Using unused area next to front driveway

[Sugar]

Hi all experts and DIYers, this is another project what I am taking in parallel with another project which I had posted a few weeks ago ( still in the middle of that project because of busy work schedule and wet weather condition).

Attached are the pictures related to this project. 

This is my plan:

In the area, where I have been putting bins all the time, thinking of planting 3 or 4 Pencil Pine trees. Bins can be taken somewhere another place. I will have plenty of pebbles extracted from previously laid ground (where I am going to use White/ Black pebbles) and I can use them in this area or I can use mulch.  I have a big tree that always makes the driveway dirt, especially after the rainfall. I am planning to trim the branches as I go. However, I noticed some damn ( or always wet ) areas on one end of this area. I have attached the picture. The reason is,  my neighbor's house is on higher ground than mine and the water comes down to that area and cannot go anywhere. 

Is this an issue? I am worried now. The house is 28 years old now and I am sure this has been happening for a long time ago. If something had to happen, it would have happened by now. This is just my assumption.  But still, I am worried about water seeping through. Or I might need to think about sorting out this water flow problem. 

 Thinking of getting rid of thisAfter clearing all the weeds and grassesAlways wet ground (worried about it now)

[MitchellMc]

It's never fantastic to have standing water against the foundation of your home @Sugar. I know you mentioned it is always wet in this area, but does it always look this wet? I see no reason why any water that accumulates here during rain shouldn't dry out over the coming days and seep into the ground. Is there a chance that the stormwater pipe underground is blocked and that the downpipe in the image is depositing the water from your roof there? It does seem like an excessive amount of water, and you might like to dig down through the mud to investigate.

It looks like it would be a relatively simple task to dig a trench and lay an Everhard EasyDRAIN Compact Polymer Grate & 1m Channel parallel with the block wall. You would then divert the water straight into the stormwater pipe, which is easily accessible. I suspect this might be a case of groundwater slowly pushing its way out from under those rocks due to being on the lower side of the slope. That would explain why it is always wet even well after rain.

As you've mentioned, if it's been like this for a considerable amount of time and you haven't noticed any adverse effects, then you could be fine laying pebbles over the area. If it always looks this wet, then I would personally recommend installing some drainage.

Let me mention @Adam_W to see if he could add to the discussion. 

Please let me know if you have questions.

Mitchell

[iolene]

Is the down pipe (rainwater from the roof) blocked in anyway? Is it possible that the tree has in some way damaged the storm water pipe causing the water build-up? I had cleaned all the debris (20 years worth) from my partners gutters only to still have them overflow back into the eaves of the house. The problem was a blockage 3/4's of the way down the down pipe. Took me a while to find it (and clear it) but we've had rain recently and was very pleased that the water flowed properly. If there are no blockages in any way and you're still concerned, perhaps agdrain (or something similar).

[Adam_W]

Hi @Sugar 
As others have mentioned... fix that water issue first.
A blocked downpipe of stormwater below ground is the likley culprit. I notice in that picture that your downpipes join at a collar rather than a sealed joint. Those type of joins will leak a lot if there is any sort of blockage further down the pipe. Water just backs-up and flows out the gaps of the join.
Do you know if your stormwater runs into a stormwater system or does it just discharge to the street (would be an outlet or two in the kerb outside your home).
Would you be able to carefully feed a hose running on full down the downpipe to try and flush & clear the pipe? You'd quickly find out if there was a blockage as it will back-up. Ideally use a hose nozzle that can run as a jet spray, something like this maybe.

[Sugar]

Hello @Adam_W @MitchellMc @iolene , This weekend I will take a good picture and video ( will share with you on Onedrive). I will properly investigate what exactly is happening. Maybe a good idea would be to take a good picture of another side of the fence and how water flows to my ground from my neighbors ground. I will also investigate my downpipe.