Question
Brandon,
We live in a 5 year old house and in 2008 our area had a major flood and we ended up with 12-14 inches of water in the basement from sewer back-up only.  Since then we discovered cracks in the foundation where we have water seeping inside.  We are going to add black dirt to the perimeter of the house so that we can slope it away from the house better.  I might add that there are spots along the foundation that is sloping towards the house, so we know that this is something that we must do.  My question is:  my husband doesn't want to plant anything around the foundation because he thinks that the plants will draw more water towards the foundation.  I tend to think just the opposite, that the plants would help with drawing some water to them?  What is best plants or no plants close to the house?

Thank you for answering my question.

Deb

Answer
Plants absorb and soak up water bringing the moisture from the soil, up thru the roots, and into the body of the plant.  Plants have no power in changing the course or direction of water; planting foundational shrubs along the foundation walls of your home will not attract any excess water--it will only absorb up the water that is there.  Instead of the water flooding the area and trickling right down to the foundation of your home, it will first be collected up by all the root systems of the plants.  I've seen many cases where people have had the exact same problem (on newer homes primarily, with the same grading issues#, and the problem was solved by slightly building up the grade, and installing shrubs along the foundation--and mulching.  

The only problem people run into with foundational shrubs is planting them to close to the house.  You want the base of the plant at least 3 feet out from the foundation wall.  If you ever got cracking down the road in the foundation, roots can find there way in and make it worse #won't be a problem if you plant 3' out--or more depending on the type of plant).  You also don't want the foliage of the plant growing up against the home retaining moisture against the siding and creating mildew.  

Ornamental grasses are great for your really troublesome wet spots, the soak up a good amount of water.  Other than that, any kind of evergreen shrub will do the trick!  Then apply 2 1/2" - 3" of mulch when you're done!  

(Also you can put extensions on your gutter down spouts/drain pipes and bury them out into the yard to get the excess roof water away from the foundation.)

So, you can let your husband know you won that one :)

Have a great day,

Brandon Swisher
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