Muddy Garden Needs Drainage

bm69

My back garden is so muddy i cannot walk on it. There is very litte drainage. I need a couple of days without rain and loads of sunshine for it to dry out. Even in the summer time. The house is not on a flood plain and the water table is well down. I think this is true beacause when i built the garage the foundations did fill with water from rain but they did drain after a couple of dry days.
The garden slopes away from the house so I cannot lay drains.

What other options do I have to dry up this issue. Attached is a pic.

Thanks

pasque

you have a drainage system in the back garden? rainwater ...??

stoneill

Earthworms - you need earthworms.

bm69

pasque wrote: »

you have a drainage system in the back garden? rainwater ...??

The garden slopes away from the house. Theres no way of getting the water back up a slope to the drains.

padi89

Well it has been a very wet year, summer was a washout so many lawns are completely saturated. The likely problem is that the ground is compacted from machinery from the build. You may have to start from scratch, dig it over, take out all builders rubbish and rocks and break up any hard pan areas with a pick axe. You may even have very little soil there, would be worth digging out a few test holes to see what your faced with.

You could also wait for spring and during a dry period, go out with a fork and aerate it. Dig the tines in and give it a good work around to create holes for air to get in and water to drain quicker, about every 6 inches or so. If you can get some dried sand pour it into the holes. I did this last year with a similar problem lawn and it made a big difference, helps the grass grow too. It's an ongoing thing so il do a small area every so often.

redser7

I'd say you dont have a problem you just need to maintain the lawn. Pick up the lawn expert on amazon for 1p + postage.

Colm R

Where do your down pipes from your roof carry water?

I know you say it slopes away from the house, but you could still drain it towards the house, starting shallow and getting progressively deeper against the hill so the pipe has a slight fall.
Where the ground is higher nearer the house, you could have more shallow drains which then fall in to the deeper drain coming from the back of the garden.

The slope in your photograph does not look too severe for this.

If you can connect in to whatever your downpipes are using, then that will carry the water away. Ensure you put an inspection chamber with a sump to trap dirt, and hence not blocking any other drains further on in the system.


Above all, wait for some dry weather and rotavate it, aerate it, and if necessary, drain it. We haven't had good drying weather in nearly 10 months now, and we have not had a decent dry summer in some years now, so its a problem everyone is having.

ponddigger

good advice colm r .jack

2012paddy2012

exact same problem..neighbour has drains underground..another soak pits ...waste of time...just built a concrete path right down the middle so missus can hang out washing when wet!! not an answer.., will you pm me if you ever get it sorted!! thks a mill
Paddy

ponddigger

hi .here is a french drain allso used as a path .this would work in a small garden,jack

bm69

Colm R wrote: »

Where do your down pipes from your roof carry water?

I know you say it slopes away from the house, but you could still drain it towards the house, starting shallow and getting progressively deeper against the hill so the pipe has a slight fall.
Where the ground is higher nearer the house, you could have more shallow drains which then fall in to the deeper drain coming from the back of the garden.

The slope in your photograph does not look too severe for this.

If you can connect in to whatever your downpipes are using, then that will carry the water away. Ensure you put an inspection chamber with a sump to trap dirt, and hence not blocking any other drains further on in the system.


Above all, wait for some dry weather and rotavate it, aerate it, and if necessary, drain it. We haven't had good drying weather in nearly 10 months now, and we have not had a decent dry summer in some years now, so its a problem everyone is having.

The pipes which would come back up the garden would be well below the lowest level of my drains by the time you dig in that slope. Around 3 feet below.
Thanks for the advice but i dont think that will work

ponddigger

hi,you could install a small sump pump inside a plastic pipe.see photo.to pump dirty water into your manhole.jack