Muddy yards are common for homeowners who have patchy lawns or bare soil. The best way to cover mud in your entire backyard after heavy rain includes a healthy dose of lawn repair, although the muddy patch may not be in a suitable area for a lawn.
Luckily, if you can’t install a permanent solution right away, there are many ways to cover mud in yard to stop the soggy soil from being a nuisance. In our guide, you can learn all the ways how to tackle your muddy spot or deal with the entire surface where there is mud in your backyard.
By the end, you’ll know the best ways how to stop muddy footprints and how changing ground cover could be the most obvious solution, if not the cheapest way to cover dirt in backyard. (Learn When Is Zucchini Bad)
Best Ways How to Cover Up Mud In Your Backyard
Mud is one of the most significant challenges you can face in your backyard lawn. Rain, poor drainage, and heavy foot traffic are reasons you have a muddy patch around your home, in addition, fleas are attracted to moist soil, and can move to your dogs as they play.
Here, you can find some of the best ways to hide your excess water and cover mud in your backyard until you can install a proper drainage system to deal with water issues across your entire yard.
Reasons To Cover Up Mud in Your Backyard?
Identifying the source of the water buildup can assist you in making a more informed selection about the solution you should apply to your lawn.
There are three common causes of water buildup in your lawn that lawn coverings may not solve:
Poor Drainage or Poor Grade Problems:
Drainage pipes that lead to the grass are installed in particular residences. These pipes were strategically placed in the hopes of capturing rainwater and using it to water the lawn.
However, too much rain and flat lawns with few plants or trees to absorb the water will cause water stagnation. As a result, the backyard will be full of muddy spots.
If you have this issue, you should address your drainage first before dealing with a muddy yard since everything you do may be a waste of time.
Low Terrain
Some homes aren’t blessed with a perfectly flat lawn. As a result, most rainwater collects in the lowest areas, thus making puddles and more mud.
Constructing a gazebo or zen garden can be a more feasible alternative. Then, of course, you could level the lawn, but this takes time and lots of effort.
Weather
If you live in an area where there is more exposed soil to rain than sunlight throughout the year, you will have a muddy lawn.
Any ground cover you use to cover up mud would be a waste, and it will always lead to a muddy backyard. Alternative solutions are installing a porch or deck that can raise you from the muddy yard.
However, to solve your mud problem and improve the yard’s appearance, there are many ways to stop the mud created by too much water. (Learn How To Stop Mushrooms From Growing In Mulch)
Best Ways To Cover Muddy Mess In Backyard
1. Cover Mud With Sod
One of the quickest ways to cover the mud pit and turn it into a green patch is to lay sod. It absorbs the extra water from your lawn and enhances soil quality. However, if you want the sod to last longer, you’ll need to prepare the mud first.
You can purchase sod at a certain rate per square foot. As a result, filling a larger muddy patch with sod might be costly.
If money isn’t an issue, you’ll need to ensure that the sod survives by tilling, and leveling the mud pit, while also ensuring the soil remains moist enough for the roots to thrive.
2. Plant Creeper Plants
Creeping plants, generally called “creepers,” are fast-growing ground-covering plants.
They thrive in wet locations since they require a lot of water. However, they should be planted away from the walking path because of their soft stems.
They require little maintenance, and when they’re completely developed, they can bloom into brilliant blooms. Creeper plants can cover mud in your backyard, and certain creeper plants blossom on the ground, making your backyard look like a fantasy garden.
Creeping ground cover plants are cost-effective and environmentally friendly ways to deal with excess water over extensive areas.
Their soft stems are fragile and sensitive. However, if the muddy area of your lawn receives little foot activity, this is the best option.
These plants are a low-cost option, and you may even be able to receive them for free from a kind neighbor or friend. As ground covers, the following creepers are the best:
- Creeping Thyme
- Mini Kenilworth
- Blue Star Creeper
- Clover
- Silver Carpet
- Irish Moss
- Winter Creeper
3. Build a Rain Garden
Plants that thrive in wet soil and require more water than other sorts of plants make up a rain garden. This rain garden option is a low-cost solution to reuse water from a muddy yard while beautifying your backyard.
Prepare the wet mud for your rain garden by tilling the rain garden soil and adding compost and fresh garden soil.
Plants that require a lot of water should be placed near the bottom of the mud patch. The idea is to plant the rain garden with the proper plant species based on their water plant roots’ tolerance to standing in water.
4. Use Mulch or Wood Chips
Wood chips are an excellent gardening item since they insulate the soil and degrade to provide fertilizer. While this is not a long-term solution, it enriches the soil and makes it suitable for future plant growth.
Aside from the benefits to the soil, wood chips also minimize weed growth and prevent soil erosion. Free mulch can be found from some tree removal businesses or your neighbors.
