First gather all the information possible about the history of the land and what was constructed. Get topo and other maps showing underground water courses. Go to your town building departmrnt for any records they have. Ask neighbors and prior owners. Know about any septic fields, french drains, dry wells, etc.

You probably need excavating done to move the water out of your yard, but you’ll have to get someone onsite to look at it and review options.

You need a great landscaper and French drains. You also probably need some trees and landscaping that like wet feet. My yard would fill up and hold 8-12” of water when we perched (known prior to purchase) with gutters and French drains my property is dry

Ours is also similar. We are in Clay and the water just sits. The back 10 feet of our yard are a drainage easement so we can't touch the grading. We installed basically a rain garden in the back.

Our neighbors installed a retaining wall to level the front half of their yard and leave the back.

I wouldn't recommend moving dirt around to solve the problem, unless you build a retaining wall and keep your corner elevations the same. You don't want to change drainage patterns as they might negatively impact your neighbors and you could be on the hook for any damage. It sounds like you're probably in a development and drainage and grading gets designed and approved when the development is built. Check your easements.

First of all, the plants at the bottom may be a rain garden left unattended if that is the case, dont remove them

if you plan on doing this yourself i would get a professional out there to create a path to help drain the water faster from your yard with a series of drain tiles

next, create a plan based on the space you have and what you want to create again if you are doing this yourself make it a 4 year plan

research turfs for your area maybe a grass that used to be in pastures 30 years ago would be a good option i know it sounds crazy but do your research

then for the slope, you could use native plants for your area they will help secure the ground cuz they have deep root systems

once those have matured then do hard scaping like rocks seating benches

also, do not forget around that drain keep it clear but put some type of plants to help with the water run off

when/if you have sucess with the plants your neighbor will be watching maybe they will follow your lead then both will have beautiful natural living landscapes

then all options are available to you! good luck 🍀

You didn't even post a photo of the conditions.

Perhaps your yard needs to be terraced or requires a French Drain at the bottom to hold and divert water after rainstorms.

Turn the slope into a feature of the backyard.

We had one property that did that after a big rain we dug out and did a dry stream bed that filled wit water when it pured it was quite pretty all the time and quite easy to do DIY with some muscle.

Birches soak up water really well. I'd plant a clump of them. They really made a difference in a yard I had years ago.

apologies. here you can see how the ground slopes, and you can see the overgrown garden. my property ends on the far end where you see the grass color change. If you look closely at the second picture you can see in the top left corner there's a drain of some sort.

I talked to the previous owner, who told me this low area was mandated by the village when the development was approved, and sure enough my plat of survey shows. water detention easement along the flat portion. does the easement mean I can't do a French drain? I'll probably be inquiring with the village to understand my options.

Your situation is worse than I thought. I thought the low point was at the bottom of your yard, but it's smack in the middle, unless the picture is deceiving me. I don't think the easement precludes you from putting in french drains but definitely check with the village. A water detention easement sounds like it's not meant just to drain but to hold water so I'm not sure how much a french drain would help in that case.

What you circled is a utility access point for underground utilities, not a drain. Those will also have easements.

You still have the option of building a retaining wall outside the easement and leveling your yard behind that, although it's not the cheapest option.

I think the photo is tricking you. The layout is house, slope, low point, in that order and each part parallel to the next. The first picture is taken at an angle from the base of my deck looking out. The second is from the low part of the yard looking at my neighbor's yard.

Yes, that's what I'm seeing. The low point is at the base of your slope, not at the back of your yard.

I see what you’re saying. Next time I’m at the house I’ll take better pictures.

I thought the grate in the back was for water drainage but let me take another look when I go over.

Assuming it is a stormwater drain, I would want to try to route water into that drain. If there’s no drain, then maybe I need to embrace the wetness of the garden and direct flow from the whole backyard into that section of the yard. This way I’ve at least contained the wetness. I don’t like that the entire flat part of the yard is soggy, so if at minimum I can dry out a large portion, I’ll be happy. I don’t fundamentally have a problem with doing a rain garden if that’s what needs to be done.

That area is designed to be wet u fortunately. I suspect that drain grate is above the low point and is to take excess water away during major storm events (so it doesn’t become a pond). If the town required it and it’s in your deed work with them to discuss any changes you could make. Trees seem like an obvious improvement.

All the advice is much appreciated. I understand from a basic physics standpoint why this is an issue — the street and the grate and any place I would want the water to go are above where the water is right now. I think my next step is to get some contractors onsite to get their views after actually walking on the property, in parallel with understanding with the village is going to allow me to do.