Erosion Control Methods For Your Yard Landscaping Improvements

Your yard's landscaping should be attractive-looking, but also function to prevent natural erosion from weather patterns in your area. Here are some recommendations to use in your landscaping to keep your soil in place and prevent erosion from precipitation and runoff, along with wind.

Mix in Soil Content Additions

Depending on the type of soil you have, you may be dealing with wind erosion only or erosion by wind and rain. You can determine the type of soil you have by compressing a ball of it into your hand. If the soil compacts together and does not crumble when you open your hand, you likely have a high clay content in your soil. If the soil does not compact together in your fist, it is a high sand content. Either extreme will lead to soil erosion, but you can correct it with the right materials added to your landscaping.

Clay soil is more likely to erode from precipitation and rain runoff. Because the particles in your soil stick together to reduce the drainage within the soil when it becomes saturated, the particles wash away. But if you add in lime as a stabilizer and combine it evenly into the top layers of soil, this will allow good drainage into the soil. Soil stabilization can prevent it from eroding away down the slope. On the opposite side of the problem, sandy soil will erode away with wind and rain, so you need to add some clay to your soil to bring its content to a more stable level to prevent erosion. 

Control and Manage Drainage

The drainage around your yard can also be a big factor in the amount of erosion your landscaping experiences, whether you have sandy or clay soil. Be sure you take a good look at the drainage runoff from your roof's gutter downspouts. Check that the runoff is diverted away from your foundation and the area the runoff is deposited onto is covered in a splash block, gravel covering, or another type of paving stones or pavement. 

In an area that receives a large amount of rain runoff during storms, look into adding in a dry creek bed or a swale to help control the runoff. A shallow ditch that is lined with river rock will look attractive when the weather is dry, and it will collect and control rainfall drainage through an area of your yard without causing erosion to the soil. You can install this type of rock covering into your landscaping as a natural-looking feature.