When it rains, we get so much of our neighbors rain water running into our backyard. I'm thinking of replacing the grass with fake grass. Would this help hold the water.
Actually, real grass helps to absorb and divert the water. I would suggest that you build a sort of damn with large rocks/ small boulders where the water is rushing in from your neighbors. Or, you could dig in corragated drain tile and dig it in, under the are where you are getting the heavy water.
Wish you could divert the water to my yard. Northern Colorado is in a permanent state of drought. I recommend talking to your neighbor and working on some catchment and diversion that could help water all your landscaping. I can point you toward some great information about waterwise landscaping.
Nothing other than a catchment system, as suggested by Steve, will actually hold the water. And there's no effective way to block the water; a wall will cause it to pool, ultimately undermining the wall's soil and gravel base. Catchment might be ideal, if you're up for that. Otherwise, consider a natural drainage path, like a swale--a small channel in the ground surface that captures and directs water to a drainage point. The swale may or may not include a buried perforated drain pipe to
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facilitate drainage. Talk to a landscape architect or experienced landscaping contractor (or even a civil engineer if you happen to know one). Good luck.
I planted wild flower seeds in my yard and after the rain my neighbor had a beautiful flower garden. So I had the opposite problem. I noticed you said "the neighbor's rainwater". Is it running from his gutters? Maybe he could put an extension that rolls out on his downspout taking it far away. Otherwise I like the french drain idea. It would be less trouble than fake grass installation.
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