New Lawn in Swampy Field

mike72

Hi Folks,

My half acre site is in a very low damp field completely covered in rushes. Basically the builder raised up the part of the site that the house was built on, but the rest (ie the lawns) is still a damp rushy field and slopes down a foot, or more toward the edge of the site, with a sewage unit in the middle.

My plan is to scrape off whatever topsoil I can from the top of the planned lawn and raise up the whole lawn with some kind of filler. I guess I may need to lay some drainage while I'm at it.

My questions:

How would I do this? What sort of material would be best suited for raising my lawn around 12-18 inches?

My front lawns are basically builders rubble and subsoil, so will need topsoil. Any idea where I could get large quantities of topsoil in the midlands at an affordable price?

Recently unemployed, so cost is a major factor here.

Antiquo

mike72 wrote: »

Hi Folks,

My half acre site is in a very low damp field completely covered in rushes. Basically the builder raised up the part of the site that the house was built on, but the rest (ie the lawns) is still a damp rushy field and slopes down a foot, or more toward the edge of the site, with a sewage unit in the middle.

My plan is to scrape off whatever topsoil I can from the top of the planned lawn and raise up the whole lawn with some kind of filler. I guess I may need to lay some drainage while I'm at it.

My questions:

How would I do this? What sort of material would be best suited for raising my lawn around 12-18 inches?

My front lawns are basically builders rubble and subsoil, so will need topsoil. Any idea where I could get large quantities of topsoil in the midlands at an affordable price?

Recently unemployed, so cost is a major factor here.

OP if you already have rushes then the field is not too far removed from a pond. If you have reeds its not much better, however you mention a slope away and that sounds promising.

Basically you will need to install some well planned drainage or the proposed lawn will all too quickly also become a swamp as the underlying high water table that currently exists will wick up into it.

Problem is cost so sounds like long term DIY which is perfectly doable although obviously results will take longer to appear. I'm in my new build nearly 25 years and it's still a work in progress no point rushing into something do it right the first time.

One last thing I would say is use good soil don't be tempted to get someone else's rubbish or subsoil to build up the level as this will lead to problems later with poor drainage due to compaction, etc. Depending on how high you need to build up you may put a layer of coarse/river sand in to further aid drainange.

mike72

Just to clarify: Only one corner of my back lawn is actually wet and rushy. This is the bit I would like to raise up to meet the rest. Ideally I would have a slight drop toward the bottom of the lawn and lay some drainage in the wet areas before raising.

You suggested coarse sand. Would this be sufficient to raise my lawn the required amount of 12-18 inches, or would I need something more heavy duty under this?

Rinker

Hi Mike
Best practice would suggest that you work with your site conditions rather than trying to change them. It seems to me that a lawn would be wholly out of place in your garden. It will always struggle and will never look healthy. However, there are very many plants that would be ideally suited to your site and would flourish there. You could plant a wet meadow seed mix which would love the existing conditions and appear vibrant during the summer months. You could have borders of shrubs and trees which would grow with minimal maintenance.
I think it would be really worth your while getting advice from a qualified garden designer (rather than a landscaper). You'll probably find that with good advice you'd be able to find plenty of plants suited to your site and that you'll be able to do all the work yourself. I have done lots of work in the west of Ireland and all the best gardens are the ones that embrace the prevailing conditions. Building up the ground and bringing in soil from elsewhere shows a lack of understanding and is really cowboy stuff.

ozbhan

Delighted after reading this advice, my garden is soaking wet but feel I have to work with what I've got. Everyone who I have asked has told me to spray it off and get in the machinery and top soil from some other part of the country, I haven't done it as it just feels wrong and its not a hurling pitch style garden I'm after. I would love someone to help me with design in the Tipperary area, possible draining some of the excess water into a wild life pond. If you know of anyone, I would be very grateful

mountainy man

Working with the conditions of your garden is the best way and I echo Rinker's post above. I garden a very wet boggy exposed plot and there is a plant/tree for every condition you could think of, I can recomend a book by Beth Chatto called The damp garden, use plants that would love that swamp like Gunnera,Irises,Hostas,ligularias,candelabra primulas,arum lillies,purple loosetrife these are only a few, make it an asset not a problem and much cheaper too!

ozbhan

Thanks for this mountainy man. Just bought the book and can't wait to start planting..

mountainy man

ozbhan wrote: »

Thanks for this mountainy man. Just bought the book and can't wait to start planting..

You're welcome, I have visited her garden which is huge but is a real inspiration, she is a real plantswoman.

Here are a few pics, this was in october and still looks fantastic. goodluck and have fun.