Very wet and soggy lawn

[pauldoubleyou]

The same as my last post - first time homeowner.

My home has a significant garden, all grass with the exception of a 6 foot square pond (the type thats essentially a plastic tub buried in the ground).

The lawn seems to retain water when it rains, resulting in squelchy grass. The grass seems to be made up with quite a lot of 'moss', and there are a few lower areas - like 3 foot diameter circles - that will retain standing water.

Is there anything i can do to improve drainage? The last occupiers sadly paid no heed to the garden so i would have thought they hadn't even prodded it with a fork.

It is not near any water and is around 12m+ elevation from sea level. No hills around the home and no streams or similar going anywhere near.

 

[r896neo]

Do you know what your underlying soil type is?

Ask neighbours, many gardens on heavy clay will never drain well and you can spend a lot of time and money trying to improve it by a tiny amount.

Other soil types might be more conducive to land drains etc.

Aerating will help the lawn.

 

[Secret_Sipper]

Im in a very similar situation to yourself and with both soggy grass in the back garden and very mossy lawn.

The moss I raked out last year and used weed/feed. When it died back, I used some lawn dress (like a sand/soil mix) to build up the underneath of the lawn and reseeded it. Looks a massive improvement!

With the soggy grass, in time I'll dig it out and put proper drainage down but temporary, there's not much you can do I don't think but aeriate it best possible with forking the ground.

You might find your the lowest land on the row (if you live in a development) and all the water is slowly draining into your gardens.

Good luck with the 'forking' .

 

[pauldoubleyou]

Thanks for the replies guys. Aerating was going to be my first go really, as not only is it proven - its also free! I don't seem to have a lower garden than anyone else really, and with the house put up in the 1930s its certainly not a recent development. I know a neighbour around four houses down who spent a ton of money and employed a digger to do something about her garden. As for the underlying soil - im not sure. Ive only been in the house for a week.

With the removal of the pond I should be able to get an idea of what it looks like under the soil.

Is there some kind of preferred tool, such as a wheel with spikes in it (if such a thing exists) instead of walking around with a fork?

 

[ntb]

[QUOTE="]
Is there some kind of preferred tool, such as a wheel with spikes in it (if such a thing exists) instead of walking around with a fork?[/QUOTE]

Yes. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=l...ved=0ahUKEwix8O7TxOzRAhUMI8AKHStTBhEQ_AUICCgD

 

[stealthwolf]

I've learnt a lot from reading www.lawnsmith.co.uk website.

1. Moss - use ferrous sulphate, or "moss killer". Use a watering can and pour over the lawn. It will take a few weeks to die. Then rake (I bought a manual scarifier but you can use a rake) out the dead moss. Cut the lawn short beforehand to help you.

2. Aerating will improve drainage but as others have said, it depends on what's underneath the soil as well as soil type. A hollow tine aerator is best. I bought one of those rolling lawn aerators and it works well to aerate the lawn and do so quickly. But "gold standard" is to core out holes rather than compressing.

3. The lower areas need evening out. Depending on depth, either add more topsoil and rake in, or cut back the lawn and fill in the dip. I plan to do this come the warmer climate.

 

[pauldoubleyou]

Thanks for the reply - i did a test yesterday with a fork in one of the pools. It drained completely within about two hours, so I'm hoping that aerating with the 'hollow type' will be more beneficial.

The pond is also got to be a problem rather than a solution. I would guess it is filling up and overflowing into the lower areas, its certainly stopping the drainage.

The offending garden, everyone loves a photo;

 

[HERTS P&D]

Nice size garden.

Andy

 

[pauldoubleyou]

Id be happier if the birds dont use is as one large bath! (im not even joking)

 

[Brigadier]

Long term, the best solution would be a lot of heavy work, drainage, and perhaps shipping in new soil.
As you have a decent sized garden, I'd suggest that one of the rolling aerators would be a pea shooter in a gunfight: you can hire a petrol hollow tiner for around £50 per day, which would do a far better job. You could then brush sand or some other suitable material into the holes.

 

[pauldoubleyou]

I have been worrying about this more due to the very wet weather. I think the issue is more with general drainage as opposed to compacted soil. After some forking over the soil isn't compacted at all. The pond definitely needs to go.

I am considering a herring bone French drain system however finding somewhere for it to go is another issue. I have seen a kind of drain box, a bit like a large beer crate that you bury. Upon speaking to the neighbours they have a similar setup but have admitted it only speeds up the drainage rate as opposed to solves it.

I'm more worried that it could affect the foundations of the house or could do in the future. Joys of being a new house owner I guess.