On 20/07/2012 08:21, uklude wrote:
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...


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Looking at those images, I entirely agree that drainage could only get
worse so, unless you grow your Lavatera in a large pot or plan a raised
bed for it and related plants in your building project, it's never going
to be a happy plant. A raised bed could have a wide coping stone
surround, which would attractively double up as extra seating.

I agree with Echinosum that you don't need to redirect water to your
laurel hedge. It will grow all too quickly without that assistance.
The extra water will just encourage masses of sappy growth which will be
prone to disease and harder to control.

A bog garden is a better idea, but you will have to bear in mind that
those boggy conditions will attract midges, which may not be desirable
when you're sitting out on your patio.

Your plan shows a green area in front of your laurel hedge. If this is
intended to be lawn, you may have a lot of trouble mowing it when the
ground is so soggy. You will probably just tear the turf with the
mower. Also, with the shade from the building and the laurel hedge,
light levels are probably going to be too poor for strong grass growth.
Have you considered a weed-proof membrane covered with gravel or
chippings?

Sorry if most of this sounds negative! In your place I would use a low
boundary wall to allow lots of soil improvement, which would increase
the height of the soil. With heaps of grit or sharp sand and some
coarse compost, you stand a chance of eventually creating some decent
soil. Clay is very good, nutritious soil when made workable. It seems
to me that your property is probably part of a newish build, where the
builders scraped away the good top soil, but failed to replace it (or
enough of it) after the building work was completed. The subsoil is
also very compacted after the weight of machinery and constant treading.

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay