Swampy garden

micks

My back garden is ,well damp,swampy is a bit OTT
it has been suggested that i plant trees/flowers etc
just wondering isthere any types that are particulary thirsty ??
any help appreciated

Doper Than U

Willow trees, reeds, watercress (edible ), I believe blueberries do well on damp soil, but it has to be acid.

kadman

Alder, Birch, Eucalyptus. Plus all the medicinal herbal uses of these trees, as well as the coppicing for firewood.

kadman

RicardoSmith

Are these plants that thrive in damp conditions or that will help to dry up the ground?

Victor

Why is it swampy is it the lie of the ground or do you have leaky plumbing?

rooferPete

Hi Victor,

On my site have a lot of ponding water, it takes a couple of days after rain for the water to drain away.

I think it's a local problem, the soil is very heavy and even well drained sites have this problem, I have got used to it over time.

The biggest nuisance is when the grass is growing at full strength and it rains twice in the same week, it means the lawn mower has to be set high and maybe two cuts if I'm lucky to get the place looking respectable.

kadman

RicardoSmith wrote:

Are these plants that thrive in damp conditions or that will help to dry up the ground?

Some trees can use between 50-100 gallons per day, so removing this volume of water, has to have a drying effect on the surrounding area. Depending on the tree , some thrive , and grow more vigorously , the more water available.

kadman

Jim Kernsey

micks wrote:

My back garden is ,well damp,swampy is a bit OTT

I have the same problem too.

There used to be a nice lawn in my back garden, but then we got a dog. Between the swampy clay and the dog I now have a mud bath.

The soil is more so clay.

I have resolved to do something this summer, but not sure what exactly to do.

thinking of hiring a rotavator and they buying lawn tiles and laying them.

What do you think?

kadman wrote:

Some trees can use between 50-100 gallons per day

What size are these trees?


JK

kadman

[QUOTE=Jim Kernsey



What size are these trees?


JK[/QUOTE]

Alder, fast growing, screen or hedge, loves wet boggy soil, in sun or partial shade, 12-15 ft high.

kadman

redman

One tip is to put in subsurface drainage channels sloping away from the house and into a deep(6-10ft) "soak pit" that you dig out and fill with rubble. The rubble should be layered up from big to smaller pieces and then covered over with soil (about 2 ft worth). The drain channels were about 1 - 2 feet below the soil using pebbles and the special holepunched flexible drain tubing you will get in Chadwicks.

Please note though you need to be careful depending on the garden and position that it doesn't overflow and affect your neighbours! One way I have seen is to you a barrel in the soak pit and have a pump with a level switch that automatically comes on when the barrel fills and then pumps the water via a pipe into the drainage system.

I did this in a previous garden and it helped a lot.

Also you can get a lawn hole pucher (rent one ) which digs out small cylinders of soil. Then fill these holes with sand.

Also willow trees are great but it will take time for the to grow.

Redman

delly

I'm in the same position at the moment with my back garden. I believe my problem comes from behind tho' as my back wall is about 11 foot high, with my neighbours garden level about 5 foot higher than mine, which all results in me living with mini ponds.

My plan is to get somebody in to sort it by hopfully adding sand to the soil mix to try and dry it up a bit, but also to put in some form of drainage that can be connected to one of my outpipes.

I recently removed a load of sunken sleepers that were used as steps, but the holes are still full of water from that big rainfall a week or so ago.

delly

redman wrote:

Also willow trees are great but it will take time for the to grow.

Redman

I have willow tree in the back garden :eek: obviously the previous owners were fully away of the problem

micks

cheers for the replies

i think the main problem is a high water table and poor drainage in the estate
they have been working on the drainage for a while with cctv etc

the green outside our house has permanently got surface water

there's no surface water in my garden but the ground "squelches" as you walk

i am looking to grow whatever to dry up the ground a bit
by coincident we planted a willow last week
so maybe a few more
i am hoping its a temp prob as the builders dug a channel at the bottom of the gardens and put the yellow drainage piping and gravel
so hopefully when they sort the surface water drainage in the estate that might help

thanks again

delly

Just been checking on google, and theres a load of info to check out. Do a search for "french drain" and you'll get some good hits.