garden drainage, lawn drainage solutions

more garden drainage related pages on my website

water table Improving clay soil drainage sump and pumps shady area lawn

For information about my other landscape gardening services
Landscape gardeners

Garden and lawn drainage services and DIY advice
Somerset, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Surrey, Berkshire and South Wales

How to install lawn drainage What causes garden waterlogging.

Contact Mike

Save time, google my website
i/e drainage systems, sump pumps, patios, leveling, water table etc.

Soggy waterlogged garden that holds water and is muddy ?

When what you really want is a lawn the kids can play on after school, without bringing saturated mud into the house. Or maybe flower borders or a vegetable garden with soil that isn't boggy after rain. It's a common problem, not just for homes and gardens built on low lying land or clay and compacted soil. Structures you or your neighbour have added, like retaining walls, footings for house extensions and patios can all divert surface rain water and underground springs.

The garden drainage system we install.
Based on French drains, its installed under the turf or garden topsoil and solves waterlogged garden drainage problems, its easily the best drainage system for clay gardens. The drainage system takes about three days to install and the area will be useable within a few days. Why put up with a lawn the kids can't play on and mud you can't plant in. The problem won't just go away.

Testing a waterlogged garden.
DIY test: Get your gardener to dig a hole 24 inches deep x 12 inch square and half fill it with water. Leave it for a day. It should empty on well-drained soil, if it doesn't or if it fills and it hasn't rained, you have a drainage problem.

Heavy rain water can cause under ground springs to change direction. All sorts of things can contribute to a waterlogged, soggy garden. Even in well drained soil, water will not soak away fast enough during periods of heavy rain and will run across the top of the lawn to the lowest point, a process that is known as puddling. But don't worry if it soaks away within an hour or two. If it doesn't soak away, you have got a drainage problem or a waterlogged clay.
.
Solving soggy, waterlogged garden problems.
Garden drainage isn't difficult to sort out, even clay soil drainage. Planting trees or shrubs in a soggy area of your garden wont work, unless you are planting bog plants because the roots need to breath,they will eventually die. Willows grow on the bank not in the stream.
Paying a landscape gardener to add topsoil doesn't really work because you will need lots off it and could end up creating one big sponge or just shift the problem to another area of your garden or to a neighbour.
Raising the whole area by adding raised beds or a substantial bed of rocks or gravel topped up with topsoil can work but because the water is still there, the danger again is shifting the saturated soil problem to another area.
The water has to be drained away.

What will solve saturated soil problems ?
A gravel drain trench system installed below the surface, solves most garden drainage problems. Ever since the Romans used them to solve drainage problems, not much has changed, perforated plastic pipes (holes at the top or bottom, depends who you ask !) came and went, French drains still work.

Why are they are called French drains? Although stone drains go back the Ark, they are actually named after an American, Henry French a 19th-century judge,gardener and farmer.

What are the main reasons for poor garden drainage problems?

1 One of the reasons for soggy lawns and a waterlogged garden is compacted soil combined with the mixing of sub-soil and topsoil when the house was built.

2 Most drainage problems however cannot be blamed on the builder, its more likely the house and garden have been built on clay (the surface cracks up when its dry)

3 The garden is lower than neighbouring gardens or at the bottom of a hill.

4 Structures like swimming pools, extensions, you or neighbours have added. Anything with deep footings can divert water.

5 On clay and other water retentive soils, the flow of water through the soil is very slow, this can be made worse by dips in the surface allowing water to puddle.

6 Is it the Water Table some water table information here.

A lot of time and money can be spent trying to trace the source, leading to disputes with neighbours, The surveyor and builder who built the extension, the landscape gardener who installed your paving and retaining wall without taking drainage into account. In the end the only solution is to drain the water away.

How can I drain water away and fix a waterlogged garden and soggy lawn problem myself ?

First carry out a simple test if you have a waterlogged garden or soggy lawn, dig a hole 24 inch deep x 12 inch square, half fill with water, leave it for a day, It should empty on well-drained soil. If it doesn't or if it fills and it hasn't rained, you have a garden drainage problem.

Some things are unlikely to solve the problem, replacing the top six inches of clay topsoil with new topsoil doesn't solve the underlying waterlogged garden and soggy lawn drainage problem. It's just covering over the problem and shifting the problem to another part of your garden. Soakaways on clay don't work.

Enlist a friendly gardener and a few fit friends, hire a digger if you have access, set aside few weekends digging trenches in clay soil, lugging a few tons of gravel into your garden and getting rid of an equal amount of clay (what goes in French drains must come out first). I have included some D.I.Y.garden and lawn drainage tips here.

Installing your own land drainage system.
How to drain surface water from a waterlogged landscaped garden or garden lawn. Installing garden drainage diy tips are further down the page.

What are the main reasons for poor garden drainage problems?
Why doesn't surface rain water drain away?
Where does the water come from?
Its been dry for years, why is my garden flooding now?

How to drain a garden

Garden and lawn drainage systems and solutions.

The best way to drain the garden is to install french drains. Depending on how your garden slopes the different methods described here will help stop the lawn waterlogging.

French drain.
Look for a spot in your garden at the bottom of the slope where the water could soak away. French drains should drain to a out-of-the-way area with sandy soil, through which the water will soak away. But be sure your attempt at DIY garden drainage does not shift the problem to a neighbours property .

Soakaways on clay soil do not work as water will not drain through clay. If your garden is on clay the land drainage channels may have to connect into the surface water drain system. You need to slope the French drain to carry the water down to its destination. Dig a horizontal trench across the length of the slope (This is the worst part) heading in the direction of the soak away. French drains should be about 6" wide and 12" deep. Before filling with gravel, line the trench with landscape fabric to keep earth out of the gravel to allow water to percolate through easily. Shovel coarse gravel onto the landscape fabric. Wrapping the fabric over the top of the gravel, now replace the turf and you have built yourself a French drain.

