Ditch at end of garden

drico1

We have just moved into a new house which has a ditch at the end of the garden about 3 inches deep and a couple of feet wide - it spans the entire end of the garden and runs down the line of houses in the neighbourhood. I have checked with SDCC about the options available to me but they couldn't help out much as it is undocumented on their records and hence not under their ownership.

Im concerned primarily for my 2 year old as this ditch contains water during the winter - but also it might presumably bring some "furry friends" along aswell. The water doesn't seem to run very well which probably points to a problem further down the line but this is not an option to investigate as it disappears under a culvert a few doors down.

Therefore, what are my options if I want to fill/cover this ditch? Is it possible to just lay a pipe down in some gravel, and covel over with more gravel? Would filling the ditch with gravel just mean that the water will be pushed up onto my already soggy lawn? any other suggestions - as it is at the end of the garden there is no problem if it remains covered in gravel as we can work our landscaping around it.

any replies appreciated.

Go2Guy

Hi Drico,
I'm not a garden expert but I did work for landscapers for a couple of years and I have drained farmland.
Filling it in will inevitably cause the water to back up somewhere, maybe your lawn or more likely the one "upstream". So while you are well entitled to do as you wish with this unregistered drain, I think blocking it will cause problems down the line. What I was thinking on reading your post was that if your lawn is already "soggy", you can use this drain to your advantage. If it was my lawn I would be considering draining it and it seems this drain is the perfect outlet for the water off your lawn (this might even be the reason this drain was put in originally).
In terms of the water sitting in this drain during winter, I would explore increasing the fall on it (make sure that the most downstream point is low enough to do this). Drainage work is simple and can be done cost efficiently. The most expensive part is the yellow drainage pipe and a bit of stone/gravel.
Anyway it strikes me as a job you can take great pleasure in doing and see great results after...best of luck,
G2G

PS If you're new or new-ish to the area, some local knowlege is invaluable so maybe asking other neighbours will fill you in more.

Go2Guy

Hi again
On re-reading your post...if this drain disappears then perhaps there is zero flow on it (and it's just holding stagnant water) and then my previous post is a waste. If there is zero flow on it then I expect others are just filling it in or blocking it in their lawns. In this case, my advice is to dig a soak-pit and drain your own lawn into it. I would not be worried about blocking the water "flow". Then you can fill in the drain and forget about it.
G2G

Antiquo

drico1 wrote: »

We have just moved into a new house which has a ditch at the end of the garden about 3 inches deep and a couple of feet wide - it spans the entire end of the garden and runs down the line of houses in the neighbourhood. I have checked with SDCC about the options available to me but they couldn't help out much as it is undocumented on their records and hence not under their ownership.

Im concerned primarily for my 2 year old as this ditch contains water during the winter - but also it might presumably bring some "furry friends" along aswell. The water doesn't seem to run very well which probably points to a problem further down the line but this is not an option to investigate as it disappears under a culvert a few doors down.

Therefore, what are my options if I want to fill/cover this ditch? Is it possible to just lay a pipe down in some gravel, and covel over with more gravel? Would filling the ditch with gravel just mean that the water will be pushed up onto my already soggy lawn? any other suggestions - as it is at the end of the garden there is no problem if it remains covered in gravel as we can work our landscaping around it.

any replies appreciated.

D1 is this a new estate? Reson I asked is that the builder should have rectified the open drain.

Sounds like an old land ditch that has been partially filled (3 inches deep) it would be better for you and your neighbours if this was properly drained.

As G2G posted I would be getting onto the residents association. The ditch is removing water from the land and if neighbours downstream decide to fill their bit in the problem will become worse as water spreads from this course into gardens.