WHAT TO PLANT BY DRIVEWAY FOR MUDDY GROUND?

[Brimfield]

It is ongoing. this area is downhill so water follows the driveway. The other side of the drive is a culvert that I dug and a 40 year storm really cut it out. I had a guy that was looking for a quick job come in and drop some stone to fill in. He is not doing that now. I hit paydirt yesterday. Lots of rock, I will salvage what I can for the bad areas.

 

[dave1949]

If you can do the digging, maybe you could build several mini-waterfall step terrace type things with the rocks if they are big enough.

Sort of level out the slope for some distance by moving material uphill, then let it make a near vertical drop onto the next waterfall step. That would eliminate some of the tendency for erosion in one long culvert. If the mini waterfalls are well rocked, they should stay put and not erode.

Just a thought, don't know how useful it is for you.

Other than that, just keep putting 6" and larger rocks in the culvert (I assume you mean an open ditch of some sort) to toughen it up.

 

[Brimfield]

The bad erosion is in the ditch that channels all the water down to a 12" culvert going to a pond. The fast downhill is slowed down now by large rocks placed every 20 feet. Now I am opening the other side of the driveway for a snow push area. Water just stays on top of this soil as in the picture. I might try a ditch behind this to see if it drains but I doubt it. I got some Timothy seed today and once I have the whole driveway cut back 2 feet I'll plant it. The burms used to be right up to the drive so it's going to be better

 

[dave1949]

It's hard to tell, but is your driveway cut into the side of a slope or through a knoll? Is that the origin of the berms? Or, are they banks pushed up by a bulldozer when the driveway was built?

I don't think, from the pics, that you are working with a wide enough overall space for a driveway and ditch. Ideally your driveway surface would be the highest thing, then lightly sloped berms 3'-4' wide, then a ditch that is deep enough, ~ 2'-3', to draw ground water from the elevated drive and berms.

It would mean moving a lot of material to get to what I am picturing compared to the pics, but if you do several hundred feet each summer, eventually it gets done. Your backhoe and loader should be able to do that as long as you don't encounter big rocks or ledge. They can be dealt with too if need be.

An intermediate solution would be to cut through the berms every so often and direct the runoff through those cuts if there is enough fall away from the outside of the berms to work with.

 

[tcreeley]

Dave is right- your driveway needs to be higher than the sides so that water flows off. Your ditches need to be deeper and sloped to drain- either alongside your drive or under your drive in culverts. The ditch water has to run somewhere. In the past during drier years - it sounds like surface runoff worked. But with this rain in the Northeast- not good enough. You have some backhoe work there. I don't think plants will cut it. It looks like your ditches are not deep enough.

http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/unpavedroads/ch2.pdf

http://www.mass.gov/dep/water/resources/dirtroad.pdf (better)

 

[pat32rf]

What about adding a real good ditch on the lower side instead of a mediocre ditch on both sides? Can you let the water flow across the pavement without damage or a problem with ice in the winter?

Normally we try to get the water away from the road ASAP , knowing that as it speeds up, it's going to cause more erosion if we don't have a good base in the ditch. Once I have a good growth of vetch or similar vegetation in a ditch I sure hate to dig into it.

 

[DB Pilot]

It has to be drainage ditches. I have a 1000' driveway. Straight as an arrow. When we first got the place two locals told me that there were springs crossing the drive and it will never dry out. First thing I noticed were low spots where water would sit and rarely dry out so I filled the low spots as best I could. That helped a lot. Then I noticed the water ran straight down the length of the drive, letting the water build speed and wash out the drive in heavy rain storms. So I tilted the driveway very slightly to the side which gets the water to run off the side and not the full length of the driveway.
I know that people just want to help and impart their knowledge of what they think they are observing over a long period of time but, there were no springs running under the driveway at all just sitting water. It's not perfect but holds up a lot longer now.

 

[Brimfield]

Funny you should say that. Before when it was a field you could hear water running underground in the spring. Allot of material was removed and gravel was put in. As I mentioned water never flows over the drive from that side but it will be good to widen the driveway. Today was the last straw. It rained most of yesterday so I went out today to move the last of the piles of the driveway. I had it all cleared and I was back dragging some sand to fill in some wet areas. I went in and had to use the backhoe to get out. So now I want to dig out that area and put crushed concrete in. The area I need to fill and it is 95 yards long and I want it 2 feet wide. So by my calculations I need 7 yds of fill for 1’ deep 10.5 yd for 18" or 14 yds for 2'. I can get the crushed concrete for $9 a yard but I would need to get it myself. I can rent a 3 yd dump for $180 a day. I am also looking local to see if anyone has stone for a good price or would be willing to pick up the concrete for me. That is unlikely do to the 20 mile drive.