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#1
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What's best to 'dry' a soggy garden?
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 |
#2
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In message , MM
writes 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. Aren't the builders responsible for putting land drains in in a situation like this? The conditions may well affect your house as well as the garden.... -- Klara, Gatwick basin |
#3
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Klara wrote:
In message , MM writes 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. Aren't the builders responsible for putting land drains in in a situation like this? The conditions may well affect your house as well as the garden.... I'd get a surveyor in -- the Local Authority might do it for you -- and sue somebody's backside off. Mike. |
#4
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In article ,
MM wrote: 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. Which would then fill up with water every winter. Save your efforts for something more likely to be effective. I doubt that you will get anywhere with the legal route, but that is another matter. My recommendation is as follows: Make some raised paths (using, say, side boards and gravel) for routes you want to walk on. Move earth so that it is NOT level if you want to plant anything other than wetland plants. That is hard work. Plant willows, wet-loving dogwoods etc. They will draw up water to some extent and won't mind the damp anyway. There are a lot of very attractive, smallish willows. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
#5
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"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. |
#6
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On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 19:13:46 GMT, Janet Baraclough
wrote: The message from "Mike Lyle" contains these words: Klara wrote: In message , MM writes 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. Aren't the builders responsible for putting land drains in in a situation like this? The conditions may well affect your house as well as the garden.... I'd get a surveyor in -- the Local Authority might do it for you -- and sue somebody's backside off. That's premature. Flat, reclaimed, recently built on land in the fens, in the middle of one of the wettest winters, could be expected to be unworkably wet atm. I have sandy, fast draining soil on a hillside, and due to the exceptional rainfall it too has been exceptionally soggy and unworkable all winter until this week when, oh joy, we had four consecutive days without rain. Probably for the first time this winter. OP, you can't judge in midwinter. Particularly this midwinter. Wait and see what happens later in the year; don't sow a lawn until you know. If by May/June it turns out you have a permanently soggy garden, or part of a garden, plants won't dry it. Instead, plant ones which love soggy/boggy conditions...there are many very beautifulo and dramatic ones. The soakaway idea you mention, will only work as a drain if its bottom is above the permanent water table. IOW, if you did a hole into a high water table, you will have a hole full of water. Fill it with stones, and you will have a hole full of stones and water, which does nothing to drain the surrounding area. Interesting points, Janet. Thanks! MM |
#7
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On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 22:37:26 GMT, "ex WGS Hamm"
wrote: "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. Oh, so this weather's exceptional, then! I was beginning to wonder... Looks like I'll just have to be a bit patient. MM |
#8
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I think someone hit the nail on the head - dig some drainage dykes!
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#9
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#10
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wrote in message oups.com... I think someone hit the nail on the head - dig some drainage dykes! Someone did that about 300 years ago :0) |
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