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Gardening

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New build - Land drains and a soak away??

8 replies

Whatcaniwear · 18/03/2022 17:03

We have been in our new build property for three years and our garden is getting worse every year. We have a raised patio that is about 6m x 4m then steps down to a small water logged garden. All around the sleepers that support the patio the grass has died. The soil is clay. Everything we have planted has died. We have two landscape gardeners over to advise. One is suggesting French drains under both the patio and lawn but no soakaway and one is saying French drains but no soakaway as the water will have nowhere to go. Quotes are close to 10k with a new patio and the suggestion of artificial grass. Is this the only solution?

OP posts:
tothemoonandbackbuses · 18/03/2022 17:07

I assume there are both foul and surface water drains so I would ensure all guttering and surface water run off went into the surface water drains.
I don’t know how big your garden is or if other land is higher than yours. If there is no land higher that drains into your garden you could dig out the clay soil and replace it with topsoil.
If other land drains down to you, you need to stop the water at the boundary

tothemoonandbackbuses · 18/03/2022 17:12

I wouldn’t dig the patio up. put those channel drains round the edge to catch the run off

brambleberries · 19/03/2022 11:05

Dig a narrow trench at the edge of your lawn where the grass is dying and fill with sand and top with gravel.
Install one or several stack drains at various points along the trench. No need for landscapers - you can do this yourself!
www.easymerchant.co.uk/patio-drainage/stack-drain/

If the waterlogging is because your lawn is lower than the surrounding gardens, add a layer of topsoil and sand dressing each spring and autumn to gradually raise the level over time.

Whatcaniwear · 19/03/2022 17:11

Thank you all for your comments and ideas. Our lawn backs onto our neighbour's gardens. One has totally paved theirs and the other has put down decking. Either side of us have boggy gardens but their patio's are not so high so maybe that is contributing to why ours is even worse than theirs.

OP posts:
catfunk · 19/03/2022 18:23

I've never bought a new build OP so sorry if this is a silly question but is this stuff not flagged in the surveys ?

Whatcaniwear · 19/03/2022 19:47

We bought off plan and our surveys were all fine. The flooding is not within 3m of the house (because of the raised patio) so we have been informed it is not a problem. I thought it would improve over time but it is getting worse.

OP posts:
deplorabelle · 20/03/2022 06:34

Definitely dig drainage as advised upthread.

After that it depends how much you like gardens. If it were me, I would give up on the lawn as it will always be a struggle to maintain, and concentrate on establishing plants and improving the soil.

Soil that is rich in organic matter is able to absorb a lot more moisture than the kind of knackered mix of compacted soil and rubble that building work leaves behind. It's very hard to improve the soil under a lawn but dead easy on planted beds and paths, because you just lay the new compost on top of the soil as a mulch. Keep doing it spring and autumn at first then annually if you can.

Lift the turf and turn it upside down, then cover it over with loads and loads of compost and manure). Make bark chip paths and plant moisture loving plants such as willow and astilbe. In really boggy areas you could even grow bog plants which will stabilise the soil and give you a bit of interest, and be wonderful for the pollinators, but I suspect with a bit of care you will be able to solve this problem.

Oh last thing, it may well be your roof guttering goes to a soakaway in your garden (ours does). If so, install water butts on your downpipes to catch rainwater. In summer you may well want this to water your newly established planting. In autumn, you can use your water butts as a buffer to spread out the effect of downpour rain storms. Draw off the collected water regularly and use it for flushing the loo, washing the car etc. so the water is being released gradually rather than falling all at once.

Ecosralayce · 20/03/2022 07:52

we move dinto a new build about 20 years ago. Also very heavy clay soil and also at the bottom of a hill!
At the time we couldnt afford drains etc so I have basically just planted it up over time. Ive now got 2 fairly mature cherry trees, a twisted willow tree, 2 lilac trees and a magnolia and lots of plants and shrubs. The big trees really help to take up the water and now it is fine, except perhaps in very very heavy rain when it gets a bit soggy for a day or so .
so I would say think about planting some trees or similar as a natural way to take up the water.

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