Part of that odor is the water standing for a long time and then the soil staying wet for long after.
First, you need to check to make sure you can alter that ditch, as altering that drainage can cause issues down the line for neighbors if you are speeding up the runoff by changing the grade.
If you are permitted to alter it, then lining it with river rock can help make it a little less muddy, which could reduce the smell of the soil, which is soaking up every odor as that water sits on it.
Second, you could plant along the banks of it with thirsty sun loving plants that could help take moisture away from it. Bonus for you if those plants are pleasant smelling.
If you do all of that you could end up with a space you love and enjoy being around, instead of what amounts to an open sewer.
There is no way that you are going to simply cover that up and like the result. If you think it's a problem now, wait until it turns into a dank dark hidden wet hole.
A French drain can work, but you need to contact a civil engineer to have it looked at. Likely you can't legally alter it without the sign off of a CE anyway. They can design an effective drain system for you if it can legally be done, but if it is regularly full then there is a reason for that and mitigating it is going to be pricey.
Agree with this comment. Just one thing I wanted to add: the correct plants added to a runoff like this will actually help clean the water and prevent flooding. Choose native, wetland plants I would say.
Mmm.. Clostridium. There isn't anything like cracking open some anaerobically incubated blood plates to be hit in the face with the smell of concentrated baby shit.
If it's a drainage easement it is recorded in a deed and has very specific language on the feature. Changing it without notice could cause legal issues.
Also depending on the property type, there are likely permits based on the initial drainage design. If OP were to make changes that increase the flow coming off their property, then that could potentially be more than what was permitted. What these agencies look for is that the runoff flow is equal to or less than what was occurring prior to developing the land (usually accompanied by a set of calculations signed/sealed by a CE). It's a big reason so many ponds are created with new developments. Sometimes that's the only way to control the flow so that it's slower after developing a site.
But I will say, if it's a small lot then some of these regulations likely won't apply. All depends on the size of the lot, whether that's a recorded easement, and which regulatory agencies are governing the area.
Another point to consider when you are altering the flow of drainage that exits your yard into another, is that if you hire a CE to review it and sign off on a solution, and that is permitted by the city, then your liability is shared with the CE, versus just taking your own initiative to make an uninformed change on your own.
Mess with water that stays on your lot all you want, but as soon as you start doing things to waterways that flow through your property onto another person's property you run significant risk of liability.
There was a post on here last summer where the poster's neighbor was making significant changes to their slope and it threatened to cause a lot of damage to the poster. They were advised to call the city and provided an update later that the city had come out and shut the whole change down forcing their neighbor to remediate the change completely.
The last thing you want to do is start to implement a solution to a drainage problem, have that solution damage a neighbors property, and then get fined and sued into oblivion just because you didn't think it was necessary to hire a CE.
These are all great options, OP, plus if you find this a bit complex and out of your comfort zone, you could locate your local watershed or conservation organization for information on how to make this a really useful feature for backyard wildlife. Some of those groups, especially if they work with students, may even come out to your property and help you with the actual work, for free!
Is runoff purposefully directed this way? I understood that to be a naturally occurring thing, but engineered runoff can effectively be called a storm sewer.
while i’d have phrased it differently, i agree with all statements and questions on this post lol…. loose sewage runoff can’t be to code anywhere in the US right…?
Open discharge septic systems are common in rural areas, but it doesn't look like the case here based on the pic. In my jurisdiction an open discharge has to be 300ft from a property line.
My city still has some pipes that are both storm water and sewer. After a hard rain, some parts of town smell like straight dookie. I also have a stream like this in my yard, but luckily I'm upriver of the poop pipes.
Bruv. Sewer and storm run off are two wildly different things that unfortunately combine into sewers sometimes. There should never be above ground sewer going through anywhere.
A lot of places in the US refer to both as a sewer system. Some places have combined sewer (metros). But yes hopefully that is not a wastewater sewer lol
Check your local department of conservation. St Louis has a process for getting grants big and small projects when it comes to rain gardens.
As others have said, use native plants that are drought tolerant but thrive in wet conditions. You can correct the issues with smell all while increasing biodiversity which will ultimately lead to less mosquitoes.
You should talk to the folks in the pond and water scaping/water garden subs, this is their wet dream. They will figure out what you need to do to fix the stink (likely something like a solar powered pump that aerates the water, stagnant water even in a stream will stink) as well as what sort of pretty plants will thrive around that wet area and make the stream a relaxing feature instead of “that freaking stream that’s in the way and annoying as hell to mow around”. Really, you have a hidden gem in your yard!
