Landscaping project and french drains/dry well?

[Rio_Grande]

I have a area in my yard I want to flatten out but it serves as a drain for my ajoining 1/4 acer parking lot. I cannot bury drains as that is concidered sending the problem onto neighboring property and forbiden in the comunist republic I live in (course I dont want a swamp either). So I was thinking of making a french drain that led into 2 ish dry wells and covering the whole thing with cloth and soil to level it out. I have seen similar setups in crop fields and wonder how well do they work in this capacity?

 

[tawilson]

Not sure what your soil type is but if the water is not draining away now I'd be afraid that once the dry wells fill up you'll have the same situation.

 

[sixdogs]

They work and I have done them. Need to know soil type and geographical location.

 

[Rio_Grande]

Clobelsfoot silt loam (acording to our soil survey, and down 80 ish inches clay loam)

The property is draining as is but holds a little moisture under the soil a few days after heavy rains. The main reason for this work is a method to level the yard out and not have to mow and erratic ditch line. I do want this to be able to fill up and safely allow the watter to flow as I dont want all the top layer of grasses and soil to wash to the neighbors.

Mainly want to level things out and make the yard look nicer.
geographical location is southeastern Indiana.

 

[sixdogs]

My guess this is reasonably draining ground. You can test by digging a hole--look on net--fill it with water and see how long it takes to drain. A "perk" test.

I am only a novice, but what I did in an area that drained better than yours was to dig a trench, somwhat like a septic line. Mine had a pit at the end but recall that was an option. Filled it with gravel and it worked fine. Maybe today you would put landscape fabric over the gravel.
The idea that it would work came from the land I lived on. It was once owned but a brilliant deep-thinker and I found his 125 year old drains by accident. Oops. A little plugged with silt but it still worked.

Maybe in your area you could just snake a drain tile-plastic--with holes---on top of the gravel and run the water through that. Might not even need the gravel if you extend the plastic pipe.

We checked with soil and water conservation and they suggested what I did. Not very difficult and my water problem ended.
Maybe check with soil and water conservation and the local extension agent. Then I'd ask a local farmer to see if the info from the first two sounds right. Nothing beats practical application and his advice would likely ***** the first two.