Drainage issue in garden

aw

Hello guys.

We have recently bought and finished a partially completed property. The lawns were sown a number of years ago and are a bit ropey.

The main issue is drainage. Looks like soil was just spread across compacted rubble etc and compressed.
The site is about 0.4 acres and probably 2/3 of the garden is soft and marshy.
The natural lie of the land in parts is about a metre below where it is now so it was obviously filled with whatever was handy and covered over.

Two pics attached. One is looking towards the back of the site. While hard to see you can make out the field at the back is lower and you’ll notice the rushes in the lawn. It’s very soft in the foreground. It’s nicely drained in the back 3m where it is obviously draining out into the field.

In the second pic you’ll see the garden up closer to the house and the water sitting on top, ground soaked all the way up. When digging the holes for the clothesline, it is approx. 14-16 inches of soil then we had to use a kango to get through the compacted stuff. It was nearly like concrete it has gone so hard. So this is the root of the problem.

I know I’m facing into drainage works. I think with the scale and extent of the issue and toughness of the ground it’ll require big excavations and pipework done by experts.
Any advice on what we will be looking at? Would everything need to be dug out and taken away with pipes & stone put down and covered with fresh topsoil?
Tarmac, footpaths and kerbing are laid already. I assume these won’t be impacted (as long as any digger driver is neat) as access for machines should be fine?

If anyone could give a rough approximation on costings, that would be great. I would estimate 3-4k for a good job. Am I underestimating?

Also, are there any short term fixes that might help until we do the big works, such as plants that soak up water etc? Wishful thinking, perhaps.

Oldtree

aw wrote: »

Also, are there any short term fixes that might help until we do the big works, such as plants that soak up water etc? Wishful thinking, perhaps.

a small open drain, even only an inch or two wide/deep to take the water away from the puddled areas towards the back field would do it for now, as long as the drain has a small slope to the back field.

Not sure planting will take care of it in any way as we are getting and will get more frequent deluges creating surface flooding, even in well drained areas. In my case a 6 inch open drain does the job along the side of the property from the pooling point, but also near the property edge. the rest of the garden I dont worry about as I have let it go wild with some trees and shrubs planted and only mo a meandering path through it.

As we are going to get more and more water, imo we need to be careful with underground drains. They are limited to the capacity of the pipe and when they are full it puddles anyway. Also a worry is that they may clog. the celts knew all about open drains

blackbox

aw wrote: »

Hello guys.

We have recently bought and finished a partially completed property. The lawns were sown a number of years ago and are a bit ropey.

The main issue is drainage. Looks like soil was just spread across compacted rubble etc and compressed.
The site is about 0.4 acres and probably 2/3 of the garden is soft and marshy.
The natural lie of the land in parts is about a metre below where it is now so it was obviously filled with whatever was handy and covered over.

Two pics attached. One is looking towards the back of the site. While hard to see you can make out the field at the back is lower and you’ll notice the rushes in the lawn. It’s very soft in the foreground. It’s nicely drained in the back 3m where it is obviously draining out into the field.

In the second pic you’ll see the garden up closer to the house and the water sitting on top, ground soaked all the way up. When digging the holes for the clothesline, it is approx. 14-16 inches of soil then we had to use a kango to get through the compacted stuff. It was nearly like concrete it has gone so hard. So this is the root of the problem.

I know I’m facing into drainage works. I think with the scale and extent of the issue and toughness of the ground it’ll require big excavations and pipework done by experts.
Any advice on what we will be looking at? Would everything need to be dug out and taken away with pipes & stone put down and covered with fresh topsoil?
Tarmac, footpaths and kerbing are laid already. I assume these won’t be impacted (as long as any digger driver is neat) as access for machines should be fine?

If anyone could give a rough approximation on costings, that would be great. I would estimate 3-4k for a good job. Am I underestimating?

Also, are there any short term fixes that might help until we do the big works, such as plants that soak up water etc? Wishful thinking, perhaps.

A traditional cure for compacted new lawns is to grow potatoes on it for the first year. I guess this will loosen the soil down to about 30 cm. A bit of work but no cost.

LurkerNo1

What exactly is it you want to do or would like to do with the garden ?
If it's a lawn you would like then yes you will have a lot of work on your hands.
Personally I would work with it, to me it's not a massive issue, I would just grow plants that love those conditions.

SEPT 23 1989

I had the same issue and my father suggested I plant rice

bpmurray

I had the same issue, and still do to an extent. However, I planted willows (actually, they kind of moved in) and they sucked up vast quantities of the water. The garden now has a border of tall healthy willows and it's only wet in spring or just after a deluge.

Calahonda52

What is not clear at all is where the water would drain off to, so in the absence of that, willow etc

taxusbaccata

Also recommend open drains - easy maintenance and are an attractive feature. They green up quickly so the bare soil look is very brief.