How to Fix Your Lawn Pooling

Shut off lawn sprinklers in high-rainfall periods to prevent pooling.


Lawn pooling causes diseases and kills grass roots, but simple maintenance tasks often solve the problem. A lawn should slope slightly away from the house and toward the street or other water outlet. Incorrectly graded lawns can suffer from pooling that's difficult to correct without professional help, but regular dethatching and aerating a lawn solve most pooling problems and promotes vigor. Check irrigation levels before digging drainage channels, which provide a solution to permanently poor drainage.

Removing Thatch

Removing lawn thatch allows water to drain into the soil, preventing pooling. Lawn thatch is a buildup of grass clippings, moss and other plant debris that collect over time, forming an impenetrable layer. Water runs off into other areas of the garden, sometimes causing flooding, and pools in hollows on the lawn. Remove thatch with a dethatcher, or rake the lawn thoroughly up and down and side to side, putting the thatch in the trash, yard waste recycling bin or on your compost pile. Dethatching a lawn every spring prevents thatch from building up.

Providing Air

Compacted lawns suffer from pooling and require aeration. Clay soil and lawns experiencing traffic become compacted, causing water to drain slowly. Aerating a lawn involves removing plugs of grass and soil, so that the soil opens up and allows water to drain more quickly. Water a dry lawn a day or two before aerating, and use a machine aerifier to remove plugs 4 to 6 inches apart and 3 to 4 inches deep. Alternatively, push a hand aerifier into the lawn at the same spacing and depth. Leave soil plugs on the lawn surface to break down naturally.

Checking Sprinklers

Over-irrigation causes lawn pooling, but adjusting the sprinkler output prevents the problem from reoccurring. To measure sprinkler output, place six or seven straight-sided containers, evenly spaced, around the lawn, and run the sprinklers for 20 minutes. Measure the water depth in each container with a ruler, add the measurements and divide by the number of containers. Multiply the total by three, which gives the amount of water the sprinkler system supplies in one hour. Lawn water requirements vary according to the season, weather and grass type, but 1 to 2 inches a week is usually sufficient in summer. Lawns require water when the top 2 inches of soil are dry.

Digging Drainage

Drainage channels allow water to run off a lawn that suffers from severe pooling. In poorly-drained soil, lawn pooling is difficult to avoid, but a French drain dug along the lowest point of the lawn carries water away from the affected area. Dig a channel 1 foot deep and wide leading from the lowest edge of the lawn to a water outlet, such as a storm water drain or pond. Slope the channel at a rate of about 1 foot every 50 feet, and fill it with rocks or pebbles to prevent the sides from collapsing.

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