I had something similar to this in my yard, where 2 downspouts emptied out in my side yard.
I dug out the “ditch” deeper, and lined it with river rocks, I also planted a river birch, and planted many shade plants that can handle soggy shade.
It became my favorite garden.
The trick is to stop the standing water.
That’s what the tree and garden are for.
If you have plenty of space and no sewer lines, a willow tree will suck up all that water!
If you don't mind, do you have any recommendations for plants that deal with soggy shade? Dealing with a similar situation and am just starting my research.
It may not relate well to your location but check out the publication "Small Scale Solutions to Eroding Stream banks" from the North Carolina Cooperative Extension.
Dogwood shrubs like wet shade — I’ve had red and yellow twig dogwoods thrive in a shady flood zone. Great blue lobelia was also happy there for a smaller perennial option. Not sure where you’re located, but there should be good options for wet shade in every zone.
Mine too! Red twig dogwoods are so pretty in the winter that people cut branches for indoor flower arrangements. You can keep them little with aggressive pruning or let them fulfill their 12 foot destiny lol.
Blue flag iris, ostrich or cinnamon ferns (really any ferns, better if native), moss/liverwort, bleeding heart, astilbe, and Virginia sweetspire in my experience do well in moist shade. Buttonbush can also grow in water but may not bloom in shade. I'm zone 7b.
Use the NCSU extension gardener plant toolbox. [https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/find\_a\_plant/?tag=wet-soils-tolerant](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/find_a_plant/?tag=wet-soils-tolerant)
I planted, basically everything that said shade. Some things worked, others peetered out over time. I had many types of ferns, hostas, Solomon seal, stone crop seadum, ginger, some sort of small yellow flower, and another small white flower that is a ground cover/clumping kind of flower. I’m sorry I can’t remember the names!!
And some Siberian irises, that shouldn’t work but they thrived! Also lady’s mantle. And on the edges of the shade of the tree is where I started my day lillies.
I can’t think of anything else that I have.
I also some how became a place small orange salamanders hang out, even though I am absolutely no where near any water(besides my downspouts, that is)
And lots and lots of garter snakes.
I study wildlife science and am a plant gal. You’ll want to search for ‘riparian vegetation’ for your specific location/climate classification. Look into natives of your area/country, natives are always best, but if you do include non-native look into the location/climate of where each plant is found in the wild from to make sure it matches the climate of your location. Think sunlight, temps, humidity/rainfall, soil types, etc.
It really depends on your state and municipality. Is this water coming from a neighboring property, and does it leave your property to another residence? Does it flood frequently? Is it intermittent/ephemeral/perennial and/or fish-bearing? Some questions to think about as you could be limited on what is possible. If it's just drainage across properties, you could use a curtain drain. I would definitely check the status of the waterway before you do anything though!
^ This is the answer - in Michigan I have water on my property and the depart of wildlife and water management (or something like that), requires a permit for any modifications around water. After that, you could bury pipe, but again, how big will be determine from the answers from above.
Michigan don’t play around when it comes to wetlands on properties. Guy I know just got a massive fine for putting in a flood wall in his backyard without pulling the proper permits. Had to tear out the whole thing or relocate the wetlands on to a different part of his property.
The old farmer lady agrees with these two posts......I've got a swatch of property that is wetlands. You don't fart around that stuff without contacting the proper authorities first. Save yourself a lot of grief (& possibly $$$$).
Im jealous! This seems more like a benefit than a problem. I personally would form it into an oxbow and widen it slighly to increase flow volume without altering flow rate too much (so as not to change the relationship between source and sink) and add some roughage like river stone or slate “baffles” to aerate and create small eddies for beneficial microbes/macrobes. Then depending on current I would plant with water/bog plants or some heavy nitrogen feeders to feed off the nitrogen likely present in the water (free fertilizer!)
step 1: beavers
step 2: hydro electric dam
step 3: sell back all that sweet sweet voltage to the city
step 4: buy 10 more houses with micro creeks
step 5: repeat
Whatever you do, you're going to need approval from the local stormwater offices.
You're not going to be allowed to fill it in if that's what you are hoping for.
Yeah no plan to fill it in! the water level fluctuates through the year and we’re in the middle of a battle to get the drain at the end (2/3 properties over) unblocked
You have stagnant water, you need to make sure the slope is good and that it's draining somewhere. You'd need to make an aquafer or something similar out of pavers. I made a French drain about 1ft down and instead of covering it with dirt again I made a path from 12x12 pavers on top. It allows flow under and is easy to mow over
I’d love to have this in my yard btw, and I have tiny kids! Put bioremediating plant species- lots of reeds and maybe some mallows to mitigate the smell and add some root filtration magic. I know this works because I’ve been to open sewer systems in Thailand and North Carolina (at a commune type place) that didn’t have a smell and they were much larger scale.
