DRAINAGE & EROSION CONTROL
Protect Your Landscape and Property From Water Damage
Poor drainage and erosion don’t just create unsightly problems—they threaten your landscape’s health, damage hardscapes like patios and retaining walls, and can even compromise your home’s foundation. Standing water drowns plant roots, erodes soil from slopes, washes away mulch and topsoil, and turns beautiful outdoor spaces into muddy messes.
At Creative Concepts Landscape Management, we design and install drainage and erosion control solutions that protect your property while often enhancing its beauty. Whether you’re dealing with soggy lawn areas, water pooling against your foundation, eroding slopes, or runoff problems from irrigation and downspouts, we create systems that channel water where it belongs.
Why Drainage and Erosion Control Matter:
Even in Southern California’s typically dry climate, proper water management is vital. When rain does come, it often arrives in heavy bursts that overwhelm poorly designed landscapes. Without proper drainage, water pools around structures, saturates soil and drowns plant roots, washes away topsoil and mulch, damages patios, decks, and retaining walls, and creates breeding grounds for pests and disease.
Good drainage removes surface water efficiently, directs runoff away from structures and vulnerable areas, allows appropriate water to percolate into soil for plant use, and protects your landscape investment. Effective erosion control keeps soil in place on slopes, prevents damage to plants and hardscaping, maintains the integrity of terraced areas and retaining walls, and preserves your landscape’s appearance and health.
Our Drainage Solutions:
Comprehensive Assessment – In-home evaluation of your property’s drainage patterns, problem areas, soil conditions, and water flow during rain events.
System Repair and Upgrades – Repairing existing drainage systems, unclogging drains, locating and fixing broken lines, and modifying systems to address current problems.
Custom Drainage Design and Installation – Creating personalized drainage systems tailored to your property’s specific challenges and topography.
French Drains – Installing subsurface drainage systems that intercept and channel groundwater away from problem areas, foundations, and saturated zones.
Catch Basins – Strategically placed basins with grates that collect surface water and direct it into drainage lines or retention areas.
Downspout Management – Redirecting water from roof downspouts away from foundations and into appropriate drainage systems or landscape areas.
Sump Pumps – Installing pumps to remove water from low points where gravity drainage isn’t possible.
Irrigation Coordination – Ensuring irrigation systems don’t contribute to drainage problems by upgrading to more efficient delivery methods and adjusting schedules and zones.
Rain Barrels and Harvesting – Capturing rainwater for later irrigation use, reducing runoff while providing free water for your landscape.
Our Erosion Control Solutions:
Site Evaluation – Assessing slopes, soil types, erosion patterns, and vulnerable areas to develop targeted solutions.
Retaining Wall Installation – Building walls that hold soil in place while creating usable terraced areas and adding architectural interest to your landscape.
Permeable Hardscaping – Installing porous pavers, decomposed granite, and gravel that allow water infiltration while stabilizing surfaces and reducing runoff.
Erosion Control Materials – Applying specialized erosion control cloth and netting on slopes to slow water movement and hold soil while vegetation establishes.
Strategic Planting – Selecting and installing plant material with root systems that anchor slopes and stabilize soil. Deep-rooted plants, ground covers, and native species excel at erosion control while adding beauty and supporting plant healthcare.
Specialty Mulching – Using erosion-control mulches that stay in place on slopes, retain moisture, and protect topsoil from washing away.
Terracing – Creating level planting areas on slopes through terracing, which dramatically reduces erosion while providing usable garden space and visual interest.
Grading Solutions – Reshaping terrain to redirect water flow, eliminate low spots, and create positive drainage away from structures.
Turning Problems Into Beauty:
The best drainage and erosion control solutions don’t just solve problems—they enhance your landscape. Terraced retaining walls create dramatic planting opportunities and define outdoor spaces. French drains can be incorporated into attractive dry creek beds with river rock and strategic plantings. Permeable pathways solve drainage issues while providing beautiful, functional circulation. Strategic grading creates natural-looking contours that manage water while improving your landscape’s flow and usability.
As a licensed landscape contractor offering complete landscape installation, irrigation systems, hardscaping, and landscape maintenance, we integrate drainage and erosion control seamlessly with all other elements. Your new patio includes proper drainage underneath. Your retaining walls coordinate with irrigation zones. Your erosion control plantings receive appropriate water through upgraded irrigation. Everything works together.
