topic Re: HELP! Muddy yardk in Community Chat

HELP! Muddy yard

KACEE1115 — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 23:17:40 GMT

Anyone have any advice how to deal with a muddy yard? With the warm winter, hardly any freezing of the ground, and lots of rain just letting my dogs out to go do their business is creating this horrible muddy yard. So frustrating 😞

Re: HELP! Muddy yard

Kachina624 — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 23:21:35 GMT

You could spread some hay on it.

Re: HELP! Muddy yard

SilleeMee — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 23:51:21 GMT

I have an area in my yard which is bare dirt. When it gets wet it's a total muddy mess, especially when my dog goes out there. A landscaper told me to put crushed gravel, not pea grave but smaller. He said it's not expensive and people use it on walkways. It would be easy to pick up poo also and not have to deal with the mud. I'm going to get some this year before the rains come.

ETA - I plan to get crushed granite and have it packed down really firm so it won't shift or move...like you can almost sweep it with a broom and not have it move around yet when it gets wet the water sinks through it into the ground.

Re: HELP! Muddy yard

SeaMaiden — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 23:59:07 GMT

@KACEE1115 I am dealing with the same issue....winter woes!

Re: HELP! Muddy yard

SharkE — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 00:05:28 GMT

I got a tumbleweed in my yard LOL

Re: HELP! Muddy yard

Snoopp — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 00:34:07 GMT

I have the same, what a muddy mess. Also, there is something digging small holes all over my yard. I thought it was a flock of birds but now I’m not so sure. A few years ago I had a flock of birds really tear the heck out of a spot on my front lawn.

Re: HELP! Muddy yard

gizmogal — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 00:45:48 GMT

Clay cat litter will absorb the mud and wet and give a dry firm surface. It can be shoveled off or swept up to remove it after the hard weather.

BE CAREFUL: DO NOT USE CLUMPING CAT LITTER; IT WILL TURN INTO LUMPS AND CLOTS AS HARD AS CEMENT!!

just use traditional, old fashioned clay cat litter.

Re: HELP! Muddy yard

PA Mom-mom — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 01:14:45 GMT

@KACEE1115 I agree with @Kachina624 except DON'T USE HAY! Use straw. Hay contains lots of seeds of different kinds of grass (hay). Straw doesn't, and it will certainly protect your soil and keep you dry.

Re: HELP! Muddy yard

Kachina624 — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 01:17:50 GMT

@PA Mom-mom. You're right, I should have said straw. That's what I meant. There's a big difference in price too, I imagine.

Re: HELP! Muddy yard

PA Mom-mom — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 01:27:17 GMT

@Kachina624 I thought you might have meant that. And yes, it is very much less expensive.

Re: HELP! Muddy yard

colliemom4 — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 01:32:29 GMT

Having the same issues here.

Re: HELP! Muddy yard

Mz iMac — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 02:18:30 GMT

@Snoopp wrote:
Also, there is something digging small holes all over my yard.

Moles

Re: HELP! Muddy yard

Elom — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 02:48:24 GMT

Oh the moles. That's my problem. How to get rid of them.

Re: HELP! Muddy yard

patbz — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 03:40:06 GMT

When we bought our home 13 years ago we had to deal with 1/4 acre of mud and 2 small dogs (a bigger mess). Almost immediately we put in gravel, doubled the size of our cement driveway, and also poured a large semi circular cement pad in back. This was one of our more expensive improvements but we are so glad we did it. In the summer we put up a 12ft found above ground pool, which is just off our raised covered back porch (so we can supervise our grands; who swim like fish, all day). Another neighbor built a large wooden deck extension in their back yard (another solution for hard ground and lots of mud). When we lived in the desert DH built a wooden frame patio and we paid brick pavers over a sand base and then we put dry bags of cement over that, swept away the excess, and then set it with our garden hose. This was a weekend project and, as I recall, about $500. It was still in great shape when we sold the house ten years later.

Re: HELP! Muddy yard

qualitygal — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 11:27:02 GMT

My neighbor had a couple of layers of top dirt put down.

Re: HELP! Muddy yard

CalminHeart — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 11:36:45 GMT

I taught my dog how to wipe his feet when he comes inside. It took a little while of telling 'wipe your feet' while I took each paw and wiped them. I also put an old towel on the rug inside the door in the winter. He does a pretty good job too.

Re: HELP! Muddy yard

wildcat fan — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 14:28:03 GMT

Is there anything you can do to improve the drainage in the area? We had water coming in under the fence from the neighbor's yard. Once we dealt with that it took care of the muddy lawn.

Re: HELP! Muddy yardk

Snoopp — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 18:26:24 GMT

@Elom wrote:
Oh the moles. That's my problem. How to get rid of them.

Oh no. Any ideas on how to get rid of them. I have never seen this before.

Re: HELP! Muddy yard

lovesrecess — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 20:10:33 GMT

Depends on how large of an area you have with the mud problem. We have a narrow side yard that is always muddy; we put cement stepping stones over the mud and made a pathway so you don’t sink in the mud. The area gets almost no sun at all so it pretty much stays muddy or just bare dirt, the pathway looks very nice.

Re: HELP! Muddy yard

haddon9 — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 20:19:35 GMT

I have the same issue in my front yard. The roots from a large tree out front has thinned out the grass and now there is almost none. With all of the rain it's become a mud pit!

I told DH this needs to be addressed this spring!