Yard drainage question

yes there’s way too much rock in the swale

Yep! Large rocks on the edge and smaller in the middle

quote:

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Large rocks on the edge and smaller in the middle

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I would agree with this. Push the larger rocks out lateral toward the edges and to fill in the erosion spots. Smaller rocks and even no rocks in the middle for the channel. Logically that would minimize the erosion and maximize the channel flow.

You don’t have to do it all in a day or week. Just over time, try to optimize it and stop the erosion spots from worsening.

I would not add new rocks. I would just move the ones you have. Make the max flow and least resistance go through the middle.

Is it just me or does that swale curve near the bottom look like a forced path, whereas I’d expect water to want to jump out?

My preference is actually no weed barrier and plant hardy perennials in the swale. This will hold soil better and slow the drainage better. Plenty of people prefer the dry rock bed look though

I saw someone on here the other day that used a propane torch from Harbor Freight to kill his yard. Looking at YouTube, a number of people use it to kill weeds. Perhaps something like that could be used to get the weeds since it drains into a lake.

I've had to deal with this exact scenario. The issue is maintenance. Every so often (several years) you will have to remove the soil, leaves and debris from the channel. The means moving the rocks. You'll find the debris gets concentrated in certain places- around bends or low spots.

The rocks are there to slow down the flow and reduce erosion. Unfortunately, they also trap leaves and debris which naturally clogs the system.

If you want to control what the water wants to do naturally, you have to maintain it, otherwise it'll do what it do!