Question
Hi Kathy -
I live in the northeast (a suburb of Boston, MA) and our lawn is just atrocious with dog bald spots, heat-dried out spots, crab grass and more.

We are considering, tearing out the worst section and putting down sand and making a small beach area. We have an in-ground pool with a cement patio around it.

Part of the 揵each?will abut this patio. We figure we need to dig down at least six inches and put some sort of landscape fabric below to keep the weeds and grass from growing through.

But my real question is, how do we handle drainage of rain water, etc.

We were planning on putting the black edging plastic around the perimeter.

Do we need to put pipes/downspout type things under the sand??

What would you suggest?
Or is this whole beach thing a pipe dream?!

Thanks in advance for your time and assistance!
- Pam  

Answer
Hi Pam,

Here is your answer and thanks for your patience - it was a busy Memorial Day weekend for us :-)

It sounds like a large project, but, once done and done right it will be pretty awesome!

1. The beach area should be level and consist of good quality sand to a thickness which prevents friends and family from contacting the underlying surface.

2. Define the dimensions of your backyard beach. A square shape works much better than a curvilinear one according to this plan.

3. To keep the sand in the beach area, where it belongs, and grass and dirt out, there are several solutions. I think rubber (not the wood railroad kind which are hazardous) railroad ties or landscape timbers would work very well.

4. In most areas, excavating to a depth of 3 feet will be necessary. The first and foremost safety precaution is to call your local "Utility Hotline" and have them locate any buried power lines and utilities. Be sure to call them ahead of time, as they may need a few days notice.

5. The best tool for the dig (if it's a very large area) is a front-end loader or "bobcat" which can excavate the base evenly, remove the dirt, and also haul and spread the stone and sand. This equipment can be rented for a few hundred dollars for a weekend. If you're not up to the task of handling heavy equipment, a good landscaping company can be contracted to excavate and haul the stone and sand. Otherwise, if it's a relatively small area that you think a little sweat and muscle can tackle - go for it!

6. Excavate the beach area to the desired depth and pitch the base to one end or corner. Proper drainage is extremely important, or you could find yourself lounging in a giant puddle.

7. Once the base is excavated you can begin laying the drainage pipe. The closed end of the drainage pipe should be placed in the highest point of the excavation and should zig-zag with the open end of the pipe terminating at the lowest point. The drainage pipe should be laid with the perforated side down. This allows water to wick-in from the bottom and sides and be carried away. It is an extremely good idea to wrap the drainage pipe with landscaping fabric before laying the pipe. The landscaping fabric prevents the eventuality of sand and dirt clogging the pipe.

8. Now it's time to fill it in. Cover the base and drainage pipe with #57 (or similar thickness) gravel and spread uniformly. Depending on how well your soil drains overlay the beach area with a one-foot thickness of smooth rounded gravel.

9. Roll out and cover the gravel base with landscape fabric or burlap. The landscape fabric will keep the sand from filtering its way into the gravel.

10. The final step is to spread the sand, uniformly and evenly throughout the beach area. Deposit one-to-two feet of beach sand, washed masonry plaster (golf course or soft and fluffy horse sand is acceptable, too) sand over the area and rake level. The more washed the sand is the less dusty it will be. (When testing sand for purchase wear shorts and test the sand in both dry and wet conditions by kneeling down onto it knees first, "no scrapes, no problem," scrapes, scrap it and keep shopping.)

*Sand is not cheap, costing about $10 per ton. The formula for determining the number of tons of sand needed is: tons of sand=LxWxD divided 27x1.5 (where L, W and D are in feet).

I hope this answers all of your questions. Please let me know how it goes!

Regards,
Kathy
Manzella Studio
landscape consulting & design