A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Need suggestions for erosion problem,,,

After a long weekend of rain, to our chagrin, we found that we are going to have erosion issues around the base of our homes foundation... the house is elevated just a bit on one end in comparison to the rest of the yard in order for it to be level. I need to figure out a fast growing plant that would help reduce erosion and still look nice. We are planting Bermuda grass in the yard, but I dont think it will help much with the erosion problem and might create bigger problems trying to mow that area... hence the query about plants... and year round visual appeal is always a plus.
Thanks for all input,
Katherine
Oh yeah, we are in zone 8.

Can you give more details regarding your erosion problem? Is water collecting at the foundation (poor grading), or is dirt collecting at the foundation (or even touching the siding)? Or, is the erosion purely due to no plantings/bare soil?

I ask, because I inherited both problems listed above, and if this is so, no amount of planting will fix it unless some regrading is done, and possibly adding a dry well to collect the water along the foundation (we were able to DIY).

right now the erosion is due to bare soil with no planting... but the entire subdivision is plagued with erosion issues and I want to find something to plant to help prevent this from being a further issue. We are having a gutter system put in that will go underground as well, to deflect any running water. I am concerned because the foundation is very elevated on one end because of the land being so unlevel, in order to make the house level.
Thanks,
Katherine

If you are worried about the dirt washing away from the foundation causing harm to the foundation, I don't think that is such a big deal. However, perennial moisture and sitting water is a problem.

You can have fun with haybales, or even straw on the ground. Best bet would be to make your own drainage pattern and control the water that way.

Getting some grass in there fast would be a big help. We had (and still have) a few areas of our yard very prone to erosion.

We just had to add a small retaining wall here, and a dry creek bed in the background where water tended to run and collect in the wrong places. Some slight regrading was also required. This was our most recent dilemma with erosion.


We also had a downspout out front that was tied into a plugged tube that ran under the house and was supposed to drain out the back. We found more water collecting on the front side of the house, and used another dry bed to create an attractive place for the water to be redirected away from the foundation in the front. If you have a place where water tends to run, a dry creek bed is an easy solution that looks nice too. We just dug our bed, lined it with roofing liner, and filled it with river rock.

Back yard dry bed

Another View

The dry creek bed in front required taking out our sidewalk, and building a new one. The water actually runs through the middle of the area shown.

Front dry creek bed (tiny)

I still have a large hill that tends to erode. Dirt had eroded down a retaining wall and had collected up the siding about a foot. When we cleaned it out, we found the siding had wrotted clear through (argh).

I've planted lots of groundcover on it, replaced the siding, rented a bobcat and changed the slope away from the foundation on the lower level, and it's helped a lot. The coralbells and ajuga spread like mad. Bee balm also spread quickly. For shadier spots, spurge might work. Any sedums work for sunny locations. I just call my erosion nightmare "the hill". Some day the hill is going to disappear and a big engineered retaining wall will take its place, but I don't have the $ right now. Here's my collapsing retaining wall, with the hill behind it being held up with bee balm, coral bells, and ajuga. Since planting the hillside, the wall hasn't moved any more, and the erosion is much less.



Hard to say if any of this is any help to you, but maybe it will spark some ideas for solutions. Sometimes you have to be a little creative, especially when keeping an eye on the pocketbook.

Thanks for the ideas!

its a good point about the dirt on the siding. KEEP DIRT away from the exterior siding of your home, keep shoveling it away from the foundation.