LAWN CARE, LANDSCAPING AND GARDENING
EROSION AND SEDIMENTS Homeowners can encourage rainwater to filter down through the soil rather than flow over it and prevent soil erosion by addressing the following:
- Be sure that land adjacent to your home slopes away from the building to prevent water from seeping through the foundation.
- Plant hardy vegetation, a dense ground cover, or place a layer of gravel or stones in problem areas around your home where roof eaves drain and rainspouts empty. Turn drainage away from your home by adding downspout attachments such as Dutch drains and trenches which can be installed at the base of a rainspout to divert and carry water into the soil for gradual infiltration.
- Plant ground covers where soil is exposed and re-sod bare patches in the yard.
- Mulch the exposed soil of foot paths and other heavily trafficked areas, gardens, flower beds, and shaded areas beneath trees with organic leavings such as straw, grass clippings, and partially decayed leaves and twigs, wood chips, and pine needles.
- Landscaping, construction, and earth-moving activities may expose soil or small mounds of dirt to wind and rain. Cover these with a tarp or sheet of black plastic to prevent sediments from blowing away or washing into nearby waterbodies or out into the street. Contain larger piles of dirt with bales of hay, screening, or a filter cloth fence.
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