French drain or just ditch?

[Highbeam]

4" would be appropriate for soil drainage, with a shallow grass-bottom swail ditch for run-off. There is no need to try to carry all the run-off flow in the soil drainage tile.

I just tiled 12 acres last spring and all the runs (over 4000 ft) flow to a central 4" tile that daylights out the side of a bank. The tile only runs 1/3 full 24/7 in the spring, so 4" should be plenty big for your job.

Unfortunately, the OP is not talking about soil drainage. He specifically detailed a "small creek" worth of flow from surface sources. Need to size for the bigger events. I too have done lots of 4" pipe for soil drainage and roof drains. It works great if that's all you need.

Back to the beginning... why do you want to fill this ditch? Open channels work great for dewatering, conveyance, and easy maintenance.

There is no such thing as a wetland, just a drainage problem.

 

[ewdudley]

Unfortunately, the OP is not talking about soil drainage.

I'm saying he should be talking about soil drainage to keep the area from being soggy from the get-go. Then grade the ditch and maintain a sod bottom for vernal run-off and storm surface drainage. No stone required, just well-drained sod.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Lets not over think this guys. I'm looking at both. There is a very saturated soil area that is high above this ditch. It does not run when it is not raining or when there isn't melt. If we have a dry spring, by the begining of June it would be quite dry, even as it is.

The ditch isn't doing it. The ground is all soggy. I need to get the water out, and down. Having the ground super wet 4 out of the 6 months we don't have snow on the ground, isn't good enough. Plus, I have small kids, dirt bikes, atvs, lawnmowers, and this ditch is an accident waiting to happen. I also have to weedwack around it, when I could just mow up to the edge of it.

Although, i did teach myself to load the suspension and jump over it with the dirt bike.....so it hasn't been a complete loss.

 

[Bobbin]

The Good Man and I live on a "low" lot. We have the raised septic system to prove it! Late FIL was an architect, landscape work was his specialty. FIL was "all about" drainage; I was too clueless to really appreciate its importance at the time, and whimpered about the $ spent on things that couldn't be seen... . But I kept my mouth shut and let him do his work, foregoing "landscaping" in favor of drainage. It was the smartest thing I ever did!

It seemed like forever before the drainage was camouflaged by plantings, but it was accomplished. Then we built the barn... and the same drainage issues appeared. Addressing them seemed "expensive", but the cost, amortized over time, and viewed in hindsight was worth every dime! We had some very serious issues along the road (our property is below road grade in that area). We sucked it up and put in perforated pipe graded to a drainage gulley, crushed stone covered with landscape fabric before we undertook the privacy planting. Again, it sucked at first, but now we have a handsome shrub border that shields our home from passersby, grows yearly, and is easily manageable.

Go with the perforated pipe. Plan the project and do it correctly. You'll never regret the effort. Trust me.