Drainage advice?

[bettz1]

Hi we moved into our house Nov 2015 and the first winter all the grass died we had Moss all down the left side near the fence and the lawn was very boggy.

I aerated the lawn, put sharp sand down in places and added compost and top soil then reseeded the lawn.

This winter the grass has survived bit it's patchy in places and we still have trouble with water pooling when it rains in places.The grass is also squelchy.

What could I do to improve the drainage? I've looked at perhaps putting in French drains but I've nowhere for the water to go.

The only drain we have in the garden is where the sink, washing machine water goes to

Would it be worth rotavating it and adding in sharp sand & compost then re seeding?

 

[Doggit]

Now I'm no expert in this, but you can see that there's too much water pooling to be dealt with by adding things to the soil. Although what is the makeup of the soil, is it clay based, and how far does the soil go down before chalk etc. Moss overtakes the grass because of poor drainage, or from poor sunlight in the garden.

I suspect you need a land drain here to drain the excess water away, but are the drains low enough to get the land drain into, or would you need to take it into a soakaway. Here's a quick article for installing a land drain

 

[bettz1]

Now I'm no expert in this, but you can see that there's too much water pooling to be dealt with by adding things to the soil. Although what is the makeup of the soil, is it clay based, and how far does the soil go down before chalk etc. Moss overtakes the grass because of poor drainage, or from poor sunlight in the garden.

I suspect you need a land drain here to drain the excess water away, but are the drains low enough to get the land drain into, or would you need to take it into a soakaway. Here's a quick article for installing a land drain

I'm not sure how far the clay goes down, When I aerated the soil spring last year I pulled out no end of bricks and builders rubbish,towards the top end of the garden we hit hardcore, the front end bottom right I couldn't get the fork all the way in before hitting something hard.

Can I install a soakaway as I've buildings on the right garage and one at the back? I don't think I'll have a 5 m gap.

The drain sits on the top so I'm not sure how easy it would be if possible to connect to.

 

[Nige F]

You shouldn't connect surface water to that foul drain - is there a rainwater drain/downpipe somewhere ? even in a neighbours garden

 

[bettz1]

You shouldn't connect surface water to that foul drain - is there a rainwater drain/downpipe somewhere ? even in a neighbours garden

We've a drain pipe you can just see in the 4th picture to the left of the kitchen drain

 

[JohnD]

no end of bricks and builders rubbish

Builders and their rubbish are a menace.

It's hard work, but if you are fit enough, it's worth digging over the whole garden, over time, taking out a trench across the whole width at least a spit deep, and cleaning out the rubbish. I used a hand rotary sieve but you can get mechanical soil screens, or make one up with steel mesh in a frame. If you start at the end furthest from the house you will not have to keep walking and barrowing over dug soil.

Loosen the bottom of the trench with your fork, and add organic matter if you can get it. I used horse muck which is readily available. Wood shavings bedding is clean, dries, and does not smell. Straw bedding is less pleasant. Gypsum (plaster) improves the crumb of clay, and is fairly cheap, especially if you can find a source of time-expired or damp bags. All this will improve drainage and the soil.

You can rake the surface smooth, but it will show footprints until it settles. It's OK for flowerbeds and vegetables but will not be ready for a lawn for a year. Where you plan a lawn, add grit sand to the top two inches. However if you use a dry organic mulch, it will not be muddy while you wait for the ground to settle, so you can sit out there or let children play. You can rake it away when you are ready for the lawn.

If you dig a deeper trench all round the garden, you can put your rubble into it and it will act as a soakaway. You can turf or pave over it.

 

[London Mike 49]

You can buy garden soakaway crates that will give you a good long term solution to your we lawn.
All you have to do is dig a hole or two depending on how many soakaways you want in the garden and cover the crate with a least 6 inches of topsoil/turf and you are good to go.
Here is how they look in situ https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?img...M7SAhXpKcAKHb3zCw4QMwgeKAMwAw&iact=mrc&uact=8

Good luck
Mike

 

[bettz1]

You can buy garden soakaway crates that will give you a good long term solution to your we lawn.
All you have to do is dig a hole or two depending on how many soakaways you want in the garden and cover the crate with a least 6 inches of topsoil/turf and you are good to go.
Here is how they look in situ https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://c8.alamy.com/comp/G2GD91/soak-away-crate-in-position-in-a-domestic-garden-ready-to-be-wrapped-G2GD91.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-soak-away-crate-in-position-in-a-domestic-garden-ready-to-be-wrapped-104853197.html&docid=iVG3OBg3Broh5M&tbnid=f8r-GNRdGoVOCM:&vet=1&w=1300&h=964&client=safari&bih=672&biw=1024&q=garden soakaway crates&ved=0ahUKEwi94vLSrM7SAhXpKcAKHb3zCw4QMwgeKAMwAw&iact=mrc&uact=8

Good luck
Mike

Ive looked at the soak away crates before I think that'll be the easier solution maybe place a few down the side it's boggy.

