You are aware that desturbed soil overlayed with new sod is going to be spoungy when wet for a while? Maintaining the drainage ditch looks and sounds like the best approach.

Sorry, I should have provided more detail. The sod was laid in August. The soil was rolled with a water filled cylinder, then the sod was laid, then it was rolled again several times.

The water not only stays in the ditch but it puddles up in the ditch in certain places, like it's not graded right.

Thanks
Cory

This post was edited by manthatsnice on Wed, Jan 14, 15 at 23:28

As you survey the larger neighborhood, is it obvious to you where the water is supposed to going? From the looks of the picture, it seems that water would pass through your yard and into someone else's. But the picture does not actually explain that this is what's happening. For drainage issues, we need to know where/how -- the path -- exists for the water to leave your property. Can you supply a picture that will show the overall path?

Thanks for the response Yardvaark.

The same ditch that my neighbor and I share runs all the way down the hill in our neighborhood to a large drainage basin(?) at the bottom. As you look at the pic, it runs from left to right.

Here's another pic from a different angle. Hopefully you can see that the ditch also runs into my neighbors to the right.

I'll take a pic and post in this afternoon.

Thanks again,
Cory

Here's another view from the back of my yard looking downhill along the drainage ditch.

Maybe this helps a little.

Thanks
Cory

It doesn't look like there's any impediment to water escaping and that the ditch works as intended. Therefore, if it is staying wet too long after a rain, it's going to have to do with soil composition and structure. Since it's a relatively young age, it might improve somewhat as the soil settles and becomes more dense (less absorbent.) A french drain is not going to do anything (except potentially make it worse) because the ditch is already draining at the surface. I would do nothing and wait. This would not be any fault of those who laid the sod. Nor would it be fixed by irrigation contractors. If it doesn't shake out" properly in a year so as to support grass growth, then it would be good to revisit and see if planting something else in the ditch would be better. I don't think you are going to want to replace soil and resod. It doesn't seem practical when waiting might solve the problem. (If for some reason, the soil is completely wrong, which we can't know about with the information available, then that would change my answer.)

Thanks again Yardvaark.

As you can see from the picture, the water sort of meanders down the ditch instead of running in a straight line. That's one of the reasons I wondered if it's not shaped or sloped (side hill to side hill) just right. I'm sure my logic is flawed, I'm just impatient because of all the kids we have playing between the two yards. Don't want anyone to get hurt.

I understand your point about the soil settling. That makes sense.

Lastly, is there anything I can do myself to help it. Nothing drastic, just anything. Or tips...?

Thanks so much. I really do appreciate your expertise.
Cory

The only thing that would help water escape the ditch faster would be tilting it to a greater degree. It would be impossible for you to do this for your yard only because the next neighbor downhill would then be at a higher elevation than the outfall of your yard. In theory, it would need to be the entire block, but that's impractical. If the ditch, or maybe just the linear central portion of it, were lined flush with a hard surface, it would help water pass more quickly and with less soaking in. Whatever you do would need to be approved by powers that be so you don't create trouble for yourself.

As people develop landscaping in their yards, it's predictable that there will be a move to add privacy screening along the ditch, which would help direct where kids walk. There could be stepping stones or a bridge for access where needed.

Planting a groundcover other than grass -- something that didn't need to be mowed and would tolerate the wet -- might be better for the conditions, too. Based on the picture, I imagine that the property line is running at the center of the ditch(?) It would be best to coordinate a solution with other neighbors who are affected rather that each neighbor solving the problem in his own way.

Yardvaark, Bruce,
Thanks so much for your thoughtful responses. I'll look into alternative methods like grasses or shrubs. Hopefully it'll settle down over time.

Thanks,
Cory