Herringbone drainage
If lawns are waterlogged over the whole area Herringbone Drainage is your best bet. Mark out the main trench from the highest part of the lawn, to the lowest. Then mark the side trenches to connect to the main drain, forming a herringbone pattern. The side drains join the main drain at a 45 degree angle.

Use wrapped gravel as above space side drains at 10 ft intervals for clay soil and 25 ft intervals for loamy soil. At the lowest end of the main trench dig out a soakaway at least 4 ft deep and link the main drain to the centre of the soak away.You have built your Herringbone Drain. Bear in mind if you hit clay when digging out the soak away it's not going to work and you will need to look at either connecting into the surface water drain system or possibly a ditch or stream running through or around your property.

Soakaway drainage trench
For lawns that are level and water lays on the surface, a soak away trench could work. Dig a trench about 2ft deep and 2ft wide along the length of the lawn. Partly fill the trench with about 9in of brick rubble, then 8 ins of gravel and replace the turf.

Do not connect into the Foul drainage system: this is the drainage system that removes the waste from the toilet, bath, sinks, washing machines, dishwashers and showers and you will need permission from the local council.

You can connect into the surface water drainage: this is the drainage system that deals with rainfall from your gutters etc.

In gardens that slope away from the house it may not be possible to connect the gravel drains directly into the surface water drainage system and the rain water may need to be drained into a sump and pumped. I have included some basic information on the drainage sump and pumps page. also some other drainage systems you may want to consider.

Important. After the gravel surface drainage system has been installed.

Returf over grit sand. Ask your gardener to spread grit sand over the area to be turfed, this will ensure the drains work to there full capacity. If you are not laying new turf over the completed drainage system, spread grit sand over the whole lawn. Leave the tips of the grass showing, wait for the grass to grow through and repeat several times. Hard work but you will end up with a level well drained lawn that's nice to walk on. See the lawn care tips on the landscape gardeners page. I also offer a lawn turfing service in all areas of Southern England, where we have installed land drainage systems.

Bog area & water feature. You could try making the most of waterlogged areas in gardens and lawns by installing a bog garden area filled with colourful bog plants,I have listed few here garden ponds.

Or you could hire me and my team to drain your garden for you. Contact Garden Drainage Contractor
Lawn and garden drainage services, Waterlogged garden drainage systems installed. Solutions to Garden and Lawn drainage problems in Bristol, North Somerset, Somerset, Devon, South Wales, Midlands, London and Southern England. Waterlogged garden and lawn solutions, installing french drain systems to correct garden drainage problems

What does a Garden drainage system cost.
How much will it cost for me or a landscape gardener/garden drainage specialist In your locality, to install garden and lawn drainage in a small to medium garden? About �1800. depending on access and levels.Home visits to prepare a quote, cost from �100 depending on distance. This is refunded when the quote is accepted and the land drainage work is carried out. Garden drainage contractor and installers quotes are available in Weston super mare,Bristol,Bath,Taunton,Yeovil,Wells and all towns in Somerset,North Somerset,South Wales,Devon,Wiltshire,Hampshire,Dorset,Berkshire,Birmingham and London.

D.I.Y.Garden drainage plans
click here

Downloadable plans and step by step advice to enable you to install your own lawn or garden drainage.

Your feedback please

If you found this page useful, please share it with others who might find it helpful too.
1 Copy and paste this url http://www.flowerpotman.com/lawnsandgardendrainage.html
2 Add a note of your own,
3 Paste it into your blog, Web page, forums, a blog comment or your Facebook account, anywhere that someone with a soggy garden would find it. Thanks if you do.

About flowerpotman ( Address) Home page (services) Privacy (policy)

This landscape gardening services and DIY information website is published and edited by Mike Ballard

Garden and Lawn Drainage contractors and installers

Waterlogged gardens and lawns drainage installation

landscape gardeners

patios and block paving

garden fencing

cottage gardener

cottage garden landscaper

garden decking

Clevedon landscapers

landscape sloping gardens

dry stone walls

sloping garden pictures

lawns and garden drainage

shady area lawn

planting a camomile lawn

garden drainage pictures

drainage sump and pumps

how to break up clay soil

water table

garden drainage systems

disabled gardening

garden design elderly

raised garden beds

no dig gardening

tools for the disabled

enabled garden landscaper

Wheeled garden seat

gardening with bad back

garden for alzheimers

childrens play garden

Create a child's garden

play bark surface

rubber chippings surface

building a boules court

lawn care

lawn turfing

green lawn tips

Top soil delivered

garden ponds

frogs in my garden

bog garden

Bog garden plants

pond life

sensory gardens

sensory garden designs

Sensory garden plants

herb garden

How to make herbal tea

growing a wildflower lawn

wildflower pictures

meadow butterflies

native british hedgerow

wildlife garden

Soil wildflowers grow in

wildlife friendly plants

small garden ideas

Growing in containers

small vegetable garden

fox,rabbit,wasp,

companion planting

wasp control

wild rabbit control

how to clear ivy

Bindweed

Clearing Bramble

gifts for gardeners

elderly gardeners gifts

gardeners online shop

hay bale garden

greenhouse gardening

winter greenhouse heating

greenhouse plants winter

second hand greenhouses

Greenhouse wanted adverts

used garden machinery

the simple life

growing your own

local shops

landscape gardening

sowing seeds