Garden drainage and soakaways

[rcx132]

Hi. I've been doing a bit of work in the garden. The lowest corner has some mild to moderate drainage issue, it gets a bit soggy and the lawn grew a bit worse there. There's also an issue of water running down the lawn towards the car port.

I've done some Googling and found french drains and soakaway crates but this is more than I'm in a position to do right now. Do the simple old methods of digging a pit, filling with pebbles and putting on top soil not work? That would be much easier for me right now.

 

[123hotchef]

That works good to line the hole first with a non woven geotextile membrane also

 

[colnerov]

Hi, What about planting a tree or bushes? Some are more thirsty than others so try googling them to see which ones appeal.

Colin

 

[dobbslc]

I see you're in London so probably on clay soil! South London might be getting towards chalk though.
Here's a hole I dug for a soakaway,

it's 3.2 metres deep and its still almost solid clay! No chance of water draining away. I ended up building a sump pump set up and pump the water away to to woods at the bottom of my garden.

If you can run a French drain to an existing drain it might help.

 

[dobbslc]

Back to your original question, if you are on a permeable soil an old school rubble soakaway will probably sort it out.

 

[mrsbruce]

Hi. I've been doing a bit of work in the garden. The lowest corner has some mild to moderate drainage issue, it gets a bit soggy and the lawn grew a bit worse there. There's also an issue of water running down the lawn towards the car port.

I've done some Googling and found french drains and soakaway crates but this is more than I'm in a position to do right now. Do the simple old methods of digging a pit, filling with pebbles and putting on top soil not work? That would be much easier for me right now.

Where I live, it used to be marshland, and still is in heavy rain. They built the houses on a thick layer of clay, but the garden drainage has never been good, and has gotten worse over the years (I’m looking at you, neighbour with obsessive compulsion to use pressure washer at a drop of a hat).

I have dug a number of ‘drainaways’ in the back garden, along with water channels behind my huts (I refuse to say where they take the water ), and am working on the front garden soon. They are not deep, maybe 1.5 to 2 feet deep (more trenches than pits). Lined with heavy duty weed membrane, and filled with gravel. They act more to slow the water down enough to soak away, rather than proper soak aways.

They appear to work well so far (touch wood), and the water damage is way less. No more running out in a torrential downpour to stop the water creeping over the conservatory foundation bricks and flooding it. Not a perfect answer, but it has helped in my garden no end.

 

[frank horton]

I've seen soakaways pumped into the road in the wee hours from a big pit in the garden......
nobody knew but the owner.....
it really depends on geography and soil type....

 

[rcx132]

I just remembered that any hole dug here quickly fills up with water so I think a soakaway is out. Makes me wonder where the front garden grilled gutters lead to.

 

[brightspark]

no sewerage or surface water drajns near by ?? just dug a few round daughters house and put gullies in to the main drains

 

[8ob]

If it wont soak away perhaps consider a rainwater harvesting tank and utilise it.

Bob