You’ve likely poured blood, sweat and tears into your landscape but broken bones?
Max and Charlene Skidmore have lived with a nightmare area in their yard since moving into their Overland Park home some 8 years ago. A natural spring leaked water into their lawn twelve months of the year. Mowing the grass in this area meant wearing old shoes because they would sink down in the mire and the lawnmower left wheel tracks through the mud. This also meant the Skidmore’s had to deal with water stains and slippery algae running across their drive and down their sidewalk from spring through fall and a constant flow of ice in the winter. Two years ago Max fell and broke his wrist on that ice.
They have had to make costly repairs to the driveway due to the constant flow of water. And, they’ve tried several expensive solutions over the years including putting a drain in the middle of their driveway and installing a French drain down the side of their property in hopes of filtering water back to the water table. The assurances they received from the contractors sold them on the projects but the end result never solved the problem. Greenleaf Garden Services took on the task of finding a solution and the Bog Garden idea was born.
Working with the concepts for rain gardens, our team came up with a “pool” idea that provides an area for the water to collect. Using dirt excavated from the pool, the sides were then bermed to stablize the space. The plant material was chosen for its water logged suitability and decorative rock was added for filtering and aesthetics. Large boulders were brought in to enhance the upper slope and evergreen shrubs were planted to provide some winter interest. The end result is that the bog holds any excess water coming from the French drain and also retains the natural spring water keeping it off the drive and out of the storm drains.
The success of the project was proved when a torrential rain lasting most of the day failed to overflow the bog as evidenced by the photos here — and with room to spare! Max and Charlene couldn’t be happier with their new landscape addition. It is as beautiful as it is efficient.
