Mud

[Birdie]

It's been raining here relentlessly and now there's some huge muddy spots on my homestead that need cleaned up. I'm not talking about a simple mud hole, but several feet of stagnated water and mud. It smells horrible. It's hard to keep it out of the house too. How do you guys deal with it? We just moved here five months ago and haven't experienced a problem like this before.

 

[Petal to the Metal]

It sounds like you have a drainage problem. All that stagnate water isn't good as it breeds bacteria. If this is a one-off event, something that just happened because there was more rain than normal for the area, then you can solve things yourself by directing the water through swales and hills. If it's a problem that occurs frequently, then you might need a professional to regrade the land. I'd try fixing it myself first though. Start redirecting that water so your muddy spots can dry up, then work on fixing the soil.

 

[Julianna]

Depending on where the mud is at, building a water garden might help you out and add value to the property too. A water garden will allow the water to percolate through the soil. Check out some designs and see if it'll help.

 

[William Van]

You can always use fill dirt to fill up the "potholes". Most people just give away any excess they have after completing a land improvement project.
It will take time and energy, but it's a lot better than having standing water on your property.

 

[Birdie]

Thanks for sharing those tips! We've started working on it and hope to have things remedied soon. According to the neighbors, the amount of rain we've had these past few months have been highly unusual, so we hope to fix things ourselves while stashing some money away in case we need to hire a pro later on.

 

[Wildlife]

Agree about draing and when it dries enough re slope the grade.