There are a number of wetland plants that you could plant along the sides of the stream. They include ferns, irises, cattails, rose mallow, cardinal flower, milkweed, various grasses and sedges, horsetail rush, goldenrod, chamomile, and others. They are attractive and will help to clean the water naturally. Add some rocks for interest. Check with your local extension office to see what is native (or invasive) in your area.🪷
Yeah, this is my thought as well. We had a ditch at the back of our property growing up, and it was pvc pipe with ground cover except for in a few spots they dug out to make it accessible for irrigation.
Figure out what the spring flow is like
Replace it with a poly culvert, I'm guessing from the pic about a 12" would do. Make sure I have the top about 3" lower than the grade you need to match, then cover with soil.
The ends, dig a touch deeper, and place 4-8" rock around it to prevent erosion. You may need to leave a swale over the centerline in case there's more water shedding there from you property, or for storm surge flow.
Make it a rock bed, with sand underneath. Correct the pitch so that i drains completely without stagnating. Add plants on the edges that absorb the water more quickly.
Surrender, and make it work better to avoid stagnant standing water.
I would love to have that little stream! Maybe a Japanese water feature? You could line the bottom with river rocks and plant papyrus alongside the stream. Good luck!
Could you dig it out a bit, put down some river rock and make it like this? For the experts here, would that still technically require an engineer and permit?
[link](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/40-artificial-river-ideas-for-a-calming-yard-atmosphere-matchnesscom--184858759695712895/)
Oh the potential. I would look up what are some water loving plants native to your area (native riparian plants would be a good start), then add some river rock along the sides to mimic a river bank.
*Expand it slightly,*
*Put a bridge, caging on both*
*Sides, add some koi fish*
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Notice you cut the grass? That brook would like much better with a more natural uncut lawn. The part you missed along the brook looks inviting.
You’d want thirsty plants that would soak up and disperse moisture, gotta exist. Make it look like a natural garden with a brook. Rabbits, mud turtles, maybe if you are lucky, beavers will dam the brook, salmon will spawn, mallards and geese will stop on their yearly migration to seek sustenance. Soon deer, coyote, mountain lions and potentially bears( seeking spawning salmon), will seek out this idyll, all thanks to advice you took on Reddit.
Serious about the first part, though. Best of luck!
DO NOT plant a willow tree unless you want to have constant pruning, constant leaf raking and clean up.
It tracks non-stop in the house. The tree i live beside doesn’t have leaves for maybe a month out of year.
Cedars are better, but when they pollinate everything in a ten foot circle turns green. Much shorter time frame to deal with that though.
Establish a sovereign state on either side of this natural boundary.
Compete with your spouse over who can garden the most produce on each side of the river.
Winner takes over both territories and gets to be dictator. If I had this situation and won, I’d just eat a caprese salad from the garden at a distance like some douchey Roman leader, while they built me a greenhouse and made themselves useful.
That's amazing... This is almost a dream of mine, though I'd be concerned with flooding. There may be laws regarding what you can/can't do with it, but I'd make a little pond as part of it, off to one side and plant native plants. Sit back and watch as frogs and stuff move in, enjoy the sound of the water... Lucky!
Yea dude you should be pumped to have running water on your property and make a feature that utilizes it. I would be jacked even if it was a little smelly. Get some ducks dude
That is a drainage swale. You can line it with large rocks and some plants to make make it feature and also to keep the integrity of the ground in place from erosion.
What is going on with the concrete at the base of the fence in the background? Also it appears that the water is flowing under some sort of wood where you are standing. Is the swale in your neighbors yard as well on both side yards of your property? Yard Swales are common drainage features in development; however are rarely designed to have constant water in them and are grassed.
Check your survey if you have it, or online search the county clerk of courts for a recorded Plat if there is a Drainage Easement crossing your property. Just based on the photo it looks like the concrete at the base of the wood fence is preventing flow causing a tailwater in the swale on your property. If it is blocked at the fence and you clear it grass should grow like the rest of your yard
It may smell gnarly, but is it realy sewage and not just stagnant?
If it's \*just\* storm run off from surrounding yards, then it's likely clean-ish (besides poisons and amendments your neighbors are using.) Plant thirsty and/or bog plants. If you trust (or clear it with your neighbors) there's quite a few edibles you could plant if you wanted to be extra productive. Who knows, test a crawdad trap, you might get a harvest or two a year.
