Do we have any gardeners?

digitalfailure

digitalfailure

Staff Bog Cleaner 2015
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Or landscapers.......or anyone who knows a reliable and cheap"ish" way to stop a lawn flooding after a decent rain fall?

My back garden is really starting to get on my pip now, :bang:

I'm thinking the problem is solid clay beneath the turf rather than compacted soil, so drainage would seem the way to go.

Anyone done it, what was the success level?

I've tried a soak away, that worked well for the area where it was dug, I've tried sharp sand for a couple of years to try and break the clay naturally.....that's done nothing :bang: so it looks like getting the spade out is the only way.


thoughts.....advice......offers of help on the shovel :thumbs:
 
Now there's an option........but I quite like the green look when the suns dried all the puddles up.
 
Astro turf easy to clean dog turds off as well just hose / sweep and best of all it don't need cuttin' :thumbs:
 
Proper drainage is the way to go. :thumbs:

I'm now all out of advice for the day.
 
what star advice...... I don't know why I didn't ask the question sooner :eek:





/ goes off to plot the demise of many members :D
 
Many options really but depends on how far you are prepared to go......
aerate the soil/lawn with a garden fork, gently raising as you go, buy some of those spike under shoes and every time you are on the garden mowing or whatever, wear them. You can also buy a roller with spikes and roll it every week or more.

Plug the lawn with sand, you can get a tool that will take a sample of soil out about 6in deep and fill with sand, obviously this needs to be done around the lawn in many places......and again after a couple of weeks and so on and so on.
These are not quick fixes though but will save you the cost of re-turfing.

Rent a rotavator for the weekend and work the soil well then lay turf ...quickest but most expensive option.... OR seed.

EDIT: You could also plant some thirsty small trees, bushes or flowers that would hopefully take some of the moisture out of the soil.

EDIT2: Oops! just noticed you tried the sand for a couple of years :eek: Which as you say should have broke the clay down.....It's what I do and also sprinkle sand on top while walking in my spiky shoes :suspect:

How big is the lawn? and how much use does it get?
 
Cut and paste.......

Recommended plants for soggy soils are

Lilies and tuberous plants that soak up
and store water.

Caladiums and Elephant-Ear and
other plants with large surface area leaves.

Ferns are also good at soaking up water.
philodendrons and/or banana type plants,
these are gluttons for water.

The many varieties of HERBS will drink a
lot of water in the summer.
these will also do well in the shade.

Honey-suckle should
help keep the soil dryer.

Shrubs or trees of the Genus Salix (willow)
and Eunonymus are great water users.
Cotton-wood and Catalpa trees are also water hogs.

There are ornamental varieties of
Carex (Sedges) which are
classic bog-plants and also other dozens
of "ornamental grasses" to consider.
A clump or two of hybrid ornamental bamboo
or pampass grass would soak up
hundreds of gallons of water.
 
Cheers for that KenCo

One of the borders does have a large grass type plant in, but that alone isn't enough to cope with the water in that area.

The lawn doesn't actually have that much use, so it's not as if it's been compacted. After a heavy rain fall,the lawn is still fizzing a few days later :(
It's not a massive lawn, which is why I've held off digging trenches and laying pipes, but i'm being forced into action now as the dog takes great delight in splashing in the puddles and then running into the dining room :eek:

The spiky shoes sound fun.....i wonder if I could get a set for the dog....job done :D
 
KenCo said:
Many options really but depends on how far you are prepared to go......
aerate the soil/lawn with a garden fork, gently raising as you go, buy some of those spike under shoes and every time you are on the garden mowing or whatever, wear them. get?
Click to expand...

slightly OT, but i have Golf shoes (for when i play golf obviously), these have spikes of a form on them, would these be good for 'aerating' my lawn?
 
It may not just be down to a clay soil but perhaps you have an impermeable layer (a "pan") and the water just sits on top? :shrug:

I'd investigate a bit further and see what you find when you dig down a couple of spits.....

then get your dog some welly boots :)
 
wez130 said:
slightly OT, but i have Golf shoes (for when i play golf obviously), these have spikes of a form on them, would these be good for 'aerating' my lawn?
Click to expand...

Golf shoes have spikes to stop the greens becoming so compacted and help aerate them ;). However, most lawns aren't as immaculately kept like golf greens and although I don't play golf, I'd presume the spikes on golf shoes are somewhat shorter......They will still be beneficial to your lawn though.
 
If your lawn area isn't that big, rip the turf up, dig down a good few inches and get rid of the clay/soil, stick some gravel down to act as one big soak away and then fill back up with a layer of sharp sand and then top soil, re-lay new or old turf. :D

Depending on lawn size say 50m2 around £100-150 mark for turf, 2-3 bulk bags of gravel around £100-130, 2-3 bulk of sand £50-70, 2-4 tons of top soil goes for about £10-20 a ton. All depends on how far down you dig, would of thought you will need to go down 300mm at least. Oh don't forget the skip hire too. An other option is to have just a couple of tons of good top soil and instead of getting rid of the old soil (Skip), mix in the sand to break it down, then fill in the area before finally adding the good stuff.

I'm not a gardener, but if I were doing it, I would do something like this??
 
digitalfailure said:
Or landscapers.......or anyone who knows a reliable and cheap"ish" way to stop a lawn flooding after a decent rain fall?

My back garden is really starting to get on my pip now, :bang:

I'm thinking the problem is solid clay beneath the turf rather than compacted soil, so drainage would seem the way to go.

Anyone done it, what was the success level?

I've tried a soak away, that worked well for the area where it was dug, I've tried sharp sand for a couple of years to try and break the clay naturally.....that's done nothing :bang: so it looks like getting the spade out is the only way.


thoughts.....advice......offers of help on the shovel :thumbs:
Click to expand...

You need:
JCB
Purple slate
Rocks
water feature
assorted plants
braless bint
tall cockney builder
Dynamite, detonator

Instructions
Dig hole in middle of lawn with jcb
put dynamite at the bottom of hole, run detinator to front of house
put all other ingredients in hole(with or without bralessbint and tall cockney builder, your choice)
go to front of house
detonate dynamite
return to garden, put a couple of chairs up and crack open the champers, wonder if tall cockney builder has been slipping bralessbint anything...

or

get a gardener in
 
Could always move to Spain or Italy.;)

Your next question would then be: anybody know a good rain dance?:D
 
Cheers, the soak away was filled with crushed stone and gravel.

I have no ditches to go into, and the houses behind me are slightly higher so I probably get some of their water.

I can't get into a rain water drain either without digging up the patio :runaway:
 
To paraphrase an old joke - I wouldn't start from where you are - a lawn on solid clay :bang:

The best (easy) solution I've found is let moss take over - it's usually a nice shade of green, doesn't need cutting and it's nice and soft on bare feet and paws :lol: This has worked for our front garden (honest!) but at the back creeping buttercup has won the day. I'm trying to learn to love buttercups in our lawn - when I get flowers I'll post the pics.

The only real solution is not to look too closely - get out more and take photos :thumbs:
 
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