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I am in the process of purchasing a house with a fairly decent sized garden (for us anyway) cica 25L/mtrs long by 8 L/mtrs in width. I am told by other people that we know in the road and by our new neighbours that that during the winter months, gardens in the road can become waterlogged. I can only assume without currently living there that there is a particularly high water table, or some thick clay soil which is difficult to drain. Could anybody provide any advice on how to tackle this? I understand there are difference options in terms of drainage solutions but picking the right one seems to be a minefield. I know this is vague but any help would be great! Thanks!

Craig L
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  • Whereabouts are you? If several of the gardens on your side get waterlogged, then an individual solution just for your garden might not work too well, depends what the cause is. Are the gardens lower than what's on the opposite side of the road? Are there fields opposite? Is it a wet part of whatever country you live in? – Bamboo Jun 21 '18 at 15:23
  • I am on the Wirral (UK) in Wallasey. It's not a particularly wet part of the world, with pretty average rainfall. We are in a very low risk area for flood/surface water flooding so can only assume the issue is water table/clay soils. The gardens on each side of the road are at a similar level with no nearby fields on either side. Thanks for your assistance, much appreciated! – Craig L Jun 21 '18 at 15:42
  • I thought you might be here, in the UK - the best thing to do is wait and see what happens this winter, work out where the water's coming from, and then why it collects in such a way. Also how wet it is (or not) during summer/autumn. That gives more chance of working out a good solution. Photographs of the area would be good too - and are you saying its 25m long x 16m wide (not sure what the L means)? – Bamboo Jun 21 '18 at 17:41
  • Sorry yes you are right 25 meters long and 6 wide. Thanks for the advice! I think we will see what happens this winter and take it from there. Just want to be prepared and have an idea of how to tackle/manage this to make best use of the garden. When we have viewed the garden in recent weeks the ground does appear quite dry although we have had very little rain of late. – Craig L Jun 21 '18 at 19:56
  • If the garden faces north and has heavy, clay soil, waterlogging in winter is not uncommon, even here in London... – Bamboo Jun 22 '18 at 01:39
  • I used to live in a particularly rainy part of the Pacific North West and my garden was sodden for much of the winter. I took the approach of growing plants that took advantage of the high water table and was quite happy with the result. For example, you might consider planting a willow tree of a variety that will grow large. – Al Maki Jul 22 '18 at 15:14

2 Answers2

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Consider using raised beds to make the best use of the space if there are water table issues. Even if the issue is related to clay soil compaction vs. water table, your raised beds will gradually rehabilitate the soil over years and water infiltration will improve.

OyaMist
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What I did to get my garden able to be flooded, and plants not even get into the water line was:

  1. dig trenches about a foot down next to the raised plants in the garden
  2. fill with wood chips, and organic matter
  3. let excess water run off the garden elsewhere

Your trenches will hold the water your garden needs, and let all of the excess run off.

black thumb
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