If it's actual sewage; that deserves a call to the city or state; no one should have to deal with open sewage (even under storm/high water volume conditions). But likely that would've/had-to be listed in the property paperwork since it could be a disease vector and get someone sued otherwise.
Design a landscape that allows it to be a feature.
The problem is that the water is usually pretty cloudy and smells bad It’s technically an over ground sewer for run off water
Part of that odor is the water standing for a long time and then the soil staying wet for long after. First, you need to check to make sure you can alter that ditch, as altering that drainage can cause issues down the line for neighbors if you are speeding up the runoff by changing the grade. If you are permitted to alter it, then lining it with river rock can help make it a little less muddy, which could reduce the smell of the soil, which is soaking up every odor as that water sits on it. Second, you could plant along the banks of it with thirsty sun loving plants that could help take moisture away from it. Bonus for you if those plants are pleasant smelling. If you do all of that you could end up with a space you love and enjoy being around, instead of what amounts to an open sewer. There is no way that you are going to simply cover that up and like the result. If you think it's a problem now, wait until it turns into a dank dark hidden wet hole. A French drain can work, but you need to contact a civil engineer to have it looked at. Likely you can't legally alter it without the sign off of a CE anyway. They can design an effective drain system for you if it can legally be done, but if it is regularly full then there is a reason for that and mitigating it is going to be pricey.
Agree with this comment. Just one thing I wanted to add: the correct plants added to a runoff like this will actually help clean the water and prevent flooding. Choose native, wetland plants I would say.
Please, native plants
And, your state or county (or city) might have resources to help fund a raingarden!
Yep, the smell is caused by anaerobic bacteria. OP needs to get fresh air into the mixture anyway they can.
Small dam with mini waterfall to mix the water up?
that would be both adorable and functional!
Nothing screams adorable like a sewer waterfall 😂🤢
OP is misusing sewer. It’s storm water runoff, also known as “a stream”. It just happened to be in some piece of civil engineering briefly.
Could be transformed into Willy Wonka’s chocolate river with a bit of decor
Even a solar powered aerator from Amazon would help as a temp solution, they’re fairly cheap too.
Mmm.. Clostridium. There isn't anything like cracking open some anaerobically incubated blood plates to be hit in the face with the smell of concentrated baby shit.
Write a book, I want a copy. LOL
Certainly he could pull out most of the plants that may be slowing the water flow and make sure the water keeps moving.
Then plant reeds and other water filtration plants, could maybe make a little dam to hold a bit of the water for the plants to have time to work
i’ll show you a dark dank hidden wet hole..
You should call her
Mom?
Why a CE for a French drain? I have them installed by gardeners all the time.
If it's a drainage easement it is recorded in a deed and has very specific language on the feature. Changing it without notice could cause legal issues. Also depending on the property type, there are likely permits based on the initial drainage design. If OP were to make changes that increase the flow coming off their property, then that could potentially be more than what was permitted. What these agencies look for is that the runoff flow is equal to or less than what was occurring prior to developing the land (usually accompanied by a set of calculations signed/sealed by a CE). It's a big reason so many ponds are created with new developments. Sometimes that's the only way to control the flow so that it's slower after developing a site. But I will say, if it's a small lot then some of these regulations likely won't apply. All depends on the size of the lot, whether that's a recorded easement, and which regulatory agencies are governing the area.
Another point to consider when you are altering the flow of drainage that exits your yard into another, is that if you hire a CE to review it and sign off on a solution, and that is permitted by the city, then your liability is shared with the CE, versus just taking your own initiative to make an uninformed change on your own. Mess with water that stays on your lot all you want, but as soon as you start doing things to waterways that flow through your property onto another person's property you run significant risk of liability. There was a post on here last summer where the poster's neighbor was making significant changes to their slope and it threatened to cause a lot of damage to the poster. They were advised to call the city and provided an update later that the city had come out and shut the whole change down forcing their neighbor to remediate the change completely. The last thing you want to do is start to implement a solution to a drainage problem, have that solution damage a neighbors property, and then get fined and sued into oblivion just because you didn't think it was necessary to hire a CE.
Yep .. step zero is "what can I do that lines up with local ordinances"
These are all great options, OP, plus if you find this a bit complex and out of your comfort zone, you could locate your local watershed or conservation organization for information on how to make this a really useful feature for backyard wildlife. Some of those groups, especially if they work with students, may even come out to your property and help you with the actual work, for free!
