"looks good" is a matter of what YOU want it to look like. it looks great to me. that view looks almost identical to a lot we bought to build on a few years back. the creek was what we loved about it.

in order to fight the erosiion you need somethign growing there, and being in the shade you have to get the right type of plants/grass. if you look the sunny parts don't appear to have the problem, just the shaded area. this tells me you had the wrong type sod in that area. my parents lawn is bermuda and was always lush and green until the trees grew up and started to shade the front. then they put in more bermuda for a couple years runnign before they finally put in a mix of zoysia and St augustine and that filled in the holes. since it is mixed thru out the yard, you don't see the transition.

another thing to do is to put those down spouts into a drain pipe in the ground. run a 4-6" pipe underground out to the creek so it empties directly in the creek. the water running fromthose spouts is causing a good bit of erosion.

Thank you so much for your suggestion.

I bought the sod from homedepot last year. I live in Glenville, NY 12302. I think its Zone 5. I thought the homedepot sells the right sod for that zone.

Even the sod last year when I applied it was very lush but now it looks like this. And the thing is I see lot of worms under the soil and it merely eats my soil. I see lot of holes because of that and my lawn becomes uneven. Is it natural or do I need to do anything for the worms? I really have no idea about landscaping. I tried to call few landscapers, each one is trying to say different things. I am really not convinced with their reply.

Even we bought this lot specially because of the creek and the trees. IT looks fantastic in the fall as they are maple trees.

I wanted something very nice for that area at the sametime, I don't want to hide that view. Another major reason I am worried about is, I don't want any small kids getting injured if they try to play in my backyard. Right now I am not allowing any of my friends' kids to play in that area because of the slope. Moreover last year I noticed small garden snakes (so far I saw 2 snakes, not too sure how many are still around) sun bathing in my backyard. My neighbor said its because of the creek. Even though it never hurted anyone, it scares us a lot when we spot it.

Do you think, I need to install a chain fence or anything like that to avoid such things? As you must seen from the picture, right now it has only the silt fence which I applied last year for soil erosion.

Other problems in my lawn are grass is thinning, lots of weeds(Crabgrass, lots of White clover,Dandelion) and moss at few places and even saw 5 mushrooms.

For weeds, I have applied crabgrass preventer on April 10th. The next application weed plus, Scott Program recommends to apply it after 6 to 8 weeks so I might be applying it on May end.

As far as moss is concerned, manually I tried to rake it. And I applied lime in 2006 spring, still I see lot this year 2008. Not too sure what to do?

Thanks
PJ

Here's what I'd suggest. First, as david said, handle the problem of the runoff from your gutters. For the safety of the childred, build a fence where the slope begins and cover the upper portion of the slope in mulch or woodchips.

I suspect your lawn is in a lot of shade and you may always have trouble with it until you find something for your zone that grows well in shade.
Try to find a local sod/seed supplier and ask for a referral. My supplier gave me the name of a very knowledgeable guy who has helped turn my lawn around.

You probably should also ask your question over at the Lawn Forum.

BTW, worms are not causing the problem. Be glad you have them..........along with the garden snakes!

Here is a link that might be useful: Lawn care

Forget about the fence and forget about the sod. You need a good groundcover that will stabilze the ravine. First take your downspouts under the ground so when it rains it will be discharging directly into the stream, it's why you have some erosion now. Secondly, and I know it is invasive but plant some periwinkle, daylilies, and some rhody's or azaleas on the slope and in the fall scatter some spring bulbs and mulch with wood chips. You want the area to retain its natural state not look like the burbs. You might want to also look at some running bamboo if you own the other side of the creek.

Here is a link that might be useful: Propagating Perennials

Do you have any pictures showing the house on the lot?

the worms are GOOD for the soil, they provide natural aeration and fertilization.

the snakes will always be there, you could build a concrete wall and they would get in. that is the joys of living along a creek. i have a large ditch/creek on one side of my property and we always see snakes. learn to identify them and know what is fine(non-poisonous) and what is not(poisonous). teach your kids to leave ALL snakes alone. the good snkaes will take care of problem snakes, mice, insects, and all sorts of unwanted critters.

as for the sod, you MUST get sod/plants for shaded areas for that part of your yard. just because something is sold for you area does not mean it works in all locations!

You filled and now you are having problems. Already there is tree death evident in your pictures. You will have to re-grade to get a smooth contour, adding more fill to the settled portions first may make it possible to then merely rake to get it more even. If your mountain is determined to move downhill you will have to build a substantial wall to keep it back.

Here this kind of project might have legally required the participation of a landscape architect or engineer. The Department of Wildlife or other state agency might also have been interested in what impacts the fill might have on the stream, sounds like there may have been some substantial siltation already.

Hi All,

Thanks a lot for your wonderful suggestions.

As you suggested, I am going to install the drain pipe underground so that it might stop the erosion first.

Then probably I will check for ground cover also. I have also updated the front lawn picture in the same website.

The only reason I filled the lot was because of the silt soil. My entire neighborhood did the same. The builder himself suggested me to fill it but he said he can't afford to do it. So I had to do that. And even before filling, I consulted more than 3 landscape designers, everyone said I don't have choice.

Initially before filling soil in that lot, it was like suicide point from my deck. Atleast now, I can call it as slope. Again coming back to the tree, that tree is not dead. Its still blooming very well. Only the bottom portion of it looks like that.

Will update you all in coming weeks how I am addressing this issue.

Thanks again,

PJ.

Yes: it's preferable to have a gradual slope instead of a cut with a wall. I thought the drop there was more abrupt than it actually is, looks like the main source of difficulty for the stream would be surface runoff, dealt with as already discussed by protecting the surface of the fill - unless something like an earthquake makes most of it slump all at once. The grass won't thrive until more light is admitted by cutting some trees, any that have had substantial depth of fill placed over their roots can be expected to decline and die in future years. Leafing out and growing a little in the meantime does not indicate long-term survival of the fill. The one with the extensive dead section on the trunk is telling the tale with that and not the fact that it sprouted.