Garden in knee deep water during winter months

[Narmelleth]

I could really use some advice as this is really getting me down.

The garden is a mess to the point I refuse to step foot outside. I want to redo the whole thing so I can finally enjoy it.

Only issue is that in the winter months for the last two years we started getting flooded. This is not a bit of water, a few puddles here and there.
This is properly knee deep water at its worse, ankle deep at the best case.

The garden backs up at private woodland and from what i have seen lots of the water enters from there when it rains.

Before I bother redoing the garden, is there anything I can do to sort the flooding?
Is blocking the back entrance with a barrier of sorts realistic?
Trying to raise the garden level so we are higher than the woods? Is that feasible?
I don't think rain gardens and planting a few water loving plants are going to cut it. There is so much water.

I don't want to spend money and energy fixing the garden only for the flooding to put me back to zero.
Advice on solutions and what kind of specialists would you call is appreciated.

I think you need a flood specialist or flood risk consultant to advise you. I wouldn’t spent any money on the garden until you figure out why it’s flooding so badly. Hopefully they can tell you how to fix it. Sorry about your garden- sounds rubbish.

I agree. I don't think that this is a mere (oops. sorry for pun) gardening problem. It's a flooding / fabric of the building / insurance problem.

Speak to your neighbours. Speak to your insurers.
There's an Environment Agency webpage here.

Actually, you might do better posting this in the 'property / DIY forum, rather than gardening.

The other posters are right but if you’re not engaging a specialist any time soon I’d plant some willow in the interim.

You can stick green willow sticks in the earth or pop them in a jar of water and they’ll grow roots in a week or so and pop them in the ground. They’re thirsty plants so good for boggy spots. We had a mud kitchen under one at work and it was hopeless as there was no mud, despite other areas close by being boggy still.

Thank you everyone. I will check what specialists are around in my area and will re-post in DIY as well

I think there is an online sepa map of areas and their flood risk.
Is there farmland that has had drainage put in that is directing more water to you. Has it changed recently?

Just checked the gov.uk page for flood risks at my area and apparently low risk across everything. 😐

There are some fields with farm animals around 0.2 miles from us, but we are separated by a main road. Not sure if they will be doing something that is now affecting us. There is a river/stream next to that road which potentially can be getting overflowed resulting at the woods behind us turning into a big lake. I might need to wait now for the heavy rain to start and see what is happening.

I’d be installing a soakaway. Dependent on your plot it is something you can do yourself if you have the strength and inclination. Lots of info on YouTube but also many companies who specialise in them. Soakaway systems can deal with considerable flooding and the change to your garden will be transformative.

I’d also be looking at trying to alter the gradient of the land to redirect the water flow. But that isn’t necessarily possible and could be a lot more involved than adding a drainage system.

We are having to create a soak away/land drain in our garden for this kind of problem. We are on clay soil so during heavy rain the water takes a long time to soak in so a trench is being dug filled partly with stones/shingle then top soil.

Contact your local council’s flood risk management team and highways team. It could be that there is a problem with the nearby stream or highway drains, maybe a blockage that is causing it to overflow into the woodland and then into your garden.

If the river stream turning into a lake is newish then perhaps speak to someone at sepa as there might be a blockage somewhere else.
Water can seep through the ground under the road if you are downhill of the fields on the other side.

We got a soak away put in our garden and it totally got rid of this issue. We used to hate going out in winter because it was so wet and muddy and the dog was constantly filthy. Now it’s a dream. It was quite a big project though but it worked amazingly well!

If its a new issue, it must really be a change. Lots will be climate related, but are the road drains blocked?
Then a soakaway.

Winter wet and dry summer is difficult for a lot of plants!

you could always build a flood proof wall...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-67943743

https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/news/how-this-homeowner-self-built-a-360ft-wall-around-his-home-to-prevent-it-being-flooded

Slightly joking but I was so impressed with how effective it was. Like others said, I would take professional advice.