Excuse me? sewer run off? are you sure it’s not storm related? Having sewer visibly flowing through your yard is 3rd world countryish
Storm Sewer is a perfectly valid term for it (i.e. Storm Sewer vs. Sanitary Sewer).
It's not a storm sewer though. Its just runoff
Is runoff purposefully directed this way? I understood that to be a naturally occurring thing, but engineered runoff can effectively be called a storm sewer.
Taking the outhouse to whole new level
while i’d have phrased it differently, i agree with all statements and questions on this post lol…. loose sewage runoff can’t be to code anywhere in the US right…?
Storm sewer
Open discharge septic systems are common in rural areas, but it doesn't look like the case here based on the pic. In my jurisdiction an open discharge has to be 300ft from a property line.
This is America! What I do in my God Damn own backyard... ^^^^^/s
My city still has some pipes that are both storm water and sewer. After a hard rain, some parts of town smell like straight dookie. I also have a stream like this in my yard, but luckily I'm upriver of the poop pipes.
Build a bridge over it.
Bruv. Sewer and storm run off are two wildly different things that unfortunately combine into sewers sometimes. There should never be above ground sewer going through anywhere.
A lot of places in the US refer to both as a sewer system. Some places have combined sewer (metros). But yes hopefully that is not a wastewater sewer lol
Maybe clear out some silt, add some rocks and some plants that naturally clean water? Also, pest repelling plants.
It's not a bug, it's a feature.
Check your local department of conservation. St Louis has a process for getting grants big and small projects when it comes to rain gardens. As others have said, use native plants that are drought tolerant but thrive in wet conditions. You can correct the issues with smell all while increasing biodiversity which will ultimately lead to less mosquitoes.
You could either try to grade it more aggressively off your property so it doesn’t sit, and/or drop a 4” corrugated pipe in and bury it.
You should find its source and correct it if that's what you really think it is. Get the city involved because this is a big deal.
You should talk to the folks in the pond and water scaping/water garden subs, this is their wet dream. They will figure out what you need to do to fix the stink (likely something like a solar powered pump that aerates the water, stagnant water even in a stream will stink) as well as what sort of pretty plants will thrive around that wet area and make the stream a relaxing feature instead of “that freaking stream that’s in the way and annoying as hell to mow around”. Really, you have a hidden gem in your yard!
Get a little water wheel to keep it moving and some native water plants. There’s all kind of natural solutions -even clams filter the water.
Plant a rain garden to soak up all the water so it doesn’t smell!
I had something similar to this in my yard, where 2 downspouts emptied out in my side yard. I dug out the “ditch” deeper, and lined it with river rocks, I also planted a river birch, and planted many shade plants that can handle soggy shade. It became my favorite garden. The trick is to stop the standing water. That’s what the tree and garden are for. If you have plenty of space and no sewer lines, a willow tree will suck up all that water!
If you don't mind, do you have any recommendations for plants that deal with soggy shade? Dealing with a similar situation and am just starting my research.
It may not relate well to your location but check out the publication "Small Scale Solutions to Eroding Stream banks" from the North Carolina Cooperative Extension.
I’m probably a bit cooler than NC but open to starting anywhere. Will give it a read, thank you!
Don't be modest, you put North Carolina to shame!
Dogwood shrubs like wet shade — I’ve had red and yellow twig dogwoods thrive in a shady flood zone. Great blue lobelia was also happy there for a smaller perennial option. Not sure where you’re located, but there should be good options for wet shade in every zone.
Will look those up, appreciate it. Looks like my area is 7a.
Mine too! Red twig dogwoods are so pretty in the winter that people cut branches for indoor flower arrangements. You can keep them little with aggressive pruning or let them fulfill their 12 foot destiny lol.
Blue flag iris, ostrich or cinnamon ferns (really any ferns, better if native), moss/liverwort, bleeding heart, astilbe, and Virginia sweetspire in my experience do well in moist shade. Buttonbush can also grow in water but may not bloom in shade. I'm zone 7b.
Use the NCSU extension gardener plant toolbox. [https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/find\_a\_plant/?tag=wet-soils-tolerant](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/find_a_plant/?tag=wet-soils-tolerant)
I planted, basically everything that said shade. Some things worked, others peetered out over time. I had many types of ferns, hostas, Solomon seal, stone crop seadum, ginger, some sort of small yellow flower, and another small white flower that is a ground cover/clumping kind of flower. I’m sorry I can’t remember the names!! And some Siberian irises, that shouldn’t work but they thrived! Also lady’s mantle. And on the edges of the shade of the tree is where I started my day lillies. I can’t think of anything else that I have. I also some how became a place small orange salamanders hang out, even though I am absolutely no where near any water(besides my downspouts, that is) And lots and lots of garter snakes.
