I am sick of the garden it's waterlogged again.

[WildFlowerBees]

Clay soil, garden is on a slight slope to garage. Every year at the lowest point against the garage wall it's waterlogged and the rest of the garden is just a squelchy mess. We have to wait months for it to dry out enough to mow it.

Are we going to have to remove the (rubbish) turf, mix in some sand and re lay decent turf?

I'm told we can't level off the garden as it'll cause damp in the garage.

I want to put some lovely plants in this year but I can't stand the crap grass and months of it being so soggy.

That would be a great spot for wildlife. There’s loads of plants that would like it round there. Acorus, purple lythrum, marshmallow, astilbe, forget me nots, dwarf bulrush are all in my bog areas. And love it.

@SwanShaped

That would be a great spot for wildlife. There’s loads of plants that would like it round there. Acorus, purple lythrum, marshmallow, astilbe, forget me nots, dwarf bulrush are all in my bog areas. And love it.

Thank you!

@SwanShaped

Did you line your pond? We dug one and it fills naturally so I haven’t lined it.

But no frogspawn

french drain that goes to a soakaway.

This is what we were advised (and what we're planning on doing next year). Plus planting more trees at the back that soak up water.

I actually bought one of those preformed hard plastic ones. Our garden is tiny so I only have a small area. Next door have a pond and we got a frog within a month! No spawn tho but maybe this year.

Btw, I’m still a beginner when it comes to gardening. But I enjoy experimenting now I don’t worry about getting it right first time. And I quite like the fact that you have to wait another year if something doesn’t work out. It’s such a slow pace compared with normal life.

Agree with @BalladOfBarryAndFreda - we've got clay and it was really waterlogged but a couple of crab apple trees and a weeping willow have stopped the problem. We've got a biggish garden though, so the willow is a good distance from the house.

Definitely look at field drains, you can get corrugated plastic piping.
It may also be worth checking if your surface water drains go into a soak away or the sewer. If they go into a soak away it may be worth sending surface water into a sewer instead to reduce the amount of water your garden is having to deal with.

Our garden is a bit smaller than yours but had exactly the same slope and drainage problems. We had 3 french drains installed, leading to a soakaway at the lowest point. We also levelled it a bit. It’s completely transformed it, no more water logging. In the winter we can see our neighbours have standing water on the lawn but ours is fine.

Trees have been our answer, and a hedge all down one side. They have made a massive difference, no more standing water. We also bought wildflower turf suitable for shade and wetland. Now have ragged robin, wild geraniums, cowslips etc. Despite clay under topsoil and shade. Latest good news was the arrival of a hedgehog last summer. So, good luck.

Rogersia is a lovely plant for dampish shady areas. Several species all with big striking leaves and big stalks of fluffy white flowers in summer.

Bog garden is good, with swan’s suggestions.

I have a swamp cypress.

Don’t try grass on the bit that gets waterlogged, it doesn’t like being under water, go for gravel or bark instead. Look at the “Harlow Carr” series of candelabra primroses. If you fancy ornamental grasses, look at sedges (Carex sp) instead

We dug a temporary pond to deal with run-off from the higher ground next door, which allowed us to raise a couple of beds slightly.

Long term, set up a compost heap, and mulch the garden with your own compost every year. This will improve the water holding property of the soil which paradoxically will mean less standing water in winter but more importantly will stop the clay baking hard in summer. And you will be able to sit back smugly while other people are wailing at the amount of watering they have to do.

Ooh, @strawberriesarenot where did you get that turf? I love ragged robin.

@SwanShaped

Ooh, *@strawberriesarenot* where did you get that turf? I love ragged robin.

www.tillersturf.co.uk/wildflower-turf

You can look at the species lists for different soil types. It's been so lovely.
Trees and hedging really do act like sponges. We put in silver birch, rowan, oak and a blue spruce as well as hedging. The garden is full of birds and no sodden patches any more.

Thanks! My garden is so small but I’m trying to cram in as much as possible.

It looks amazing! I’ve just dug up loads of flag iris that was taking over everywhere (don’t plant it, OP, it goes wild!) and need something new for the even more wet spot. Hadn’t realised how much water it was sucking up until I took it out and now there’s a massive muddy puddle.

my friend inherited a very water logged garden to her dismay as she is a very keen gardener. She had a pond put in and lots of water/boggy loving plants. Sometimes you just need to go with it !

Same problem here! We moved in just over a year ago to a large ish garden, all grass, with one small planted bed. I've put in borders all round with some thirsty plants which has made a huge difference. I'm planning on aerating and sanding this year to reach the bits of lawn that are still incredibly boggy (nearest house, furthest from thirsty border plants!). However I think I might look into drainage too for the worst bits.

However, even the worst bits are better than last year after being aerated lots and homemade compost additions. I think it will be a long and slow process..

Definitely make your own compost and regularly improve the soil with it. It has made a huge difference to my soil.

How does the water drain from your house and garage roof? If it goes into a soakaway, install the biggest water butts you can find on all downpipes. Draw off the water to use on the garden when it's dry. In the winter use the water to flush loos, wash car etc so that you always have room to capture roof water when it rains and stop it flooding the garden.

Do you need grass in your garden? It's very hard to improve clay soil underneath grass but easy in planted shrubbery. Could you have wide, winding paths surrounded by planting instead of a lawn? If you really need lawn then keep it long over winter as it will withstand walking better than a close cropped lawn.

Marsh marigold, meadowsweet, ladys smock, ragged robin, purple loosestrife are all stunning flowers for a damp wildflower area

My parents had this when they moved into what was then a new build. My dad dug a deep hole, I want to say about 1.5m deep, and filled most of it with rocks with a bit of topsoil on the top, and that seems to have sorted it. The house is on an old farmyard so there'd been decades of tractors and cows then a year of builders compacting the soil, but the water just needed somewhere to go.

Plant an alder. It will thrive, enrich the soil, and take a lot of the water out.

I'm thinking of planting a crab apple (gorgeous) as we also need some privacy as where our decking is we are overlooked by neighbours.

French drain or soak away is going in along the garage wall and I've made a list of all the thirsty plants you've all suggested.

I need a garden designer! I am utterly clueless my minds eye is blank.

I’d embrace it and opt for plants that like a waterlogged soil personally.

Willow trees, Marsh marigolds, astilbe, Rogersia, purple loose strife, forget me not (the perennial pond one) are all lovely and would do really well.

There are loads and loads of lovely colourful plants that would do really well and bog gardens are great for wildlife.

I think you have to work with what you have really

we have similar heavy clay soil, also live at the bottom of a hill.
Lots of planting has worked for us. The garden was just lawn (new build) when we moved in 20 yrs ago, and very wet. over that time we've created 3 large flower beds(plus patio, plus gravelled seating area under a pergolla) and have filled it with shrubs and trees (as well as pernnials and anuals but they dont really help with the water issue)
We have 2 cherry trees(one very big), 2 lilacs,2 eucalyptus and most importantly a twisted willow in the dampest corner. Lots of other shrubs, some evergreen.
Now it is gerneally fine. Can get a bit squelchy on the lawn in the midst of a very wet winter spell, but other than that is OK

You need lots of planting of things that will tolerate the conditions and take up enough water.

We also have bloody leatherjackets which we have treated over and over and still they refuse to budge. I'm tempted to take up the turf rotavate then add some sand and topsoil and re lay a decent turf.

Put in a soak away then plant. Bloody gardens!