| We recently bought a house with a finished basement. The original landscaping needs some serious help and our home inspector advised us to plant |
| I think what your home inspector meant was to plant things that grow in wet soils and that will help keep the soil as dry as possible near the foundation. Keep in mind, though, that these plants will need to be watered regularly, which might also compromise your foundation unless the plants are 3-4' away from the foundation. Did he mention installing a curtain drain? This, along with sloping the earth away from the foundation will also help. If you slope the soil down from the foundation and set a curtain drain at the bottom of the slope, you should effectively redirect water away from the foundation. Then you can plant some of the following plants and your foundation should remain dry: Azalea, Daylily, dwarf Holly, Summersweet, Red chokecherry, Sweetbay, Wax myrtle, and ornamental grasses or ferns of all kinds. Best wishes with your garden! |
