Do I need gravel to assist my waterlogged garden?

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I dug up a border this year and got enthusiastic - a little too enthusiastic. I seem to have dug up and underground spring, on another thread someone suggested it is the Surrey earth born but I really don't know.

The heavy clay soil I relocated to the bonfire and replaced with relatively light soil from the decades-old bonfire thinking this would sort out any new border plants a treat! However, we've had the coldest, wettest spring so far in a long time and while that part of the garden was prone to flooding, we have an unwelcome pond down the end of the border, and the new soil is like a mud slush puppy, you couldn't plant much in it, it would drown. You can see from the picture attached, little pockets of puddles dotted along then a big pond, still like that now despite no great downpour.

Or is the new soil meant to be some lovely loam-style thing? I can't see it myself.

A neighbour said to assist drainage I should put some gravel into the earth. I can only see this working if, well, it stops water from the underground spring from rising up! I did hack through some hard granite-type rock thinking what the hell, and found to my bemusement that water was rising up into the hole! Perhaps I sort of messed up and it means the garden border has sprung a leak? Do I have to replace what I took out - clay, gravel - with some hard stuff to keep the spring contained?

I think you need to find somewhere for the water to go. Even pure gravel won't drain if the water doesn't have anywhere to go...

In my new heavy clay, fairly often waterlogged garden I'm digging a big pond in the lowest point precisely so that the water has somewhere to go.

I had a garden like that and turned it into a pond and a big garden. Really good for wildlife and you can get some lovely plants. Also I got a dwarf willow tree.

That should say bog garden. Autocorrect changed it.

I agree with the pp I would lean into it and turn it into something more intentional - dig the hole out a little more and plant some marshy plants to create a wildlife pond

Thanks! Should say - and I forgot to say this on the other thread - that there is stream at the end of the garden and one thought is to get a slightly underground pipe that leads to the stream, being sure to have it going down hill. That said, this flooding was only a problem to the same extent AFTER digging up the clay and losing some of the granite stuff that seemed to keep the spring down. It's all very odd, I mean I try to do stuff and it leads to another thing!

Are you sure you didn't hit a water pipe that needs repairing?

Adding organic matter will help the soil hold more water so I would add bark chips rather than gravel and lay them on top of the soil to avoid damaging its structure.

Look up having a swale - essentially you put a whole lot of gravel and stones deep underground to give the water somewhere to drain to and then put earth and plants on top. they are very fashionable at the moment to improve drainage.

This. Sounds potentially lovely and great for wildlife

I did wonder about that because I happened upon what seems to have been a big tree root down the further end but it was so large I couldn't see what it belonged to - we do have two large oak trees within 50m however. I did even wonder if it were a pipe I'd hacked into because the water just came out of the earth though not from the 'pipe' or root - I mean it's not a metal pipe or anything like that. I didn't like to hack at it.
But the other water along the border is bubbling up since I got down the granite part of it and made a hole of sorts, so it does seem more like an underground spring. I don't know what the options are or rather which of the options I'll go for - a swale sounds like what I've just been diligently getting rid of, with lousy consequences! So I may just have to try put it back.

A swale would work well if you know where the water is coming from and can carry the water away effectively - have a look at rain gardens for ideas on how to design it. They often have shallow bowl like ponds to store excess water in winter but dry out in summer. I haven't got that kind of garden so never tried it.

Definitely enrich the soil in your beds with organic matter as well. When clay is dug too much or impoverished it will hang onto less water. It's why new build gardens are so often flooded swamps in the early years.

Honestly I'd not bother wasting time and energy fighting against it and instead I'd make the most of it being waterlogged and create a wildlife pond and bog garden. They can be absolutely gorgeous.

Are you sure you hit a spring? My garden which is on the site of an old clay quarry looks like that without me hitting anything. When we first moved in I had a complete panic and thought I would have to fix it and put in soakaways etc, but I've found that I can just let it do its own things and come later spring/summer it is completely fine and lots of plants love the soil. It might make you feel better to look at Monty Don's instagram, because his garden completely floods in places and he just leaves it be, knowing that in summer all will be well.

I kind of assumed it was a spring because I hit through a load of granite and rock - thinking I was doing a good thing - and then water started seeping up from the ground and into the hole! Freaked me out.

Of course, it's also been the rainiest March in a decade so that contributes to it - wish I'd taken a photo a day or so ago, almost half the garden was flooded, never known anything like it in decades (it's the family home which is how I know).