Install Holes In Your Lawn For Drainage
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- čas přidán 5. 07. 2024
- Installing holes in lawn for drainage is one of the best ways to alleviate drainage issues by creating air space in the subsoil of the lawn that water can seep into thus creating a sump effect, Its not as good as a drain thats connected to an outlet but its certainly better than nothing.
#lawndrainage #quickeasylawndrains #drainageinlawns
Did it work?
Great video. We just had our driveway redone and I know there are some grading issues, this technique might be the answer! Thanks for the inspiration, JL
Looking forward to seeing the longer term results. Great idea 💡
Great video, I've had a real problem with drainage for years on my lawn, the thought of digging a system of drainage trenches was very daunting, this offers a real alternative to that. Thumbs up guys!!
My neighbour has a drainage issue with his lawn so we bore some post holes, went down about a metre but was still in clay. Not sure this will work with the clay.
We did this on a couple of greens at one of the courses I worked at few years ago mate worked a treat. 👍
Great advice as usual, looking forward to see it solving the drainage problem
Customer of mine did this last year - it worked an absolute treat.. He and his neighbours have huge issues... He drilled about 4 holes overall, filled so much with pea gravel, then filled with decent soil, a bit of gypsum and compost.. This year while treating Ive notice its performing so much better, good video
Hi Sean , cant make it any worse lol so can only be a good thing
I did this in my new build house a few years back, but went 3ft deep as the house acts like a dam. Used pea shingle and it's made a real difference a vertical French drain.
We have an older new build. It was full of clay and rubble with hardly any top soil. Only weeds would grow. Last year I dug up the large rubble and weeds and the worst areas of heavy clay. Then used a drill with an auger bit to make 2 inch holes down to about 6-8 inches randomly in the worst areas then filled with pea shingle.
Before sewing a new lawn I left it like that for a while. After heavy rains I would add new holes where water started to pool. Eventually I covered the whole lawn with new top soil and sewed grass seed. It was a lot of effort but our lawn is pukka now. No weeds and no swampy areas either.
@@leonwiddicombe8947 a few drainage holes there is worth a try!
We have a new build and I cannot even let my kids out to play right now, the ground is saturated. Even after a week of no rain, the ground still squelches under foot. Been looking for a solution that doesn't involve laying drainage everywhere. Glad to hear this method works, may be worth a shot for what will be £100 or something like that.
Look forward to seeing results as i have similar issue oct-feb
Lol 😂 wonderful video my favorite part was the drop in the pool lol 😅
Brilliant job. Great method. Thanks for sharing Daniel.
Did something similar but on a smaller scale last year, using an auger bit in an electric drill. I filled the holes with rubber crumb, inspired by one of your videos. Made a big difference as my back used to get flooded with heavy rain.
How's it holding up? I'm thinking of doing this to my yard I have several big puddles that form from heavy rain.
It's waterlogged this year, we've had so much rain. It may have been worse if I hadn't drilled it.
@willo300 Thanks yes here as well. Thinking about doing the same thing to at least minimize the water
You both make an excellent couple. 👍
Great job!
Thanks for the content, I'm going to give this a go on mine next weekend, just out of interest is there anything else you'd suggest over this only got a 24m2 garden.
Will this work if I've already dug a hole for my above ground pool 2 to 3 foot down. Now water from rain creates a moat around the pool. It's hard red clay from South Alabama.
We need more Joshua! Maybe one day he will have the honor of piloting old faithful.
What would be your advice if the clay level is only a few inches below the surface?
A new trend happening, works well but in US add landscape fabric into hole and cover also, then add soil and plug
I had visions of it sticking and you spinning around and holding on for dear life. 😁
It did with joshua a few times lol
I did this about 10 years ago to my lawn. Works a treat… but the bruises from the auger spinning and hitting various body parts was memorable!!
@@johncanter9575 you mean i didnt pioneer it???
Iv binge watched all your videos and love the content. Makes me want my own lawn to look better, but it's on a gradual slope and isn't level. Will this hold me back and do lawns need to be bowling green flat to see results like yours?
None of my lawns are bowling green flat let me assure you of that
I want to do something similar. Need maybe a dozen holes only a small lawn. But limestone chippings are about a tenner a bag, if I make 2ft ish holes that’s a lot of bags. Is my maths wrong lol or should I just use pea gravel or cheap 20mm bag of gravel @ half the price?