Ready to solve drainage and erosion problems? Contact us today for a complimentary consultation. We’ll assess your property, identify issues, and design practical, often beautiful solutions that protect your landscape investment.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How do I know if I have drainage problems?
Common signs include standing water that persists for hours or days after rain or irrigation, soggy or muddy areas, water pooling against your foundation or hardscapes, moss or algae growth on lawns or patios, plant decline from waterlogged roots, soil erosion on slopes, and water staining on foundations or retaining walls.
What causes poor drainage?
Compacted soil that prevents water infiltration, improper grading that directs water toward structures or creates low spots, clay soils that drain slowly, over-irrigation, clogged or inadequate drainage systems, and site topography that concentrates water flow.
What’s a French drain and when do I need one?
A French drain is a subsurface drainage system—a gravel-filled trench containing a perforated pipe that collects and channels groundwater. It’s ideal for intercepting water before it reaches problem areas, draining persistently wet zones, protecting foundations from groundwater pressure, and managing water at the base of slopes or retaining walls.
How much do drainage and erosion control solutions cost?
Costs vary widely based on problem severity, property size, and solutions required. Simple fixes like redirecting downspouts or installing a small French drain might cost hundreds to a few thousand dollars. Complex projects involving extensive drainage systems, multiple retaining walls, or major grading can cost significantly more. We provide detailed quotes during complimentary consultations.
Can you fix drainage problems without tearing up my entire landscape?
Often yes. We work carefully to minimize disruption to existing plantings, hardscapes, and irrigation systems. Sometimes strategic additions like catch basins or French drains solve problems with limited excavation. Other situations require more extensive work, but we always seek the most effective solution with the least landscape disruption.
How do retaining walls help with erosion?
Retaining walls hold soil in place on slopes, preventing it from washing downhill during rain. They create level terraces that reduce water velocity and allow infiltration rather than runoff. Properly designed retaining walls include drainage systems behind them to manage water pressure and prevent failure.
Will erosion control plantings work with my irrigation system?
Absolutely. We coordinate erosion control plantings with your irrigation and drainage systems. Deep-rooted plants for slopes need appropriate watering while establishing, then often require less water once mature. We adjust or add irrigation zones as needed and ensure drainage solutions don’t interfere with plant watering.
Can you solve drainage problems around patios, decks, and hardscapes?
Yes. We install drainage systems around and under patios and decks, ensuring water doesn’t pool or undermine these structures. This might include French drains along patio edges, proper grading, catch basins, or subsurface drainage. We also address drainage when installing new hardscaping to prevent future problems.
Do erosion control solutions work with landscape lighting?
They work beautifully together. Landscape lighting can highlight terraced retaining walls, illuminate pathways with permeable paving, and create dramatic nighttime effects. We coordinate drainage, erosion control, and landscape lighting installation to create complete, functional, beautiful outdoor spaces.
How does proper drainage relate to plant healthcare?
Critical relationship. Proper drainage prevents root rot, reduces fungal diseases that thrive in wet conditions, allows roots to access oxygen, and creates conditions where plants thrive rather than merely survive. Many plant healthcare problems trace back to drainage issues—fixing drainage often solves persistent plant problems.
Can you combine drainage work with other landscape projects?
Definitely, and we recommend it. Clients often address drainage while doing landscape installation, landscape cleanups, hardscape projects like new patios or retaining walls, or irrigation system upgrades. Tackling everything together ensures all systems work harmoniously and often provides better overall value.
Do you maintain drainage systems as part of landscape maintenance?
Yes. Our landscape maintenance programs can include periodic drainage system checks—clearing debris from catch basin grates, flushing lines, inspecting for clogs, and ensuring systems function properly. Proactive maintenance prevents small issues from becoming major problems.
Looking for complete landscape services? Beyond drainage and erosion control, we offer landscape installation, landscape cleanups, landscape maintenance, plant healthcare, irrigation systems, hardscaping including patios, decks, retaining walls, fences, and outdoor kitchens, plus landscape lighting design and installation.
Want more information about horticulture?
Contact us today for your complimentary drainage and erosion control consultation.