Question

Has anyone had success planting in a wet, shady area of your yard? We have a mud pit that I'm looking to fill with something, as we have two dogs and two boys. Any ideas?  

Answer 1

We had a similar issue and decided to install French drains. We are so glad we did! We went from a muddy yard to beautiful green grass out back that is dry! It’s worth the investment if you spend a lot of time outside

Comments

@reset agreed

Answer 2

River rock in some sort of decorative bed? I would add some water friendly bushes to make it look better.  

Answer 3

We have a marshy corner in our yard like that too! Except all the grass has since been destroyed by our two dogs that constantly run around that tree for squirrels. . Such a muddy and messy eye sore

Comments

@jaymie100 sounds like my house lol

Answer 4

Get some tonka trucks and let Cam play LOL!  

Answer 5

I would get dirt and build it up and put a brick support wall against the fence.  

Answer 6

@retard44 get some trim bricks coming out about 5 feet & circle them around tree. Square shape might be easier if Graeme is cutting the lawn but it doesn’t matter. Then fill the area with mulch and then just put potted plants in there or fill it with sand! We’ve got an area just like that behind our patio wall and because it’s shady just like yours it’s very hard to grow grass

Answer 7

We put in a "dry" stream bed and a rain garden with plants that are used to shady marshy living. They also have deep deep roots which helps with drainage.  

Comments

@fourway this is exactly what we need! Did you hire a landscaping company or DIY?  

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@retard44 YouTube and This Old House! Totally DIY over here, but we're a little stir crazy.  

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@fourway I would love to see your rain garden! We need to do something like that.  

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@fourway what plants did you use?  

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@fourway I would love to see what you did too!  

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Dug the trench and double lined with landscape fabric, the dirt all went upon the hill.  

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Lined it with big boulders and then filled the trench with pond stone and river rock for interest and so my son could play with the pretty river rock

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Now we have the stone arranged how we want, started putting some plants (hydrangeas, bottle brush buckeye, and witch hazel), and free mulch uphill to the stream. More deep-rooted native plants will go along the wooden fence to continue the rain garden in a 10x15 plot on the near side of the stream. Eventually the whole feature will be mulched with the nice stuff, including the front of the playset (Also DIY to work with the slope of the hill) Each summer it's so wet the moss outcompetes the grass and when it rains we get a little pond :( I'm hoping all this work gets the back corner useable and pretty again! Thanks for the opportunity to show off our hard work  

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@fourway wow that's awesome! Looks great!  

Answer 8

A weeping willow?  

Answer 9

The conservation foundation and university of Madison have great resources for ideas on how to deal with tough areas like these. French drains, rain gardens, etc. all functional and environmentally friendly!  

Answer 10

@plan3 Desirae Liesen Kelsey Liesen