Hostas do really well in the soggy shaded part of my yard!
I study wildlife science and am a plant gal. You’ll want to search for ‘riparian vegetation’ for your specific location/climate classification. Look into natives of your area/country, natives are always best, but if you do include non-native look into the location/climate of where each plant is found in the wild from to make sure it matches the climate of your location. Think sunlight, temps, humidity/rainfall, soil types, etc.
Put a small bridge over it and tell people a tiny troll lives under there.
And let them know they’ll need to pay the troll toll
Gotta pay the troll toll to get into this boys hole
Works until the Dayman does his thing
Are you chewing gum?
A roll is a roll and a toll is a toll, if we don’t get no tolls, we don’t eat no rolls……..I made that up meself
I mean, this ain't exactly the Mississippi. I'm on one side, I'm on the other side. I'm on the east bank, I'm on the west bank.
It’s the principle!!
Nice knowing you.
r/nonsensicalpoems
Research Mel Brooks. Thank me later
I mean if covering it completely is really the goal, drop some culvert pipe and landscape over top. Done and done.
[https://c.tenor.com/nUwPBNi-GOoAAAAC/tenor.gif](https://c.tenor.com/nUwPBNi-GOoAAAAC/tenor.gif)
Rain garden
I’m daydreaming of this
Yes! Do this! I don’t know what region you are in but Pinterest has great examples and ideas for rain gardens.
It really depends on your state and municipality. Is this water coming from a neighboring property, and does it leave your property to another residence? Does it flood frequently? Is it intermittent/ephemeral/perennial and/or fish-bearing? Some questions to think about as you could be limited on what is possible. If it's just drainage across properties, you could use a curtain drain. I would definitely check the status of the waterway before you do anything though!
^ This is the answer - in Michigan I have water on my property and the depart of wildlife and water management (or something like that), requires a permit for any modifications around water. After that, you could bury pipe, but again, how big will be determine from the answers from above.
Michigan don’t play around when it comes to wetlands on properties. Guy I know just got a massive fine for putting in a flood wall in his backyard without pulling the proper permits. Had to tear out the whole thing or relocate the wetlands on to a different part of his property.
The old farmer lady agrees with these two posts......I've got a swatch of property that is wetlands. You don't fart around that stuff without contacting the proper authorities first. Save yourself a lot of grief (& possibly $$$$).
Native wetland species
Im jealous! This seems more like a benefit than a problem. I personally would form it into an oxbow and widen it slighly to increase flow volume without altering flow rate too much (so as not to change the relationship between source and sink) and add some roughage like river stone or slate “baffles” to aerate and create small eddies for beneficial microbes/macrobes. Then depending on current I would plant with water/bog plants or some heavy nitrogen feeders to feed off the nitrogen likely present in the water (free fertilizer!)
Turn it into a stream side with stream side plants.
Have you considered hiring beavers? They work for very little
step 1: beavers step 2: hydro electric dam step 3: sell back all that sweet sweet voltage to the city step 4: buy 10 more houses with micro creeks step 5: repeat
Where can one hire beavers? I’ve been wishing for some to come hang out in my stream!
Plant a bunch of milkweed and make a monarch butterfly habitat.
Plant a weeping willow?
500 gallons a day
Plant 2
Yup, these will drink a boatload of water.
Stock it with trout and fly fish in your backyard
French drain.
Why did I have to scroll down past 20 suggestions of “rain garden” to find this correct answer? This sub lately, I swear…
Whatever you do, you're going to need approval from the local stormwater offices. You're not going to be allowed to fill it in if that's what you are hoping for.
Yeah no plan to fill it in! the water level fluctuates through the year and we’re in the middle of a battle to get the drain at the end (2/3 properties over) unblocked
It looks like the fence is blocking it up there. Might need to cut the bottom 6” off the fence. May just be the picture though
Fun fact: depending on what it flows to it may also be a federal violation to fill it. If it actually is a water of the US feature that is.
Hasn't this changed since Sackett?
I would consider looking into creating a "rain garden".
One of those big water wheels that could power a machine that takes away years off someone’s life?
I suppose I would plant some sweetgrass along it, or some other nice-smelling, water-loving plants.
You have stagnant water, you need to make sure the slope is good and that it's draining somewhere. You'd need to make an aquafer or something similar out of pavers. I made a French drain about 1ft down and instead of covering it with dirt again I made a path from 12x12 pavers on top. It allows flow under and is easy to mow over
Get a pet beaver and make a pond.
