First…yes I know my grass looks like shit. Between the approximate 5 to 6 weeks last summer where we got nary a drop of rain and the stupid neighbor’s hickory tree nearby that drops 10 tons of nuts each summer into my yard, the grass here just sucks.

Any ideas on how to fix this mess? This is the sidewalk in the back of my house and has always been an issue due to the weird way the whole thing was originally laid out with different elevations. It was even worse until last year when I had some patio work done and asked the concrete guy to try and fix this and his solution was to extend it out a little as it was a giant tripping hazard and I had nightmares of one of my young children face planting into this.

As you can see there’s a big erosion problem due to how rainwater flows down and around it. I don’t think just growing some grass there is going to ever really fix the issue, it’s always going to get washed out when we have crazy summer downpours I think?

I have one idea and that is to take part of this and dig it out and place rock or pebbles there instead?

What do you think? Would that work? I’d have to use something to contain the rock or it’s just going to want to pour down right there like the rainwater does.

Any ideas?













Fill in with rock here??

I'm just guessing, but I would think that some lime, some aeration, a bit of grass seed, and some fertilizer would solve the problem for you.

The ground there isn't healthy, and ain't shit gonna grow unless it is. Won't matter what you do with the concrete/rocks.

Put in a rock garden. Much less likely to wash away than soil. See what happens. Lots of rocks in PA.

I like the rock idea, and digging a little bit of a pit to put the rocks in would certainly help. Digging a narrow pit along the side of the sidewalk and filling it with rocks and some sand will also help. A row of plants along the outer edge of that pit will also deflect water and soil away from the sidewalk.

I'd go to the local hippy-dippy plant store and tell them you're looking for plants that aggressively dig deep root balls and don't grow particularly high. Put them around the curved ground in your drawing and the bases of the plants will actually deflect some amount of water and loosened soil away from your sidewalk.

None of that appeals? Level the ground to the side of the sidewalk and hope for the best - your basic problem is (of course) that the sidewalk is located right where the water, and therefore the soil washed away by the water, want to go.

Stepped concrete blocks (like pavers or smaller) to create a very small retaining wall.

You are fighting a "wrong way" grade.

If the sidewalk were higher, simple grading would be fine, but the sidewalk is below the natural grade and you are "fighting" against that.

This image is an exaggeration, but the idea is the same.


You can try a the minimal low height wall that allows you to grade up against and hope the better shed water.

The only other thing is maybe miniature Mondo grass or other dense/low cover that is hardy, if you find it acceptable.

sigmonkey:

If I’m reading what you’re saying correctly, I’d build a small retaining wall (blue) and fill in the soil and replant grass/lay sod where this is marked in green?

Yep. That's how I'd do it, with a small retaining wall.

Otherwise, any gravel you put down is just going to continue to wash out, and you're still going to be fighting dirt/mud intrusion into and through the gravel area, due to the grade.

I like your rock garden idea for simplicity and less cost.