Drainage success. And healthy results.

We installed a french drain on an Orinda residential landscape in Oct-09. The clients had previously experienced up to 12" of standing water in the lowest part of the landscape during rain storms.

We are experiencing a winter storm that dropped 1.18" of rain in the past 12 hours. I visited the site to check on the effectiveness of the drains; there was no standing water and I walked across the landscape with a solid base of soil under my boot - no mud. Stunning contrast to that of 18 months ago.

The successful strategy? French drains that direct water to the back of the property where is slowly percolates into a hillside. However, the most important strategy deployed at this site was healing of the soil porosity! Four cubic yards of CCL Organics Soil Builder compost + 200+ lbs of organic soil amendments applied to main planting beds and 50 lbs greensand (residues of ancient oceans) and wood chips (not bark) = SUCCESS. And happy clients (the best part).

Photo of the water flow not far away from this site - an example of how much water has percolated into the soil (supporting the abundance of life around it):

Keep loving the soil.

Jae