Question
I have a retaining wall in the front of my house, a few of them actually. The top retaining wall is what "holds up" my front yard (if you could call it that). The soil in my yard is extremely soft and mushy, you sink down when you step on it. How can I resolve this issue? I'm considering removing some soil on the side of my house to put an outbuilding there - I'm nervous because this would mean taking the snowblower through that part of the yard. Should I just put a walkway there? Not really sure what to do, but the lawn is pretty gross because of the mushyness....
By the way, I live in Connecticut...

Answer
It sounds like your lawn area has a serious drainage problem. The water has nowhere to go and the soil stays saturated. You could put in a walk way, but it would likely only sink, also. The solution would be to have drainage pipes installed in the lawn which vents to a place where the water can drain. What you explain is unfortunately very common in lawns which are "terraced" (with retaining walls).

You need to dig channels in the lawn and put down round plastic drainage pipes which should be covered by landscape fabric and small stones. Then covered with soil and sod layed back on top. The pipes should run the length of the lawn and go into a central pipe which leads to a place where the water can run off. This could be at the edge of the lawn. Each pipe should have a "fall" of 1" per 10 feet in length (e.g. a 40' long lawn should have the pipe gradually falling 4". E.g. one end is 4" higher than the other. The lowest end is where the main drainage pipe should be).

Due to the (apparently) extensive problem you have, I recommend soliciting the help of landscaper or home contractor unless you know someone who has experience putting this together.

If this does not get corrected, you will not see much of an improvement, and you risk the water eventually getting into foundation of the house, etc. E.g. I would recommend that you look into this soon.

Even so, the lawn should probably dry out a bit in summer. The winter and spring seasons are worst when it comes to soft soil, but to the serious degree you describe, it is still something which should be fixed.

Temporarily, put down large sheets of plywood to allow items to be wheeled over the lawn. This will distribute the weight and limit the sinking.


-- Kenneth