This is the second time I've had drainage installed in my yard, first by a random person, and last summer by a reputable landscaper. The drains are once again sitting higher than the ground and I have standing water where drains do not exist.
Long description: my yard gets a lot of shade. It's about 50' long (next to the house, east/west) x30' wide (extending from the house). Alongside the house, and about 15' wide, there is virtually no sun for a good part of the year. The other 15' get a fair amount of sun. I try to balance the sprinkler time to keep the sunny part from dying and the shady part from overwatering, but it's a losing battle. So now the shady part has a lot of bare spots in the lawn, is very compacted and has standing water in places. The sunny side is mostly alive, with one 10'x6' area mostly dried out and dead.
I've had the landscaper out several more times but he says my problem is that I don't use a gardener. (He's basically saying I don't know what I'm doing). In my mind, I paid for drainage that would eliminate standing water. On the other hand, I realize the ground has compacted in the shady areas under the rain and excess watering. So what now? Throwing dirt on it to raise the ground level doesn't seem like a real fix.
Also, about 10 years ago, I had a great, thick, healthy lawn and I don't remember having so much sun and watering problems, and I've never had a gardener. The soil is compact clay. I do have a dog that makes trails in part of the shady area and where I have standing water. So that adds to the compaction of course.
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