What Is the Meaning of a Flat Landscape?

Drainage

• Water that collects instead of flowing away or infiltrating into the ground presents problems for structures and plants. Shifting ground caused by water in the soil threatens the integrity of foundations. Plants need oxygen as well as water to thrive, and saturated soil inhibits their survival. Determine where drainage may be a concern by observing where water collects after a heavy rainfall. Remedies for drainage problems can be simply grading to improve surface drainage or installing subsurface pipes.

Swales

• Swales are subtle depressions in the ground to channel and hold water, diverting excess to a drain or open space. Planting the graded land with vegetative cover, such as grass, offers the additional benefit of capturing water and allowing it to infiltrate into the ground, an environmentally-beneficial stormwater management practice. Check with your municipality for regulations about site grading. Neighboring properties shouldn't be affected by site grading activities on your property.

Pipes

• Some situations require subsurface technology to solve drainage problems. Flexible perforated pipes are commonly used for landscape work. Water seeps into the perforations and is slowly released into the ground. These pipes shouldn't be buried deeper than 4 feet. Rigid pipes should be used where more depth is needed for features such as driveways, where traffic is driving over them. Consider also where gutters are draining. They need to be placed so that water is not draining into the ground directly against the house.

Riparian Lands

• Floodplains also mean biodiversity, providing habitat for complex organisms and vegetation. More than 5,000 species of wetland plants are found in floodplains in the United States and Canada. Most of them have adapted to a habitat formed by flooding and groundwater conditions. One special trait is tolerance to the extreme disturbance of floods. Watershed rehabilitation that preserves or restores the natural processes of wetland and riparian habitat is an effective stormwater management strategy.