Central Coast Landscaping
Drainage solutions in Los Osos move water away from the house before it costs you a foundation, a bog of a backyard or drowned plant roots. Kestrel Landscapes reads how water actually moves across your property, then grades, intercepts and routes it away with French drains, catch basins, dry creek beds and proper surface grading.
Water is the quiet destroyer of Central Coast properties. It pools against the foundation, floods a low patio, drowns plant roots and turns a backyard into a bog every winter. And because our atmospheric-river storms dump a lot of rain fast, a yard that drains 'fine' most of the year can still fail when it matters.
Kestrel Landscapes solves drainage at the source: we read how water actually moves across your property, then grade, intercept and route it away from structures with French drains, catch basins, dry creek beds and proper surface grading. Fix the water and everything you build on top of it lasts longer.
Call us if you're seeing:
Subsurface French drains and catch basins collect groundwater and surface runoff and carry it to a safe discharge point, pulling water away from foundations, patios and saturated beds.
Where a lot of surface water needs to move, a dry creek bed handles it and looks like a designed feature rather than a drainage fix — stone-lined channels that direct storm flow and stay attractive when dry.
Often the fix starts with grade: we re-establish positive slope away from the house and tie downspouts into a drainage line so roof water discharges well clear of the foundation.
We assess grades, low points, downspouts and where water enters and sits during storms.
We plan collection points and a route to a safe discharge, by gravity wherever possible.
We correct surface grade and trench for subsurface drains.
French drains, basins, piping and dry creek beds go in and tie to downspouts as needed.
We water-test the system, then restore planting and surfaces over it.
Get a free on-site assessment and a written scope — Based in Los Osos — most SLO County assessments scheduled within 48 hours.
Drainage is priced by the length and depth of drain runs, the amount of grading, and access. A single problem area is affordable; a whole-property water plan with multiple runs and a discharge solution is a larger project.
Note: We resolve drainage before installing expensive finishes — a beautiful patio over a drainage problem just hides the failure.
We read grades, low points, downspouts and where water enters and sits during storms, then fix the source rather than the symptom.
Where a lot of surface water has to move, a stone-lined dry creek bed handles it and looks like a designed feature when dry.
We resolve drainage before installing expensive patios or plantings — building over a drainage problem is the most common expensive mistake we're called to redo.
Systems are sized for the Central Coast's atmospheric-river downpours, not just an average rain, and water-tested before we restore the surface.
Usually a combination: re-grade for positive slope away from the house, extend or tie in downspouts, and add a French drain or catch basin to collect and carry water to a safe discharge. We diagnose the specific cause before prescribing.
A gravel-filled trench with perforated pipe that collects subsurface and surface water and routes it away by gravity. It's a workhorse fix for soggy yards and water against foundations.
No — a properly built dry creek bed is a functional surface-drainage channel that moves storm runoff. It just happens to look like a landscape feature when it's dry, which is why homeowners like it.
Almost always. Correcting drainage first means your hardscape, turf and plantings sit on ground that stays stable and healthy. Building finishes over a drainage problem is the most common expensive mistake we're called to redo.
Often, yes. Many drainage problems are solved with targeted work — a French drain along one run, a catch basin at a low point, a downspout tie-in or a regraded section — rather than a full excavation. We diagnose where the water actually goes and fix the cause with the least disruption that will hold.
We're based in Los Osos and bring drainage to homeowners across the Central Coast — the back-bay and coastal towns of Los Osos, Morro Bay and Cayucos, the city of San Luis Obispo, the Five Cities, and the North County wine country around Paso Robles. See the full list of service areas, or tap your town below.
Related services
Hold the hill: drainage, terracing and deep-root planting that stops slippage.
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Learn moreAfter the wind and rain: fast cleanup of limbs, debris and washed-out ground.
Learn moreFrom the blog
A slope that stays soggy after the rain stops is a warning, not a nuisance. Here are the emergency steps to take now and the permanent fixes that keep a Central Coast hillside from letting go.
Feb 3, 2026
Bluff erosion is a water problem before it is a soil problem. Here is how drainage, terracing, and deep roots work together to hold ground.
Feb 24, 2026
Get a free on-site assessment and a written scope — Based in Los Osos — most SLO County assessments scheduled within 48 hours.