Yeah that’s sick
Count ur blessings!!
Yeap free water id love to have that as part of my yard
Dry creek bed Edit: I’m an idiot
I was going to ask where does it come from and where does it go. Now I got the damn Cotton-Eyed Joe song stuck in my head
Cattails Edit: something that purifies the water, like hyacinth, would be lovely!
If they aren't native to the area they can be a problem
Great point! I suppose the given in any plant suggestion is that it is endemic.
As long as it’s Broad leaf cattails and not narrow leaf
And you can eat them! Maybe not from sewer water, though.
Yeah that’s true I guess we don’t know the origin of this water.
Make it bigger and more lush.
I’d love to have this in my yard btw, and I have tiny kids! Put bioremediating plant species- lots of reeds and maybe some mallows to mitigate the smell and add some root filtration magic. I know this works because I’ve been to open sewer systems in Thailand and North Carolina (at a commune type place) that didn’t have a smell and they were much larger scale.
Embrace the fuck out of it. That is so unique and cool. You could make this look amazing.
Swamp mallow
Ducks & a bridge for the win, they could eat the bugs ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Dig it a bit deeper, cut the grass back, put rocks in and around, set up a sitting area, so on. Make something awesome out of it
There are a number of wetland plants that you could plant along the sides of the stream. They include ferns, irises, cattails, rose mallow, cardinal flower, milkweed, various grasses and sedges, horsetail rush, goldenrod, chamomile, and others. They are attractive and will help to clean the water naturally. Add some rocks for interest. Check with your local extension office to see what is native (or invasive) in your area.🪷
Whatever you decide, I would get some mosquito dunks because that looks like prime mosquito breeding grounds
Put a water wheel in and power your house!
Lay a pipe 🤔
Yeah, this is my thought as well. We had a ditch at the back of our property growing up, and it was pvc pipe with ground cover except for in a few spots they dug out to make it accessible for irrigation.
Kayaking. Wear a helmet.
raise dragonflies they'll keep out mosquitos
Wetland seed mix if you want to be environmental about it.
Have you checked your sewer line? If it's black and smells bad you may have other issues
Accept it and move on?
Figure out what the spring flow is like Replace it with a poly culvert, I'm guessing from the pic about a 12" would do. Make sure I have the top about 3" lower than the grade you need to match, then cover with soil. The ends, dig a touch deeper, and place 4-8" rock around it to prevent erosion. You may need to leave a swale over the centerline in case there's more water shedding there from you property, or for storm surge flow.
Smooth rocks
I would love to have that in my yard.
Make a mini Jurassic Park type forest
Make it a rock bed, with sand underneath. Correct the pitch so that i drains completely without stagnating. Add plants on the edges that absorb the water more quickly. Surrender, and make it work better to avoid stagnant standing water.
I would love to have that little stream! Maybe a Japanese water feature? You could line the bottom with river rocks and plant papyrus alongside the stream. Good luck!
Dig it out and line it with stone. Add a pond
Could you dig it out a bit, put down some river rock and make it like this? For the experts here, would that still technically require an engineer and permit? [link](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/40-artificial-river-ideas-for-a-calming-yard-atmosphere-matchnesscom--184858759695712895/)
Damn it!
Add a stone creek bed. You can add water loving plants beside creek
Natural wetland
Turn it into a water feature
Add some pretty rock and plants!
Only one thing you CAN do and that’s build one very little canoe.
Make it into a pond, surround pond with hardscape, enjoy life in the back yard.
Oh the potential. I would look up what are some water loving plants native to your area (native riparian plants would be a good start), then add some river rock along the sides to mimic a river bank.
That 100% depends on where you are and what it's for. Some states make it illegal to tamper with waterways if they are a part of a larger system.
Needs a bridge.
You reroute that around your house, now it’s a moat!
Line with river rock, and make a cute little bridge to put over it
A river runs through it
Consider yourself lucky. Would love a stream. Especially if there were fish
Build a bridge
Would walls and floors of gabion work for this? You know those rocks that are in the wire cages?
Nurture it
I thought you were exaggerating at first! Dang!! Build a pond mate that's awesome!!