Nice! But no need for fabric cloth then pour the gravel in?
Good idea. In the USA the drainage expert drugs the about 2 ft n then the fabric n put a little big prices of gravel stone n cover it up on top the fabric so the the stones won't get chocked up. The results were excellent as poured the with a garden hose on top of it n the water going done n not flooding.
Josh Crisp you beauty of man 🎉😂 keep up the good work my spanglish brother 🙌
🤣🤣🤣
@@joshuacrisp7657 glad to see you are well and free 🤟
good idea, me mom; 's tennis court surroundings need this for sure, glad I found your tutorial...those augers are tricky, one or two-man operation, I would want two men in case it snags and will throw around in a circle. ask me how I know.
How would this hold out over time? Would the holes start to say where sand gets rinsed through the stone underneath? Desperately need to do this but now I’ve seen it actually done I think I’m converted!
I saw them use weed fabric inside the hole before adding the stones in another video for that reason. That's what I'm going to do.
Really good idea! Something I’ve been thinking about doing myself! Just one question - why not drill down as far as possible with the auger?
Wouldnt go any further
We used Lytag on this sort of thing years back
Would love to see the results of this. I done the same in my lawn this August, over 80 hole drilled and over 1 tonne of drainage stone in before full overseed. Alot of my holes did not get as deep as I wanted due to conditions under lawn unfortunately, but certainly wont have done any harm. Too early to tell yet how big an improvement it will be but have my fingers crossed!!
Its improved but not aswell as id of liked it
Please update! I live in northwest Ohio and I'm estimating about 60-80 holes for mine.
Because of the clay and the old spring, there have been flooding problems in a few of my neighbours back gardens. So when creating a lawned area in our back garden, I dug a pit (about 3 feet deep) with the diameter of the pit smaller than a wooden pallet. Filled the pit with rubble etc, covered that with top soil and made a rockery on top of that. Bedded in plants etc. into the rockery. After 4 years, we’ve had no water build up in our back garden.
Great so a sump basically?
Gonna try similar on a smaller scale. With an auger drill bit. My lawn is really bad clay on a new build property. Then fill with top soil / compost.
Hi Daniel wee question about top dressing with Jack magic the same brand do an all purpose compost aswell is there much difference in them just as I can get it from local hardware but not Jack magic
All composts are rubbish now i only use the field no 4,
I had a pond in my garden that I filled in and extended my lawn over it. It was partially filled with some builder’s debris and topped up to a finished level with at least 300mm of topsoil. Last year during the summer heatwave it was the first area to dry out, the patch replicated the shape of the former pond, the grass has not recovered well at all. I hope you don’t have a similar experience with your drainage arrangement. Fortunately for me, since following your channel, I’m in the process of renovating my lawns and giving the garden a makeover.
Granted will need to water in the summer but if you want a nice lawn this is what you need to do
Beautiful!! How do you pull the circle sod plugs out so identical?
Just free hand i think or did i use a pot?
I was thinking about going really deep with the drill and then using landscape mesh, would limestone stones be better than the rubber recycled stuff in your other videos?
Instead of landscape mesh use drainage mesh.
What did you put on top of the limestone?
My back garden slopes toward the house. There is an aco drainage barrier between the grass border and patio slabs but the soil under the grass is saturated. I dug out a leveled area for a shed base last autumn, thats now like a pool due to water draining from the highest part of the garden. Would adding a fair few of these at from the middle to top of the garden prevent the above issues?
Possibly hard to say without seeing, certainly wont hurt
@@DanielHibbertLawnExpert Thank you for the reply, I'll give it a go. Fingers crossed 🤞
What happened to the "crumbs" idea you've used before, scale of the job? Do you reckon you'll see any "lime" impact on the soil condition or is it deep enough not to be an issue?
Lime will hopefully attack the clay,
Crumbs ok for some jobs but this is so bad thats not going to work
Brilliant idea. I've got terrible drainage in mine (new build) this could be a winner although I'm not sure how the hole driller will manage in the ground as its full of any old shite/rubble then turfed over, typical on all new builds but could be worth a shot! Thanks Dan
Yeah if you hit bricks its useless
I have the same problem, new build with rubble. I bought a 20mm by 600mm masonry drill bit and did this job on a smaller scale. Still worked but needed a fair few holes.
That's a good shout too!
