First I want to thank all of you who have emailed me with ideas and support while I have been going through my ongoing water troubles. Since I have complained and vented on this forum, I thought it only appropriate that I celebrate here as well. I seem to have made some headway and have a partial victory. It appears my builder is finally going to do the right thing and fix ALL the drainage issues with my yard. They are installing drainboxes, piping downspouts, as well as regrading and stabilizing the base of my rockgarden. They are also addressing other issues that are more tedious but all of this makes me confident that I may be able to have a real yard yet. I was so happy when they left yesterday my 4 year old and I did the Happy Dance. They are supposed to be out with the landscaper tomorrow and possibly do the work as soon as next week . My husband was in disbelief that I actually got them to agree to do everything I have been hoping for. They are also helping me with my more long term issue of the silt/mud build up in the trees behind the house. That is a much bigger battle and to be honest I think the builder took pity on me because of the horrendous situation I have to deal with there. We are going after the other developer whose runoff is causing this problem, but that is a whole other much less pleasant, terribly involved, time-consuming topic and right now I am trying to focus on this very happy victory. This is making me feel I may actually have a chance at winning the bigger battle as well. Sorry to be so lengthy but I just wanted to share my good news. Now I can start thinking about what I want to add to my rock garden come fall and put in my trade requests!