This is the hard part that I did today. I have already dug in this area before so don't get too impressed that the soil is soft or I am super woman, it was just a bit easier to dig than it looks. And a nice drizzle helped make it cool and a perfect time to do it. I only dug about a shovel depth, threw it up above, then moved over and repeated 2x. Total depth dug was only about 9" but when you do that three times wide and put the dirt up on top of the untouched soil, it really looks much bigger. I raked and smoothed the rest and recovered with some of the mulch. I think you can see the main path about midway in the photo, this comes from the lower gated "trailer park" area and heads toward the back of the lot above the pink flower. In front of the white pipe arch the path makes a Y and heads down to this new terrace and about where I was standing to take the photo, it heads further down to the lower level with the pumpkins. It is sloped to keep the rain toward the back of the terrace so the walk stays drier. On the right below the pink flower the path heads toward my new shed and the shady zone past an orange tree also on this middle berm so we can water and keep the water in the root zone. The reason the chairs are now at the top of my new berm, when asking mom how to exit this level, she got on her hands and knees and thought it was best to crawl over the top!!!!! Arrrrgggg.....pointed her to the gentle slopping walk way. I will be adding fencing and moving the bigger Tea roses to the swale in that berm asap!

Ok, now I feel like I should point out the difference between a swale and a drain. The point of a swale is to catch water, and allow it infiltrate the soil along a contour rather than let it run off downhill. Len said it well when he said that they are more or less a dam, I would just add that the water is held in the ground rather than on top of it as in most dams. A swale is dead level on contour, and as water always finds a level, unless it breaks the bank of the swale somewhere it won't go past the swale. A drain is higher at one end than the other, so naturally water will use it to flow downhill. Swales don't direct water away from your property Microfarmer... if that is what is happening then you do indeed have a drain. I think that the main use of swales is to catch enough water to reestablish trees on cleared land, which in the long term is the best way to prevent erosion. Kathy in Kentucky, your situation sounds like a swale might save your pump from wearing out prematurely, but depending on how exactly your tank is fed ( I mean, does ground water get into the drains that fill the well, as well as runoff from the house?)and how much rainfall you have and how well drained your soils are, and how far your swale is from the tank, it might just slow it down a little bit, I'm not sure. You may actually want a drain to direct the water away from the house altogether, perhaps to a swale in another location, perhaps downhill of the house where you might plant fruit trees etc.? Definitely plant up your swales wherever they are I reckon. Jennifer in Canada, you sound like you've developed the temperate answer to the banana circle replete with cilantro and peanuts. Very nice.

You need to contact a landscape architect to get real help. We need pictures of the property and drawings of exactly what you are talking about. Water will always find the path of least resistance and often not in a good way .A swale is one way of dealing but there are many ways to handle water run off BTW do not remove the trees since thay are probaly helping to hold some of that water. Have your neighbors removed all the trees from their property that can create real issues. But we need pics for sure

When I mentioned a retaining wall, I was actually thinking considerably shorter walls rather than a head high fence. You don't want to crowd your road or driveway with a tall fence. You don't want mud washing onto your driveway from your yard. You don't want rainwater draining off the driveway against any WOOD you use for your retaining wall(s) because prolonged exposure will decrease their life span and the lowest point -- the drainage ditch -- will have the longest moisture exposure. You actually need to have a drainage space alongside the driveway (one seems to already have been begun) -- perhaps a French drain ... ditch filled with gravel ... with the ditch itself and the top of any gravel in the ditch both be gently sloping away from the road. You don't want the water in that ditch against a wood retaining wall because, as the lowest point, water will be against that very short retaining wall more. If, at this time, you don't want to invest in building your a short stone or brick lowest retaining wall with its top several inches above the driveway, consider at least investing in some concrete cap blocks or patio blocks set on their end or edge side by side and leaning against a sloped embankment above the drainage ditch. (Sloped so as to not fall over. ) . https://www.lowes.com/pd/Cap-Concrete-Block-Common-4-in-x-8-in-x-16-in-Actual-3-625-in-x-7-625-in-x-15-625-in/3608974?cm_mmc=shp--c--prd--bdm--google--lia--210--brickandblock--3608974-_-0&placeholder=null&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItLz8nMDe8AIVA5JbCh08ywYHEAQYASABEgIx-PD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds https://www.lowes.com/pd/Rectangle-Gray-Concrete-Patio-Stone-Common-8-in-x-16-in-Actual-7-7-in-x-15-6-in/3018997?cm_mmc=shp--c--prd--lwn--google--lia--236--patiohardscape--3018997-_-0&placeholder=null&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-K3dhsDe8AIVtf7jBx01IAo-EAQYASABEgLajPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds Top of that first retaining wall needs to be several inches higher than the driveway. If you can add another cap block in a level space above that cap block buried horizontal/flat with only its wide flat top showing so the leaning cap blocks can lean against it, that will hold your dirt better than just the leaning cap block . Stagger the spaces between the leading blocks and the flat blocks above/behind them so water doesn't wash through the spaces. By not adding concrete now, with more cap blocks later, you could recreate your lowest retaining wall nearest your driveway with the blocks laid flat. Above/behind that first short short retaining wall alongside the drainage ditch, you could create level planting areas with spaces that "fit" your yard -- some deeper than others above wood retaining walls. What trees are alongside your driveway, unless removed, could limit the depth/width of these flat planting areas so you could have deeper level spaces in some places but less deep where trees block what you want to do. You can create multiple retaining walls and "steps" of level spaces in which you can plant ferns or shade friendly ground cover or moss. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/350999364712347931/