Drainage Solution - a Dry Pond

The back yard of our house presents a drainage issue, as it slopes down toward our house.  We also have a thick vein of clay that surrounds the back corner of the house.  Thus when it rains, we end up with a big swampy bog right next to the corner of our house that refuses to drain for quite some time.

My kids would probably be fine with me keeping the area as a giant muddy play area, but I needed a solution that was a little more ascetically pleasing.  Last spring I mulched the area.  It looked nice, but rainstorms would push piles of mulch around the corner of the house and into my shade garden.

So I tilled/dug/pick-axed it up the best I could:

the BEFORE picture

My solution?  A little dry pond.

the AFTER picture

I dug as deeply as I could in the clay, lined it with landscaping fabric, and filled it in with rock.  Surrounding it I planted plants that can handle moist soil and will (hopefully) be okay with the morning shade/afternoon sun conditions that that corner gets.

dry pond and plants

It should probably be called the dry 'puddle' as it is so small!  The plants should fill in and soften the look of the area before too long.  I used plants from different parts of the yard that needed to be moved, as well as a couple plants I had picked up earlier in the summer:  'Kaleidoscope' Abelia, 'Little Joe' Joe Pye Weed, 'ACE Basin' Seashore Mallow, 'Cinderella' Swamp Milkweed, and Variegated Northern Sea Oats.  I added some annual violas as well to fill up the space.

Last night we had a large rainstorm, and I was delighted to see that the pond actually worked in capturing the water.  In fact it even overflowed just a little bit - I might have to make my pond a little larger so that mulch won't wash into the pond!

With all the rain, the pond overflowed a bit, washing some mulch out from the edges

But it's still prettier than the muddy swamp, as much as my kids liked it.  And all the frogs back there will probably enjoy it too, which should pacify the kids!  (In fact, the frog home building has already started...)