gardening disaster

eleMental

just wondering if anyone elses back garden is a complete disaster grass-wise? i paid to have the garden professionally dug up, re-soiled and a new lawn put down this time last year. now a year on and the whole garden is just completely water-logged and like a swamp to walk on and all the grass is dying despite all my and the gardeners best efforts to maintain & drain it....

i know when i moved in, the end near the shed had crap drainage but now its looking the whole garden is the same. i completely trust the crew who did the garden so the only conclusion i can draw is that the drainage in charlesland is non-existant and no amount of landscape gardening can fix it. reckon ive no choice but to just put stones down instead now. ho ho ho indeed!!! :rolleyes:

anyone else got the same problem?

hiorta

I don't live in Eire, so I don't know the local situation.

So, some general views.

Good drainage is essential and basic to grass / lawn success.
As you have had a pro look at the situation, perhaps the problem is deeper (literally).

a. Could there be a rock basin below foundation level. This will obviously hold water irrespective of surface improvments. There may be a shallow bog immediately on top of this, long since covered by debris and 'invisible' to cursory inspection.

b. If fairly recently built or worked upon land, did the works done result in a massive cover-up of compacted builders left-overs below the reinstated top soil. (Oh yes, they do do this - it's the cheapest clean up)

c. Could there be field drains either broken or missing.

d. Could a culvert be sending its water in your direction, but underground.

e. Is the general lie of the land likely to gravitate rain and surface water towards you.

f. Do your near neighbours have the same problem

If none of these, perhaps the soil PH ratio was not compatible with the seed used.

Boring deep holes about 3 inches apart and a foot or more deep, then brushing coarse grit into them in autumn / winter for a few years running might gradually improve things, but would take a while to produce results.

A local greenkeeper might advise.

I hope this may be of help and not cause you to lose sleep over it.

foxy06

I have the exact same problem in the court the garden is like a lake and usually is.....even when it hasn't rained in ages. Given up doing anything about it though because the dog has dug up the good bits anyway.

On the brightside though one of my neighbours has put down the stones and it is absolutely gorgeous so I think that is what i'll do. Plus it's low maintainence.:)

Tomato

Yip have the same problem, we sowed grass seed but it all got washed away before it had time to grow. Its an awful mess. We are in the Grove.

Charlie-Bravo

I am guessing this problem is occurring when you mainly have a grassed back garden that rises up high to the back boundary? I think the best way to solve this is to put in a land drain.

In the grove and park the back patios are paved so taking up any paving where required would be too hard. In the Wood I haven't heard of any complaints but we have decking anyway. I can't remember what patio/decking was put in in the Court.

To put in a land drain you'll need to dig a trench down to a foot and a half or so across the wide of the garden. Lay in a perforated plastic pipe which is wrapped in geotextile membrane (stops the soil from getting washed into the pipe). Connect the pipe to your AJ (hopefully there is a surface water drain with an access junction 'AJ' in your back garden) Fill around the pipe with some granular stones (allows the water to soak into this area). Fill back about a foot deep with the soil you dug up compacting every so often until to get to ground level.

Wouldn't cost too much to do yourself but you'd better have good arms for the work!

Mullie

We're in the Court and have the same issue. Its a disgrace!
I'm planning to do something along the lines of the drain system mentioned above, if a little simpler. I've been advised to simply dig a large hole in the garden and fill it with rocks/rubble which should provide somewhere for the water to flow.
I had the builder in to take a look but he told me that it was because I walked on it in the wet!!! Ehhh what!? He also told me that there's a drain running along the back wall of the gardens, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything.

mikedragon32

A drain along the back of your garden is only useful if your garden is sloped towards it!

foxy06

My garden is firly level and i've just done a big cear out so it's nice and tidy.....except the swamp of a lawn! Thinking of hiring myself a rotavator to dig it all up because it's really patchy and needs to be done from scratch. Anyone done this or have any suggestions on what to do after I have dug it up? Assume I just rake it to level it off and them sprinkle seed on it but I'm not 100% sure any advice from the area would be great from someone who knows the soil type ect. Ive heard this is important but wouldn't know how to find out the soil type.

newbie2

soil type isn't important bro for grass - just has to be well drained!!! dig it up, an put a .layer of gravel (about 3") down under about 9" of soil. Mix alot of sand with the soil ( at least 1 part sand to 3 parts soil). Rake to aq fine tilth, taking out all the big stones. Don't worry about the stones about 1 inch in diametre,, you'll be there all day if you do. Get a good general seed mix from the garden centre. Tell the dudes there what you want and they'll advise. I would also suggest sowing in late feb, early march.

Hope this helps

foxy06

Yeah thats a great help actually just think it might be a big job to do on my own but I'll give it a lash and hope for the best!

indigo23

we did our snag after it had rained. The back wall was like a swamp. The water from the house behind us was draining into our garden. The builders said they have to dig up the garden and lay a pipe to the back wall and connect it to a pipe running under the patio. It help a good bit, but ground is still soft. Not as bad a before.

TnJ

We have the same problem with the back garden in the Grove. Thinking of contacting the Greystones community centre to get them to re-locate the new swimming pool to charlesland,,, will save a lot of money!

Who'll sign my petition