@@mattwharton5939 what size chippings did you use?
Same issue new build garden that can’t take the water 🤦🏻♂️
@@RH17TCH I used 2mm pea gravel with a smattering of sharp sand to finish.
Great stuff Daniel. Been waiting for this one going up. Think i know what I will be doing this wekeend. No auger for me though, fence post diggers will suffice I think. Going to do a light overseed and top dress once done.
Good luck!
What a good idea!
what is the soil profile for this to work, we have a really thick layer of more than 10 metres of loam, then who knows what
Thanks for this idea. How did you cut the round turfs in the later part of the video?
I just put the old pieces back
Ah, but just wondered if you had a tool for cutting the turf circles in the later part of the video as your first cut was square (cut with a spade), Thanks
Strange question for you. Watching the video under my house, it is on a crawl space, I have always had water issues. I have set up crudely two sump pumps to keep it dry and if the pumps are working it is good. Could something like this keep that area dryer? It would be a pain digging holes for sure..thoughts?
Not sure im qualified to answer that one dont wanna say yes then your house falls down so best asking a structural surveyor or something
The only issue is these holes will fill with soil around the stones making the drainage bad again over years. Perhaps fill the hole with a filter material and then fill with stones. Like a French drain setup
Did this in the middle of my lawn where it would be like a swimming pool. 1ft x 1ft hole and back filled it with broken slabs and bricks, rocks. Worked amazingly good. No more flood in the middle of my lawn 🙌
The scan is a good idea. Having found the cable lines, it might be a good idea to put mini stakes in the margins of the lawn so a string line can be used in future?
Took a photo of the lawns path and can always refer to the vid
Has this worked?
I’m thinking slightly smaller scale as have 100m2 new build lawn that seems to be clay like and soaked. Was gonna use an auger bit and fill the holes and top dress before seeding a new lawn.
Definately not made it worse, its definitely made a difference yes in that area,
How has this fared over winter? I’ve got a Makita Auger and a boggy lawn, think I’ll try this before a full land drain.
In the areas wheree we could go deep its worked but were we couldnt not si much
@@DanielHibbertLawnExpert ooh not what I expected/hoped to hear! How deep worked? Could adding a geo membrane liner help you think?
@@toco789 just where i could dig down coz the ground was soft it was good but where the auger couldnt drill through its not worked in those parts but if you can drill 15-20inchs down its worthwhile
Health and safety would love this video. Get a signal and mark it with a spade? How deep was the cable?
Not sure, but had my steel toe caps on, gotta count for something
Hi Dan. How long after grass starts growing can I weed? It's full of them. Thanks mate.
New grass 8 weeks
@@DanielHibbertLawnExpert Ughhh. Hands and knees it is then. Thanks mate!
Curious, won't dirt fill into the rock gaps eventually and stop the water from draining into the lower earth properly?
Yeah that happens in all drains
@DanielHibbertLawnExpert I appreciate the reply. I wonder if you lined the hole with landscape fabric to keep the dirt out of the rocks? I'm looking to do this in my yard and am trying to find the best technique. Great vid, thx!
Nice.
Is that sand that’s applied after the stone is put in or is it topsoil?
Rootzone a gritty ph neutral sand in this case
I have serious drainage issues in my lawn. Its soo soggy underfoot. New build, only had 18cm top soil and then its just solid clay! 😫
Would this help my situation if I were to auger into the seemingly impermeable clay layer and fill with stone?
Would I just end up with pockets of water sat underground that are unable to drain away, or would they eventually drain through. Thanks!
It works if you can get deep but look at my drainage in a bag on my website an easier way
@@DanielHibbertLawnExpert Thanks for the reply Daniel.
Might be a silly question but would I put the product into the holes or on top of the lawn? Many thanks
Hi, how far down were you drilling? How long would you expect this to last as you mentioned in some comments that the clay eventually gets between the stones and water will gather again? Thanks
However deep the auger was if we could, few years before that happens but happens with any drains
@@DanielHibbertLawnExpert If I were to line the holes with something like lengths of drainage pipe, would it make it last longer or am I thinking too far outside the box?
@@nigeltroy4917 your gravel would still get full over time
Will this help with sewage smell after heavy rains from backyard septic system?
Dunno mate
Sounds like a problem with your septic tank, your soak away stone may be blocked or have surface water or drains going into it which is wrong. When was your tank last desludged? Should be every 2 years usually. I do pollution investigations for my job! Charcoal filter on the vent might help too.