I've also been told to get a bag of gypsum and mix that in so I could perhaps do that at the same time

 

[Nige F]

You could always investigate the rainwater drain ( that I din't see) no problem a french drain linking to that .

 

[Doggit]

The picture if the soakaway crates doesn't show the geocel membrane that needs to go round it to stop the earth falling into it. This'll explain the principle better. You can site the soakaway crate into the centre of the garden, as unlike a builders rubble soakaway, they don't take up much space. You could dig two trenches one down, and one across the centre of the garden, and then take the land drains into the soakaway crate. The geocell membrane would go in first, then then crate, then you'd poke the land drains into the crate, and then bring the membrane up and over the crate, and around the drains. Or as NigeF suggests, see if you can get the land drains into the rainwater drains. You'll need to make sure you get a fall on the land drains, otherwise they won't take the water away.

Depending on how much work you are prepared to do to the garden, you can then just rotovate the top of the garden, compact it (in dry weather) and then lay turfs, and you'll have a useable garden in a week or so.

 

[bettz1]

The picture if the soakaway crates doesn't show the geocel membrane that needs to go round it to stop the earth falling into it. This'll explain the principle better. You can site the soakaway crate into the centre of the garden, as unlike a builders rubble soakaway, they don't take up much space. You could dig two trenches one down, and one across the centre of the garden, and then take the land drains into the soakaway crate. The geocell membrane would go in first, then then crate, then you'd poke the land drains into the crate, and then bring the membrane up and over the crate, and around the drains. Or as NigeF suggests, see if you can get the land drains into the rainwater drains. You'll need to make sure you get a fall on the land drains, otherwise they won't take the water away.

Depending on how much work you are prepared to do to the garden, you can then just rotovate the top of the garden, compact it (in dry weather) and then lay turfs, and you'll have a useable garden in a week or so.

Tbh I don't fancy tapping into the downpipe I don't want to mess with that.

How far deep would you go when installing the Soak away create? I don't mind digging 2 channels and adding some pipe, would it be best in the middle of the garden as it's tending to flood bottom left?

 

[Doggit]

Here's a good youtube video explaining the basics, and this one is for the land drains. You should be able to work on a single crate, possibly 2, so it's your choice which is easier, digging out all that earth, or digging a much smaller hole to access the surface water drain, but that's only if it goes down far enough. Depending on the depth of the surface drain, you might be able to set the land drain in a bit higher than normal.

I'd be inclined to put the soakaway furthest from the waterlogged section.

 

[bettz1]

Here's a good youtube video explaining the basics, and this one is for the land drains. You should be able to work on a single crate, possibly 2, so it's your choice which is easier, digging out all that earth, or digging a much smaller hole to access the surface water drain, but that's only if it goes down far enough. Depending on the depth of the surface drain, you might be able to set the land drain in a bit higher than normal.

I'd be inclined to put the soakaway furthest from the waterlogged section.

Thinking about it I might dig down at the drain pipe and see where the surface water drain goes and how far down. How would I connect to the surface water pipe?

 

[Doggit]

Now there I'm stumped, as I don't do underground drainage very much. The land drains are 100mm plastic, so you need to change the sufrace drain to accept the land drain connection. Unless someone joins in here, then a trip down to your local jewsons should come up with a connector, possibly something like this. But I suspect you need an inlet a little lower down.

 

[bettz1]

Now there I'm stumped, as I don't do underground drainage very much. The land drains are 100mm plastic, so you need to change the sufrace drain to accept the land drain connection. Unless someone joins in here, then a trip down to your local jewsons should come up with a connector, possibly something like this. But I suspect you need an inlet a little lower down.

I was thinking I could cut the pipe and maybe add on something like this?

Bye the way thank you for your help