Wet soggy garden. What to do?

[officerlog]

Hi all

Hoping for some advice for what is just a damp, horrible garden!

Once upon a time we had our lawn turfed and looked excellent, unfortunately only for it to fall into this condition soon after. A few years of neglect and some head scratching has made us confused as to what is happening.

The garden slopes towards the rear of the garden and has become virtually unusable given how damp and wet it is. I am posting a couple of pictures in the hope that someone might be able to help identify the problem. Is it the sleepers? I just threw them in a few years ago. Is it the stairs and rain water washing onto the garden? Even in the height of summer it is still wet. Any help would be appreciated!

There is also a small stream running at the end of the garden but it’s about 10m from the house

 

[Wayners]

Weed and feed.
Going to have to seed.

Running out of time to do much now it's October. Getting a decent gardener in around march will have it looking great with good care

 

[officerlog]

Thanks. But it’s too soggy. I feel it’s just not draining and water is being stored for some reason.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Thanks. But it’s too soggy. I feel it’s just not draining and water is being stored for some reason.

Assuming the garden inclines down towards that stream, that low wall could well be preventing the soil from draining effectively. It might also be worth, adding some french drains into the soil, leading in the direction of that stream.

 

[Munroast]

dig down a foot and tell us what you find - and fill the hole up with water and tell us how long it takes to drain away

 

[Old Salt]

You need to start again with that. As Harry says install some french drains, get some weep holes/drainage through the sleepers and then renovate the lawn. Premier lawns on you tube shows how to install drainage and prep and seed a new lawn. A job for next spring now but I would get the drains in before winter.

 

[Cheslea2010]

Install French Drains in a herringbone pattern. Wil drain entire garden no problem.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

You need to start again with that. As Harry says install some french drains, get some weep holes/drainage through the sleepers and then renovate the lawn.

It needn't be any more complex, than plastic 32 or 40mm pipe, as used for sink drains, and very cheap, with lots of holes drilled in it, all along it's length. That laid in a trench, part filled with gravel of a larger diameter than the holes you drilled. Pipes laid in a Y or herringbone pattern, with bottom leg, leading down to the stream and through that low wall.

My own garden tended toward going boggy, with lots of rain, and flooding my garage floor slab. I resolved it earlier this year, by adding even more french drains.

 

[bernardgreen]

You can buy perforated drainage pipes.

 

[Odds]

Thanks. But it’s too soggy. I feel it’s just not draining and water is being stored for some reason.

Build a wet garden: moss love it and all kinds of plants will thrive, especially if you create an ornamental pond in the midst of it all. It'll become a haven for amphibians, insects and attract birds.