Swampy Garden

Tidyweb

I live in a new house and the garden is just made up of clay from the site.

The grass is good and thick but the drainage is bad.

After rain the garden is very wet and the kids cant play in the garden in the winter because it is too wet.

If I wanted to improve the garden and the drainage how much depth of new top soil would I need to put ontop of the exisiting garden,

Or had anyone a better idea?

Thanks

looksee

You don't seem to be getting many replies here so I will add my 2c worth though I don't claim to know much about drainage.

There is no point putting topsoil on top of clay to improve drainage, it will not make any difference. You need to get someone in with a small digger to dig narrow drainage channels leading to the lowest part of the garden, and put in some gravel and pipes to drain the water away.

There are threads on here about drainage, and lots of good advice. You might have a search for one of these, until someone comes along with some more authorative advice .

bartlguy

Ok so you need to increase drainage.

Adding soil to the top only increases the problem. Rotivate the site to a depth of 10 inches at least. Back breaking work but well worth it in the end.

Generally if the soil is clay and you are in an estate garden well you will have to get a skip for all the rubbish you will pull out of the garden while you are rotivating it. Add some sand to the site such as sand soil which is a mix available from landscape supplies centres. This will also help establishing the new lawn. Depending on the size of you garden below is a method for working out how much sand soil you will need for the site.

sq/m X depth X 1.8

So sq/m of your garden times 0.10cms times 1.8 to give you how many tonnes you need to cover the whole site with 10 cms of new soil etc.

And sure roll out turf is probably what you shud get and lay instead of seed as you have kids. Cheapest if bought all at the same time and prepared to do the work in two days or so.

Tidyweb

The garden is 100% flat and has sunk a little since it was built.

If I rotatate and add sand - will that do it.

Do I need to buy in some top soil?

ponddigger

hi tw ,any photos of your garden,so we might be able to help:Dponddigger:D

Bannasidhe

I'd be very interested in solutions as I have the same problem. Heavy clay soil that is a bog in winter yet been known to crack when we get those few days of summer.

House built 6 years ago, and for first few years had good grass growth but last 3 years its been getting balder and balder due to water not draining combined with dogs and small children churning the 'mud' up.

Tried re-seeding with various guaranteed products, replacing large patches with bought turf but now as I look out my back door I have a grassless bog extending out about 4 feet embossed with a million paw prints and muck dragged through the house (and on to the beds if we forget to close the doors!)

I'm hoping to avoid the Rotavator route due to muck + dogs...
I fear it's a forlorn hope:(

bartlguy

As long as you rotivate the soil and add about 10 cms extra of sand soil mi=x this will undoubtedly help with the drainage of the garden.

bartlguy

Bannasidhe wrote: »

I'd be very interested in solutions as I have the same problem. Heavy clay soil that is a bog in winter yet been known to crack when we get those few days of summer.

House built 6 years ago, and for first few years had good grass growth but last 3 years its been getting balder and balder due to water not draining combined with dogs and small children churning the 'mud' up.

Tried re-seeding with various guaranteed products, replacing large patches with bought turf but now as I look out my back door I have a grassless bog extending out about 4 feet embossed with a million paw prints and muck dragged through the house (and on to the beds if we forget to close the doors!)

I'm hoping to avoid the Rotavator route due to muck + dogs...
I fear it's a forlorn hope:(

For you i would reckon on getting yourself a lawn plug aerator. This removes plugs of soil down to a depth of around six inches and then you buy good quality grass seed with a mix of grass fertiliser and some compost and brush it into the plug holes. Generally this will prevent you from the crackin in summer as long as you do a majority of the garden. Bit by bit obviously.

slowburner

Bannasidhe wrote: »

I'd be very interested in solutions as I have the same problem. Heavy clay soil that is a bog in winter yet been known to crack when we get those few days of summer.

House built 6 years ago, and for first few years had good grass growth but last 3 years its been getting balder and balder due to water not draining combined with dogs and small children churning the 'mud' up.

Tried re-seeding with various guaranteed products, replacing large patches with bought turf but now as I look out my back door I have a grassless bog extending out about 4 feet embossed with a million paw prints and muck dragged through the house (and on to the beds if we forget to close the doors!)
I'm hoping to avoid the Rotavator route due to muck + dogs...
I fear it's a forlorn hope:(

You really only have five options:

• Remove the clay and replace with free draining topsoil
• Invest in a drainage system (see here)
• Forget about grass altogether
• Remove the pets and children

The most common problem with boomtime houses is that builders had a tendency to treat the garden space as a place to hide all sorts of debris.
It's possible, probable even, that what you have is not top soil at all.
It is probably a subsoil devoid of nutrients and made up of fine particulates which don't allow water to percolate through when wet and bind together and harden when dry.
Very few builders would ever go to the trouble of putting back topsoil.

redser7

Tidyweb wrote: »

I live in a new house and the garden is just made up of clay from the site.

The grass is good and thick but the drainage is bad.

After rain the garden is very wet and the kids cant play in the garden in the winter because it is too wet.

If I wanted to improve the garden and the drainage how much depth of new top soil would I need to put ontop of the exisiting garden,

Or had anyone a better idea?

