What to do When Your Yard Floods

It’s been raining a lot lately, and your yard has enough water for the kids to have a ball with their five-dollar snorkel sets you bought them for Christmas. Sure they’re having a blast exploring this new underwater grass world, but you’re not as excited about the sudden swamp land. Not

only are you worried about a damaged lawn, but you’re also worried about mold development on the porch and infrastructural damage to your home. You've got to get the water to drain, but how? Here is a simple way to remove water from your lawn.

Create a siphon – All you need to do is create a siphon, and the only materials you need to do this are your hands and a garden hose. First, you’ll have to locate a spot to direct the water. Maybe there is a nearby pond, river, or storm drain you can direct it to. If the kids are having fun, why not direct it into a kiddie pool, so they can continue their scuba diving adventure there? Once you've found a good spot, go get your garden hose.

Coil the hose loosely so that it is localized but not kinked. Take one end of the hose and submerge it. Slowly lower the rest of the hose so that it is completely underwater. Watch the end of the hose that you submerged first and look for air bubbles forming on the surface of the water. As the air bubbles slow take your thumb or forefinger and block the opening to the hose. Remove this end of the hose from the water. 

This part is tricky, so be careful. Next you want to bring the end of the hose over to the receptacle or location for disposing the water. As you walk away from your flooded lawn, make sure that the other end of the hose stays submerged. You may want to recruit help for this part just in case. Once you arrive at the receptacle, storm drain, or pond, angle the garden hose so it is facing down, and remove your finger or thumb. Watch as the water begins to flow through the hose and into the receptacle. The water should keep flowing until most of the water is drained from your lawn. The siphon wont be able to suck up every last drop, but it will dramatically reduce the amount of water sitting on your lawn.