Question
I live in Louisiana, where if wait you five minutes the weather is sure to change, and more than likely rain. The home that I purchased last year, has a flooding problem in the backyard. I have an 8 foot privacy fence all around my yard. If it rains for more than five minutes, my backyard is sure to flood. I can not grow grass, due to the fact when it rains, it floods and kills the grass. So needless to say it is a mud pit. I have brought in dirt to try and make it higher, that did not help, just made it muddier. I have almost given up. My next step is to hire someone to come and put in a drainage system. My question is, before I go the expensive route, is there anything that I can myself, to not have to go down the expensive avenue?? Any feed back would be more that appreciated.

Thank you in advance,

The money and mud pit backyard

Answer
Without seeing your yard in person it is hard for me to evaluate. But it sounds like your yard is too flat and perhaps the soil has too much clay. Consider raising the yard and tilting or grading it to one side at at least 3% slope or 1 foot of fall for every 30 feet of run. When you raise it use a mixture of soil that is amended with sand. Don't use pure top soil or clay.

Good Luck