Thank you for this. Is there any reason to use limestone or can any gravel around 10mm be used? Thank you!
Yeah any just this was readily available to me
Thanks for the reply! Do you know how deep you went and how much spacing per hole?
@@R44YLS as deep as we could or machine would allow and every foot
@@DanielHibbertLawnExpert thanks very much. Last question, I promise! How much soil depth is optimal do you think for the grass? Hope this works, thanks again for the video 😁
@@R44YLS some of my lawns are like 4 inches in depth and so ok
Good job you've done there. I know you said to use 10mm Limestone but which sand do you use? Does it need to be Horticultural sand?
Ideally yes as its the right ph,
@@DanielHibbertLawnExpert What a quick response, thanks.
so I think my issue is that i have A LOT of clay in my backyard, the water simply has nowhere to go and pools on top of it - - do you guys reckon giving this vertical drainage a shot might solve my issue?? I have a chicken coupe on my tree line and the run off from my neighbors yard comes down to it, the chicken coupe turns into a swamp and it really makes me upset but i cant afford $5-10k to pay someone to do drainage :( - I have considered digging a trent around the coupe and filling with gravel but i dont know if that solves the issue either - thanks, cheers
Anythings worth a shot isnt it, or try compost teas as this is a natural clay breaker
Do you not need to put some sort of membrane in before stones?
Why?
Last year I hired a manual 6 inch post hole borer
; think is was £6 hire fee
And bored a dozen holes in front lawn which was pure clay
And it’s made a massive difference
so I think my issue is that i have A LOT of clay in my backyard, the water simply has nowhere to go and pools on top of it - - do you guys reckon giving this vertical drainage a shot might solve my issue?? I have a chicken coupe on my tree line and the run off from my neighbors yard comes down to it, the chicken coupe turns into a swamp and it really makes me upset but i cant afford $5-10k to pay someone to do drainage :( - I have considered digging a trent around the coupe and filling with gravel but i dont know if that solves the issue either - thanks, cheers
I am really considering this approach. Only concern I have is that maybe the water wouldn't actually drain away to anywhere because of the water table. If the water table is quite high then there's a chance that it won't make any difference?
If you can dry the area out the clay will fissure creating natural escape passages thats how drains work
Would you look at this as a good alternative to a traditional French drain? It looks an easier job, with less mess and cost.
My own lawn is a complete mess every winter, it just doesn't dry out at all. The water table is naturally quite high .
It has had 10mm of lying surface water on it since September last year. The grass has pretty much rotted off over winter and it just looks like a muddy mess now. Two dogs on it doesn't help either. 🥺
French drains only run along side the lawn or house dont they, this is more treating the direct problem in the lawn, its worked in the corner where we could get deeper but where we couldnt its not worked
What's the product you put just under replaced turf and on top?
Thats the easy lawn rootzone
Any particular spacing or just random?
Totally random to start then just chose soft areas
@Daniel Hibbert Lawn Expert great might give this ago on a clients lawn.
My daughters new home has 1ft of top “soil” then under that it’s seems to be 100% clay! My question is if you can only drill down to the clay and not under the clay won’t the water just build up from the bottom of these holes and back onto the top of your lawn as it won’t drain through the clay even with lots of holes filled with lime stones?
Two things the ground will dry out causing fissures as i say twice in the video, and one thing i didnt say is that the limestone will start to break down the clay
I have drill envy..
Dont think you would have any patients if you pulled that out in the surgery 😂
Ever seen a cavity so big?
@@DanielHibbertLawnExpert If ever a lawn technique suited me, this is it, project for the autumn in my wet area.
Maybe to make these last forever you could line the holes with a land drain sock (geo textile) to avoid any soil/silt ingress. Going to try this on my lawn, thanks!
nothing can go wrong with this genius plan!
Marks the underground lines with a shovel to ensure that they get cut properly 😂
7:00 looks like you built a golf course for novices like me 😆
Could this much drainage cause potential sinkhole in the future?
You should have lined the hole with geotextile fabric. Over time, the dirt will migrate into the rock preventing water from draining through.
Please let us know what stones to use for filling the holes. thanks, alot
Limstone chippings here
@@DanielHibbertLawnExpert Amazing! thanks for the replay!
