The brief
The side yard sloped toward the house, held water after every storm and had given up on growing anything but moss. The owners wanted it dry, usable and green, on a sensible budget.
What we did
We regraded the whole strip so it falls away from the foundation, then put in a French drain along the fence line to carry water to the street. With the drainage sorted, we built three low, stepped beds with timber edges and laid fresh fescue sod across the level area.
The beds hold shrubs and perennials picked for part shade: oakleaf hydrangea, hellebores, ferns and sedges, with a dwarf magnolia as the focal point at the far end.
A year on
No standing water since the work, through two tropical storm remnants. The lawn was overseeded in its first fall and the beds have filled in.