However, avoid wood chips that contain dangerous pesticides such as juglone, a toxin found in walnut trees. (Learn When To Transplant Tiger Lilies)
The following are the best wood chips for ground covers:
- Pine Cedar
- Cypress
Mulch is a ground cover made up of organic debris such as dried leaves, grass clippings, bark, and pieces of wood. It’s nearly identical to wood chips but with a more grainy feel.
Mulch can also be used as effective weed control on bare soil. Place a layer of landscape fabric on top of the previous layer.
When your grass is at its muddiest in the winter, spread a thick layer of pine flakes on the muddiest portions of your lawn. The pine flakes will decay by the end of the winter and act as fertilizer for your lawn.
5. Gravel
Pea gravel is also one of the most straightforward ways to cover mud. It has a nice aesthetic and can withstand a lot of foot traffic. Unfortunately, it also serves as a deterrent to pests and is unsuitable for fungi to grow on.
If you have a lot of mud in your backyard, adding gravel alone may not be the best choice because the two will mix and create even more muck. Instead, you’ll need to start by laying a “foundation” of crushed rocks in this situation.
You can avoid this by placing weed fabric behind the gravel to protect it from sinking into the mud. Before adding the weed barrier to the gravel, you can also use old cardboard as a retaining wall.
6. Cover Mud With Straw
When the soil becomes too muddy, straw can absorb water from the mud when it becomes dry.
Sand as a mud cover isn’t a long-term solution, but it gets the job done. The only issue with this strategy is that the straw blows as well when the wind blows.
7. Use Walking Paths to Cover Mud
If you want to travel across the home on a muddy patch, a concrete pathway is the best option. There are many innovative walkway designs to try, but bricks and stones are always a safe bet.
Level the ground with 2 to 3 inches of sand before laying down the concrete or bricks. The sand will absorb moisture from the ground, helping the cement to adhere properly to the ground.
8. Cover Mud with Concrete
Covering a muddy backyard on a small area with the concrete is a simple solution. As a result, dust in your home can be reduced, and you can use the area as an extended living space, such as a porch or space for children.
Be careful to incorporate bars underneath the concrete to give it structure to last. This will prevent the concrete from cracking and subsiding as the mush level changes beneath it.
9. Plant Trees
Trees require more water as they develop than plants. Therefore, a large backyard is ideal for planting a tree. Aside from absorbing all of the water, you’ll like the shade it provides and how it can improve the air quality on your property.
It’s nearly impossible to grow a tree in a muddy region. However, you can plant the tree near the muddy region, and as it grows, its roots will reach the muddy area and absorb the water.
10. Dry Mud With Kitty Litter
Kitty litter is an excellent mud-removal option in small areas where it will absorb water and then clump.
Use a filter mask to cover or dry the mud in your backyard when using this method. Cover the mud with kitty litter and leave it to sit overnight.
The kitty litter will be clumped up and ready to be removed the next day. If the soil becomes muddy again, remove the clumps and repeat the process.
This isn’t the most cost-effective option, but it can help you save time when dealing with muck.
Alternative Ways To Fix a Muddy Backyard
When ground covers aren’t doable for the mud in your backyard, here are other solutions to try:
1. Lime
Many designers are exploring using hydrated lime or quicklime to remove mud quickly. When lime comes into contact with mud, moisture causes a chemical reaction that distributes the lime and dries out the water.
2. Install a French Drain
A French drain is a drainage system that guides water away from muddy areas and into a proper drainage system.
It comprises rock and gravel-filled trench with a perforated pipe beneath it.
The gravel in the trench speeds up the flow of water down the drain and prevents water from accumulating on the soil.
3. Build An Outdoor Living Space
This is the best option for residents in areas with a lot of rain throughout the year and low-lying terrain.
On top of the muddy spot, you can construct a gazebo, a relaxation area, or a deck.
4. Dethatch the Yard:
Thatch is the brown spot on your grass caused by decaying leaves and roots layers. The thatch becomes spongy and matting with soil, retaining water and muddiness.
Use power rakes to resurface dead grass and roots to remove the lawn. Then rake the dead grass manually. (Read Are Marigolds Perennial)
Soil can breathe, and grass can grow correctly. Remove dead grass and roots before leaving.
5. Overseeding a Patchy Lawn
Overseeding your lawn is a great way to deal with muddy places in your yard caused by patchy grass. Overseeding your lawn can cure your mushy lawn issues if you have bald places where grass doesn’t grow.
Overseeding involves preparing the soil, spreading grass seed, and watering regularly.
This strategy is beneficial for looking up muddy dog paths left by your pets in your yard after a rainstorm. It will require some time to establish, so keep them away from the area.
