Houston clay does not “perk.” A skinny gravel trench with no fabric and no outlet is a mud trough by August. A real French drain is perforated pipe, washed rock, fabric, and a daylight or storm tie-in. A surface drain (catch basin + solid pipe) is for water you can see ponding on the slab or patio.
We design both on the drainage page’s process: find the source, pick the outlet, then trench once. Sugar Land lake lots and Pearland swales fail for different reasons — we will not copy a California detail onto Fort Bend clay.