Thanks

You say that the kids can't play on it in the winter. If you want a nice lawn the kids shouldn't play on it in winter. Sorry but even a good and well maintained lawn will be wrecked by traffic during the winter months. I have a nice lawn now (if I do so myself myself) but it does get boggy in winter time. It gets very little light with the low sun and never dries out. However with spring it comes good. What is your lawn like in the warmer months?
You say the grass is good and thick. If the soil was very bad you probably wouldn't get heathy growth like that. So I just wonder if your expectations are too high and if the soil is as bad as you presume? Rather than going down the route of major excavation some simpler solution might be the answer. A hollow-tined aerator will help with drainage. Or even spiking the lawn with a fork would help. This should be done in autumn. Then apply some sharp sand by sweeping it into the holes, again helping drainage and changing your soil structure over time to help it drain better. Also remove the thatch in autumn. This layer of dead grass acts like a sponge and holds water. It also encourages moss which in return makes the site boggy.
So remove thatch with a rake, aerate and apply sand in autumn. If you can, add a topdressing of peat/compost too. And stay off the grass during winter.
This would be a regular lawn maintainence plan to help cope with winter weather.

redser7

Bannasidhe wrote: »

I'd be very interested in solutions as I have the same problem. Heavy clay soil that is a bog in winter yet been known to crack when we get those few days of summer.

House built 6 years ago, and for first few years had good grass growth but last 3 years its been getting balder and balder due to water not draining combined with dogs and small children churning the 'mud' up.

Tried re-seeding with various guaranteed products, replacing large patches with bought turf but now as I look out my back door I have a grassless bog extending out about 4 feet embossed with a million paw prints and muck dragged through the house (and on to the beds if we forget to close the doors!)

I'm hoping to avoid the Rotavator route due to muck + dogs...
I fear it's a forlorn hope:(

Even the very best lawn will end up wrecked by a dog running around on it particularly when it is wet. All that traffic just compacts the soil, removes air pockets and thus takes away its ability to drain. Sorry, but you could spends a fortune trying to remedy this but pets and kids will take their toll and you'll end up heart-broken. You could consider seeding with a courser type of grass (something like that used on playing pitches) that would withstand harsh treatment better, and then employ a regular maintainence program like I posted above. These might help a bit.

Tidyweb

I dont have high expectations.

Basically the garden is swampy under foot, even after a dry period.

As someone mentioned - it isnt topsoil it is just dead clay - but I have worked on it and now have alot of grass.

It has also sunk about 6 inches so I can add to it without having to remove soil.

I am just looking for the best option as I could spend the spring working on it and make no difference.

Its a typical 2000 celtic tigert garden, crap soil, buired debris and boggy.

redser7

ok, get hold of this book, it should have all the info you need to decide how you should progress ...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0903505487/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0903505150&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=0T4XVM9AFKEYS0EFVT38

Morpheus

The most common problem with boomtime houses is that builders had a tendency to treat the garden space as a place to hide all sorts of debris.
It's possible, probable even, that what you have is not top soil at all.
It is probably a subsoil devoid of nutrients and made up of fine particulates which don't allow water to percolate through when wet and bind together and harden when dry.

how do you deal with the situation above?

Ive rotovated twice and put in drainage but theres a ton of stones still knocking about even though ive raked it a lot. should i rake it more and then get topsoil in before seeding? the drainage i put in worked a treat so thats one less problem, i just dont think the surface is plantable at all. some of its nice clay, other sections you can pick up and its like kids plasterscene when you squeeze it.

Tidyweb

I cant get drainage in because it is a small flat garden

lovemygarden

Hi Tidy web. try www.dalylandscapes.ie , nice guy , gives info over the phone,he sorted out my garden over 3 years ago ,perfect ever since,sometimes we have to give in to the professionals,hes not bad on the eye either.

Ophiopogon

Lovemygarden...it's funny how your posts look a lot like spam esp given the "easy on the eye" comment.

lovemygarden

He is actually a good guy, I don't mind recommending good trades men , especially when I'm not up to the job myself

slowburner

Morphéus wrote: »

how do you deal with the situation above?

Ive rotovated twice and put in drainage but theres a ton of stones still knocking about even though ive raked it a lot. should i rake it more and then get topsoil in before seeding? the drainage i put in worked a treat so thats one less problem, i just dont think the surface is plantable at all. some of its nice clay, other sections you can pick up and its like kids plasterscene when you squeeze it.

The problem with stones is that they always migrate to the surface eventually, so yes, the more of these you can get rid of, the better.

The easiest solution and probably the cheapest in the long run, is to get rid of the top 8" (minimum some would say 12") of crappy, stoney, soil and import a slightly larger quantity of good topsoil.
You will need to allow for a bit of settling of the new topsoil.

bungaro79

bartlguy wrote: »

For you i would reckon on getting yourself a lawn plug aerator. This removes plugs of soil down to a depth of around six inches and then you buy good quality grass seed with a mix of grass fertiliser and some compost and brush it into the plug holes. Generally this will prevent you from the crackin in summer as long as you do a majority of the garden. Bit by bit obviously.

i have the same kinda problem with my back lawn bartlguy, can crack in the summer and doesn't drain that well esp in the winter. so i might give this a shot, can you rent one of these from some place or should i buy one?? the lawn isnt huge but the grass isnt that thick and i'm hoping to fix this too. should i just dig up the existing grass and mix top soil with sand to improve drainage??
our place is a new house in an unfinished estate so i'm guessing that landscaping wasnt top of the builders list!