places where the area is close to the groundwater level.

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