Spider thank you very much for your reply the ground is usually very wet I believe because it has alot of clay in the soil, now I have 2 trains of thought either dig in drainage or make a bog garden, the only problem with that is the grass which is pretty useless right now.

I have planted a laurel hedge across the back wall and want to continue it down the right hand boundary, I wonder if I layed a couple of those perferated pipes could I direct them to the laurels to help keep them watered or is that a bad idea?

Eventually we want to build an extension with hardsanding for furniture, but this will only exasperate the already poor drainage I fear. Here are a couple of pictures one as it is now and one with plans of how it will be when finished. Cheers people...