Sand on a lawn - how much and when?
JB wrote:
[...]
Actually not so adventurous and has been considered. Because of the
slope I have considered putting a french drain across the bottom of
the lawn which would still be above a patio where I could put water
tanks. Something like;
Lawn Lawn
Clay Clay Lawn Lawn Lawn
Clay French drain
Clay Clay Upper patio
Water tanks
Lower patio
Whoa there! Don't drain the _bottom_, drain the _top_! The idea of a
drain is to stop the water coming in: if you drain at the bottom, it's
already too late, so you've wasted your time. Put your drain across the
top to stop the water going _into_ the lawn, and down the side so that
it leads into the tank or pond. A pond makes a virtue of necessity, but
of course it will generally need somewhere to overflow to. A big lawn,
especially on a considerable slope, will want at least one more
cross-drain in the middle, also leading to the side drain. Consider
field drainage on a farm: the classic herringbone drains lead into the
ditch down the side, and thence to the river. This is a big job: good
fun, but big.
--
Mike.
|