How can homeowners prevent soil erosion?

During heavy rains, your yard is at risk of erosion and potential damage. Water running off the roofs strips the topsoil from the gardens and the slopes, leaving the plant roots exposed and the yard a mess to look at. For the discerning homeowner, there are simple solutions. Mulching the slope or planting ground cover will help, and I know from experience that my hillside garden has happily been living behind a sheltering coat for years.

Organic mulch doesn't need to be costly. Apply a layer of 5-8cm thick around your plants. I use shredded bark or straw. This absorbent layer soaks up rain like a sponge, eliminating soil loss by over 80%. Your flower beds remain intact during storms! I renew this layer each spring, and if you use an organic mulch, it naturally suppresses weeds.

Lay a dense ground cover on bare slopes; creeping thyme in sunny localities, ivy in shade. Set the plants close together, they will root and, in a few months, cover the ground with a living mat. Your soil will stay where it is during terrific downpours. That is the way I clothed my eroded bank.

Build retaining walls whenever any slope threatens a structure, especially a foundation. Use interlocking blocks to prevent them from tumbling. Leave several weep holes at one-meter intervals for drainage, and ensure that the area behind the wall is backfilled with gravel. Your foundation will be safe from washout. I built a meter-high wall myself last summer.

Install drip irrigation instead of sprinklers. Have tubes run along planting beds. Emitters drip water straight to the roots. There's no runoff on the surface, which means that your plants get moisture consistently. We cut our water bills in half by making the switch!

Read the full article: 10 Proven Ways to Prevent Soil Erosion