waterlogged lawn

[seneca]

hi folks
I've got a lawn that's around 12 x 24 m, and when it rains heavily it becomes waterlogged. There is lot of standing water and it remains soggy for days afterwards. Even after a long period of dry weather after rain, it's still muddy and squelchy to walk on. Is there a way I can remedy this, short of digging up and adding drains/ replacing whole lawn. I have a hollow tine aerator which is supposed to remove cores from the lawn, but with only 3 prongs and the size of the lawn, I don't fancy it. Any other suggestions anyone?

 

[breezer]

sounds easier than digging up and installing a drain.

 

[Trazor]

It will be a waste of time using your hollow tine aerator, as you will just replace the removed plug of earth with a plug of water.

Do your neighbours have the same problem?
If you dig a hole in your garden does it fill with water?
If so the water table level in your area is to high, and no amount of drainage will work.
You will need to raise your lawn well above this level.........

Or is your lawn laid over a solid bed of clay, if so dig your lawn up and fit drains......

 

[breezer]

yes buut lots of plugs of water may make all the water "go away"

how about digging a sump and putting a sump pump in it to waste?

 

[seneca]

yes, come to think of it a lot of the houses near me have a similar problem. Also, i remember being told, when we first moved in, that there used to be a stream running along the back of all the gardens, but that was drained and diverted to run under the houses and into the main sewer.

Has anyone tried brushing sharp sand into the holes taken out by a hollow tine? How about a machine that will remove lots of cores and remove the main reasons for not using a hollow tine aerator - time & effort.

 

[r896neo]

Hire a bigger one or a spiker which will leave bigger slits rather than holes. Then as you say put a ton of sharp sand on it. I don't imagine this will work but may be worth a try to see what happens as you don't sound keen on trying drainage options.