Hi Dan, could you explain bit more why you used 10mm limestone rather than 20mm? You mention airspace but I would have thought there be more airspace with 20mm as chipping can't knit together so tightly?
No theres more air space in 10mm imagine putting a football in a box that it fits snug you would only have air space around the sides but if you filled the same box with marble sized footballs you would have air space all the way through the box
@@DanielHibbertLawnExpert Ok thanks, so would 6mm chipping be even better? I Can get hold of 6mm limestone chippings.
@@carljohn9337 yeah
Did you ever check on the results of this. Tempted to do it myself but would love confirmation it works before I dig 100 holes and fill with 5 ton bags of gravel!
Yes where i got very deep its worked a treat where i didnt get to deep its not really worked
@@DanielHibbertLawnExpert Legend! I emailed as well so feel free to ignore that. What would you say the minimum effective depth is, and is it worth surrounding the gravel with a membrane to stop soil getting in between the gravel?
@@dreamtrydogood sent you a vid back of what i put in facebook group knew it was you
Did this lawn ever get a revisit? Did it work?
No but hope to do some filming this year, it deffo worked where i got as deep as the auger could go
That was entertaining
Update?
Did it work? Must of had a good testbthis winter
If your looking from the house, the bit we did on the left side has deffo had impact but as we come further to the right where we couldn’t go as deep its not been as successful
@DanielHibbertLawnExpert Thanks for taking the time to reply, it's cheaper than a drain so might try it and drill then dig a bit deeper.
@@R1chardH im doing a drain for a video next week so will do a costing in there too
Wish I could understand you lol. What did you saw off? What is the stuff you put on top of the limestone? I just couldn’t understand what you were saying. Lol
Guess you will never know then
definitely one of the best lawn care youtubers.
Would be beneficial to hollow core aerate and top dress with a 70/30 mix also after this step to break top layer of lawn.
Noooooooo
@@DanielHibbertLawnExpert czcams.com/video/koDP7H22q3s/video.htmlsi=4RzTwlw6lyTRKgZd
@@DanielHibbertLawnExpert czcams.com/video/koDP7H22q3s/video.htmlsi=GjdTFo8iCmRx3HFo
I was thinking the same thing, why would this be a bad idea?@@DanielHibbertLawnExpert
@@groverrrrr89 because 70/30 wont break the top layer
Was this a good solution to the issue?
Yes deffo done a job where i could get deep
From the thumbnail wording I thought this was going to be a joke, something along the lines of Yosser Hughes's brick ventilation.
Did it work? Considering a lawn dump?
In areas where i could get deep yes
why fill with stone? is it co its cheaper? how would it work better?
Whar else fill it with?
@@DanielHibbertLawnExpert i dunno mate i was just curious to why use stone i thought filling with soil?
@@SuperChalkster soil wouldnt leave any air space for the water to seep into
@@DanielHibbertLawnExpert i understand thanks, but not trying to be difficult i have couple areas really soggy on my lawn mostly due to shade but it still should drain better then it does... wont the clay soil surrounding the stone fill in the air space in time?
@@SuperChalkster its fine if you dont know thats what im here for
What are you putting in soil?
Just the rootzone i use as my lawn bases very sandy
I bet you found out the hard way about detecting cables with your hair style ⚡️ 😮
Lol yeah free spike
Thanks for the video. Here in America we need to call 811 which will have a company mark all the underground pipes, cables and it’s FREE !!!
How do you get one of those machines?
Hired it from the hire shop
@@DanielHibbertLawnExpert come si chiama
So really Daniel is for aeration
Abdolutely not! If it happens to let air in then thats just a byproduct
@@DanielHibbertLawnExpert hmmmm you are in the minority so must be wrong
Hibbers…you think it’s too late in the year to do a over seed and top dress?
No on a job right now
Instead of using a spade to mark the lawn, get yourself some baby powder/talc and you can draw the cable on the lawn, then it washes away after.
What if patchy as hell and there’s no grass in the damp spots
Hi Dan, wondering if you’ll do a follow on video to this to see how it worked? I’ve seen people say that in a heat wave the excavated area dry out quicker and look obvious? Cheers Ciaran
Its deffo made a difference but will be doing a drain vid there when the weather improves as we can do more
Yes this video really needs a follow up and opinion on how well it’s worked. Would be super useful
Any follow up on this video? How is the drainage now?
Better but not like wowzers