"MM" wrote in message
...
My brand-new house has a patch at the back which is nominally
designated 'the garden'. It is nice and level, but is extremely soggy.
At the moment it is bare earth with a few tufts of samphire-like weeds
here and there (this is reclaimed land in the Fens).

It's been soggy ever since I moved here (6 weeks ago) and there are
continual puddles of water everywhere. I cannot walk on it without
wellies. Are certain shrubs good for drawing up the water? What about
a lawn - best to sow lawn seed or get some turf? Any other ideas to
soak up the water? I did think of digging a deep pit and filling it
with gravel.

MM
I live in the fens and this must be the wettest 12 months I remember. My
land is completely waterlogged at present and the dykes surrounding the land
are full so any new rain has nowhere to go. There is a layer or water on the
surface and another 3 inches of mud underneath that :0( I am praying for a
few days of dry windy weather.
I would say that before thinking about doing anything to your garden, wait a
few weeks or months to see if it dries out because if it is just this awful
weather causing the problem, it might go away of its own accord in time.