Back Garden Drainage

Klopp

Our Back Garden which is flat and mostly level has really poor drainage when it rains, the water pools in parts and sits on the top for a few days.

I am looking for some advice on what I can do to improve the drainage in the next few months. My initial thoughts were, the garden would first need to be dug up before I put down some chipped/pebble stone first followed by topsoil before grass seed. The grass isn't in great shape with dogs so reseeding wouldn't bother me to improve the growth and thickness if needed.

Has anyone had similar problems that can offer some advice?

GreeBo

I think you need to find the root cause before you come up with a solution.

For example, it may be that you have a clay layer that is stopping water from being absorbed into the soil.

Or it might be thatch, or it might just be that you get a lot of runoff that the soil just cant handle.

However, if your garden and the surrounding areas are flat, then its likely to be a soil problem.

After the next heavy rain, dig a 1x1x1 foot hole to check if the soil is truly saturated or if the problem is an impermeable layer.

Often you will see that even though you have puddles on top, 2 inches down is bone dry.

You should be able to see from the sod you remove and whats left, whether or not the problem is heavy thatch or a clay layer.

If its thatch then I would recommend you aerate your lawn, you can hire a petrol version for €100/day

This will help to break down the thatch but also allow passage beyond it and allow the soil to start to absorb the water which will both solve your problem and help your lawn!

What does your grass look like in the middle of summer? Does it suffer from drought?

If its a clay layer then its a bit harder to deal with, as it depends on how far down the layer is and how wide is it. If its near the surface and not too deep then aeration may also help (the tines usually go down 2-3 inches)

If its more than this then you are really looking at either total removal of the clay layer (which may be unfeasible in some cases) or putting in some herringbone type drainage system to remove the surface water. The fact that your lawn is flat means you cant just dig a French drain or soakaway pit.

gipi

I had a soggy back garden, and while I was getting some concreting done, my builder installed this pipe under the lawn

https://www.goodwins.ie/products/land-drain-110mm-x-6mtr-pipe-0031123.html

The pipes are connected to a drain which takes the water away

Garden soil is clayey.

It has improved the drainage a lot. I did have to reseed the garden, but as it had been damaged by the building work, it was going to have to be done anyway

Klopp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120093775#Comment_120093775

I was looking at the french drain option last summer as an option but thought might be easier ways to fix or I was hoping anyway. The weather the last few months has been staring out the back garden now pondering what I can do for the summer to fix it once and for all.

I will dig the 1x1x1 foot hole in the new week or so and see if the soil is saturated down below. The grass during the summer isn't dry, it is actually quite good going by last summer but now it is patchy with the dog outside doing its business and killing the grass and growth on one particular side. Hopefully when i do dig and if it is dry below aerating the garden will help.

Thanks for the advice GreeBo.