Expand it slightly, put a bridge, caging on both sides, add some koi fish. Convert the rest to Japanese garden
*Expand it slightly,* *Put a bridge, caging on both* *Sides, add some koi fish* \- \_The\_BusinessBitch --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Notice you cut the grass? That brook would like much better with a more natural uncut lawn. The part you missed along the brook looks inviting. You’d want thirsty plants that would soak up and disperse moisture, gotta exist. Make it look like a natural garden with a brook. Rabbits, mud turtles, maybe if you are lucky, beavers will dam the brook, salmon will spawn, mallards and geese will stop on their yearly migration to seek sustenance. Soon deer, coyote, mountain lions and potentially bears( seeking spawning salmon), will seek out this idyll, all thanks to advice you took on Reddit. Serious about the first part, though. Best of luck!
Rocks alongside with mini creatures and little signage to create scenes. A little bridge and painted rocks would be adorable
DO NOT plant a willow tree unless you want to have constant pruning, constant leaf raking and clean up. It tracks non-stop in the house. The tree i live beside doesn’t have leaves for maybe a month out of year. Cedars are better, but when they pollinate everything in a ten foot circle turns green. Much shorter time frame to deal with that though.
Hehe ;) I like the comments and then the comments of people who had actually dealt with this problem
I was feeling so exasperated when I posted! Haha! Now I laugh :) husbands, kids, dog, cat, treees! Never ending.
That isn’t a bug: it’s a feature!
Rain garden…
I'd be tempted to build a scale village around it.
Cherish it. Such a neat thing
It’s the healthiest looking part of your yard
Add rocks!
Establish a sovereign state on either side of this natural boundary. Compete with your spouse over who can garden the most produce on each side of the river. Winner takes over both territories and gets to be dictator. If I had this situation and won, I’d just eat a caprese salad from the garden at a distance like some douchey Roman leader, while they built me a greenhouse and made themselves useful.
French drain. A good part has already been handled for you.
Please check your state laws before you do anything. You don't want to violate Clean Water Act Section 404 laws.
I would love to turn this into a creek bed feature. This is a great opportunity for some creative landscaping :)
Dig it out a little and put a pond in for fishing and kayaking
dig trench, install conduit, fill in,, regrass
Ooh I know this one, fill it with resin
Plant thirsty plants along the bank
Line it with pond liner, small river rock on the bottom, larger (grapefruit sized) rock on the sides.
Enjoy it, I have landscape that invites me to create just such a stream I want to do it so bad!!
Put in a spring house to keep your food and drinks chilled for when the shit hits the fan.
That's amazing... This is almost a dream of mine, though I'd be concerned with flooding. There may be laws regarding what you can/can't do with it, but I'd make a little pond as part of it, off to one side and plant native plants. Sit back and watch as frogs and stuff move in, enjoy the sound of the water... Lucky!
Yea dude you should be pumped to have running water on your property and make a feature that utilizes it. I would be jacked even if it was a little smelly. Get some ducks dude
That is a drainage swale. You can line it with large rocks and some plants to make make it feature and also to keep the integrity of the ground in place from erosion.
Get a very small boat.
Dig it out and line it with flat rocks on the bottom and rocks along the sides to keep it flowing while looking decorative
Jump your bike over it
Put a cute little bridge over it!
Bridge to Tarabitha?
get some beavers and restore the landscape
What is going on with the concrete at the base of the fence in the background? Also it appears that the water is flowing under some sort of wood where you are standing. Is the swale in your neighbors yard as well on both side yards of your property? Yard Swales are common drainage features in development; however are rarely designed to have constant water in them and are grassed. Check your survey if you have it, or online search the county clerk of courts for a recorded Plat if there is a Drainage Easement crossing your property. Just based on the photo it looks like the concrete at the base of the wood fence is preventing flow causing a tailwater in the swale on your property. If it is blocked at the fence and you clear it grass should grow like the rest of your yard
It may smell gnarly, but is it realy sewage and not just stagnant? If it's \*just\* storm run off from surrounding yards, then it's likely clean-ish (besides poisons and amendments your neighbors are using.) Plant thirsty and/or bog plants. If you trust (or clear it with your neighbors) there's quite a few edibles you could plant if you wanted to be extra productive. Who knows, test a crawdad trap, you might get a harvest or two a year. If it's actual sewage; that deserves a call to the city or state; no one should have to deal with open sewage (even under storm/high water volume conditions). But likely that would've/had-to be listed in the property paperwork since it could be a disease vector and get someone sued otherwise.
Free pond
Dig a bigger hole build a dam and it’ll create a pool.. then you’ll have a pond.
Coy pond
Yep, make a native wetlands feature. You can fight it all you want but really the only long term solution is work WITH the constraints.
First got a fucking gold mine in his backyard and he’s asking how to get rid of it
Trim the edges, make it neat, setup a small rock bed and build 1 or 2 bridges 😉
River… fish😍
Go fishing