soil conditions

[cnpainter]

I have recently moved into a house that is wonderful. However, the back yard is somewhat of a problem. It Holds and enormous amount of water. The entire street has the same problem. There is a burm??? located just behind all of our back fences and when it rains the water has no where to go.
My question is, can I plant a tree/shrub that will soak up the water? The yard gets alot of sun. I live in Erie,PA and it does tend to snow quite a bit. Thanks

 

[Jay Banks]

I suggest planting a rain garden with the appropriate species of shrubs and trees.

http://state.vipnet.org/dof/rfb/riparian/rain_gardens.htm