How to get rid of a puddle in back garden

bobbyss

Just outside patio back door saw a puddle. It is not a lawn area. There has been a lot of rain recently. Rain not getting through the soil.

So I stared digging a little down. It was very difficult to dig as it seemed like all rock. Yet when I started to dig up a little it was all very mucky.
Mucky and stoney. Hard to dig into. Very little soil as such.

As an amateur with very little DIY skills how should I deal with this problem?

My intention was to dig down, remove all the mucky slimy soil and rocky stuff and put in lots of small stones to help drainage and then top it with soil.

Am I on the right track or is my plan all wrong? What should i do?

BarryD2

Google 'french drain' - this might help but it would help if there was a bit of a slope. If you want to drain water, it helps to direct it. If it's flat or worse a hollow, then water will sit after heavy rain until it eventually percolates down.

looksee

Is this a newish house? You may be suffering from 'builders' rubbish' - a layer of cement, polythene etc a couple of feet down that has been dumped and soil put on top of it. Or there could be an inadequate soak pit somewhere that the rainwater is supposed to be soaking away through. Or there could be a burst pipe. Or it is just compacted soil that has gradually become impermeable and what you are doing is correct, you may have to go a good way down though.

Edit - just noticed the reference to rock, which is a bit odd, if anything it would improve the drainage, unless it is some way related to a soakpit. You may end up having to get someone to sort it for you, but no harm in giving it a go yourself first. Does the garden generally slope towards the area that is waterlogged?

bobbyss

looksee wrote:

Edit - just noticed the reference to rock, which is a bit odd, if anything it would improve the drainage, unless it is some way related to a soakpit. You may end up having to get someone to sort it for you, but no harm in giving it a go yourself first. Does the garden generally slope towards the area that is waterlogged?

It's all highly compacted soil area. I think it needs to be 'loosened' up a bit. Dig down. Empty it out and put in small stones. A bit like waterlogged pitch.

CosmicFool

bobbyss wrote: »

It's all highly compacted soil area. I think it needs to be 'loosened' up a bit. Dig down. Empty it out and put in small stones. A bit like waterlogged pitch.

Is it grey clay kind of soil? Very dense and heavy?

Mango Joe

I think you've a good handle on this OP.

Remove all the heavy poor soil backfill with gravel and sand etc.

Top up with the best quality topsoil you can....Prob too late in year but if you seed it now grass might grow?!

victor8600

Mango Joe wrote: »

I think you've a good handle on this OP.

Remove all the heavy poor soil backfill with gravel and sand etc.

Top up with the best quality topsoil you can....Prob too late in year but if you seed it now grass might grow?!

Exactly, good advice.

My own backgarden had very poor heavy soil, it was mostly clay with bits of concrete, bits of bags and broken stone like they use in road building. I have dug a foot deep, removed all the rubbish and stones and added some sand and compost. I have also put a percolation channel (a trench filled with the previously removed stones) a foot deep in the lowest part of the garden. It was a lot of work and I would not recommend it for anyone who would not like spending several days in the muck shoveling dirt. There may be professionals available who can do it faster and better!

fryup

i get a large puddle on my patio, it gravitates towards the corner against two walls...if i was to remove the corner slab or drill several holes through it would that help with drainage?

Alkers

It sounds like a soakaway that your looking to build. Is this under the patio? You should relay the patio so it falls to one edge and then deal with the drainage from there.