air conditioning drainage...?

Question

My air conditioning is leaking water and I know that's normal. Where it is leaking, the ground is getting quite wet and moldy. I guess my question is this; if I put about 3 or 4 onches of rock where the draining is, will that help with the mold or will it make it worse? I'm trying to put in a garden over in that area and I don't want mold on everything. Thanks!

i was planning on digging about a foot around the area and about 4 or 5 inches deep.

the air conditioner is about 7 feet from the back of the house.

Answer 1

mold loves cold water, small gravel may help, but drainage is the best, you may have to dig a small hole 6 inches in dia, down about 1 -2 ft fill it with rocks to allow water to drain away,

Answer 2

Always move water away from the house foundation unless you want termites to come visit.

The act of digging the soil will help with the mold problem. Mold is less likely to grow where the soil is turned and fluffed frequently. Of course then your concern is the AC might keep the ground too wet for your garden........hmmm, so channeling the water away either with a small tube or french drain....trench and rock.....might be a better idea.

Answer 3

You could choose plants that love moist soil. Some of those tend to use more water than others, and would help remove water from that area. Check out these articles:

http://landscaping.about.com/cs/lazylandscaping/a/wet_area_plants.htm
http://landscaping.about.com/b/a/256131.htm
http://www.landsteward.org/page.cfm/44166
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/bestbets/wetplants/index.html

Also, look for a local native plants club/organization, and ask them about rain gardens or plants for wet soils. They'll be happy to help you out!

You can make a very nice garden/visual screen around your a/c unit with some of these water-loving plants!

Answer 4

install a drain hose to the unit drain ,then you can move the flow a way from the house foundation