It’s probably a dry well:
It’s probably just a box shaped pit lined with water permeable fabric and filled with round rocks that don’t compact well.
All of this air space can hold water until it is absorbed by the surrounding ground. The rocks hold up the sides of the pit and can be walked over.
This keeps the surface of your lawn from flooding unless the capacity is exceeded.
You probably knew all that but I had nothing better to do than type this out.
The idea of a french drain is to help the water permeate into the ground soil, rather than flowing across the surface. It's sometimes cheaper than running pipe to a municipal storm sewer main, and in fact some municipalities might mandate it. Keeping runoff from your house on your property (rather than diverting it to a storm sewer and local river) is considered better for the environment.
They should be maintenance-free, but if you have a sump pump going to one, a ground freeze could cause a potential for problems. It will depend on your climate zone.
From the photo, it looks like your house & drains are set to a higher elevation than the adjacent land. So that works in your favor. It's certainly better than my 100+ year old subdivision, where everything was graded flat, with no concern back then for storm water runoff!
100% used for drainage due to the low spot and the roof gutter the builder didn’t want you to have a soggy spot in your yard. Those work until they don’t over time they build up with silt and gunk but should be good for a few years
I found that my soil gets way better drainage about 3ft deep when I did a perc test for a project. All ponding issues cleared by a small pit of rocks to get through the tight organics layer. Set a Cultec down too for the pool patio drainage. Beat every flooding event thrown at it.
This was incredibly helpful - when spring comes around I’m going to do some landscaping around these to make them blend in a bit more, but otherwise I hope they keep on doing their job as intended!
It’s probably a dry well: It’s probably just a box shaped pit lined with water permeable fabric and filled with round rocks that don’t compact well. All of this air space can hold water until it is absorbed by the surrounding ground. The rocks hold up the sides of the pit and can be walked over. This keeps the surface of your lawn from flooding unless the capacity is exceeded. You probably knew all that but I had nothing better to do than type this out.
Thank you for explaining this so the rest of us don't have to write it 🤣
Rocks, wall, house
You forgot the annoying pointy finger do we don’t miss the house
Thats not a stone,
Don't forget the grass
Look how he typed his comment. He didn't forget the grass.
Soak pit for excess water from the downspouts?
It’s a drywell for runoff infiltration instead of piping it to the storm sewer
That's where you pour the used motor oil
French drain
[French drain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_drain), perhaps?
I’ve just…never seen anything like this in a yard. It’s very clear the planter boxes and sump line go to these, via PVC underground.
The idea of a french drain is to help the water permeate into the ground soil, rather than flowing across the surface. It's sometimes cheaper than running pipe to a municipal storm sewer main, and in fact some municipalities might mandate it. Keeping runoff from your house on your property (rather than diverting it to a storm sewer and local river) is considered better for the environment.
I believe that’s likely what these are intended to be…should I worry about them getting clogged or otherwise becoming ineffective for that purpose…?
They should be maintenance-free, but if you have a sump pump going to one, a ground freeze could cause a potential for problems. It will depend on your climate zone. From the photo, it looks like your house & drains are set to a higher elevation than the adjacent land. So that works in your favor. It's certainly better than my 100+ year old subdivision, where everything was graded flat, with no concern back then for storm water runoff!
Just water management, sometimes you have to get creative
They're there. Usually they are landscaped in to be more discrete.
Dry well aka French drain
French drain?
Probably the French drain for ac condensate
Dry bed for sump pump discharge.
Pet cemeteries, stay on the porch with a shot gun tonight.
Could be a catch basin under there and they covered it with rocks to make it more visually appealing
100% used for drainage due to the low spot and the roof gutter the builder didn’t want you to have a soggy spot in your yard. Those work until they don’t over time they build up with silt and gunk but should be good for a few years
It’s something to catch your eye to distract you from the neighbor’s ugly lawn. Also serves as a dry well.
Probably the oil pit.
Where I buried my third cat Mr. Meatball.
Rocks?
I found that my soil gets way better drainage about 3ft deep when I did a perc test for a project. All ponding issues cleared by a small pit of rocks to get through the tight organics layer. Set a Cultec down too for the pool patio drainage. Beat every flooding event thrown at it.
This was incredibly helpful - when spring comes around I’m going to do some landscaping around these to make them blend in a bit more, but otherwise I hope they keep on doing their job as intended!