I just moved into my home this summer. The garden was one of the main features that attracted me. Now that it’s autumn, we keep facing waterlogging in the garden.
It’s clear that we’re not great at garden DIY stuff. We plan to get a gardener when the season changes, but I’m looking for any advice on how to deal with this right now.
For reference, we live right on the Essex East London border where rain and flooding can be a significant problem due to the clay soil.
I understand that the garden’s design doesn’t help much, but I can’t make many changes to it.
@Palmer
A rain garden could really help with this, as others have pointed out. If the person who posted this wants to keep the lawn, then this might be the way to go. If they are ready to plant a garden there, they can look for native plants that thrive in wet areas and really make use of that space. When planting, they can also bring in healthy soil to raise the area’s level.
@Wei
Maybe not. A rain garden should be located at least 15 feet away from any foundations. It really depends on how fast the soil drains. Rain gardens aren’t meant to hold water forever; they capture water to drain it instead of letting it run off. The water should ideally drain within two days after rain, and there should be an outlet to direct overflow away. I took a course on being a Master Rain Gardener and learned a lot about the common misunderstandings surrounding where and when to use them.
I suggest checking out the nearby properties during a rainstorm to see where the water is coming from. It could be that most of it comes from hard surfaces on your property combined with runoff from neighboring properties. You might be able to redirect water from the roofs into dry wells. I did this with an issue I had near my roof and patio and it worked really well and was inexpensive. I only had to buy gravel and landscape fabric to cover it before adding soil, plus some sore muscles.
@Skyler
That’s right, rain gardens should be in areas that aren’t already flooded. The person who posted this can create a French drain and direct it to a stormwater drain. A rain garden might be a friendlier alternative to a stormwater drain for infrastructure, but you can’t turn a pond into a rain garden.
@Harlan
The person who posted this is in a tricky situation because the garden is surrounded by the house and a garden office. Redirecting that water might not be straightforward.
Emory said: @Harlan
The person who posted this is in a tricky situation because the garden is surrounded by the house and a garden office. Redirecting that water might not be straightforward.
That’s true… I wouldn’t want to be in their position. Maybe they could extend the downspouts to help with some of the issue. Otherwise, it looks like they would need to install a drain either in the narrow space between the fence and structure, or they’d need a neighbor’s permission for a drain on their property.
Into the house’s sewer pipe? That might break building code and probably isn’t good.
Out to the street? Maybe, but we don’t know if the street is above or below the garden floor level. If the pipe slopes the wrong way, it might bring street drainage into the garden, which is not ideal. If the elevation is off, you could use a sump pump with a check valve to help get garden drainage out to the street without risking backflow.
@Wei
You could look into getting permission to dig a small pond and plant some wetland plants around it, but be careful—it might not meet local regulations or disrupt utilities and cause other water issues.
@Wei
I looked into rain gardens since I thought they could help with these problems, but their purpose is to hold water longer, so you actually end up watering less. They don’t fix the drainage issue. If you want to handle the water, you might want to create a wetlands garden since that would work with the wet conditions.
@Palmer
It’s worth checking with your local council about drainage rules too. Many areas require that you allow water to flow from your neighbor’s property so you don’t block their flow.
I think a French drain sounds like the best option, but we’d need more info about the neighboring properties and stormwater connections since it might not have anywhere to go.
@Ty
Everyone keeps mentioning French drains, but where will it drain? There’s a house on one end, the garden office on the other, and likely neighbors on both sides.
This is a swimming pool now. You have walls around it on all sides. The water has no place to go. You need to create a drainage system somehow; either a deep drywell in the middle, a rain garden to use the flood, or drainage points around the edges to draw the water away from the property.
@Finley
A dry well combined with a rain garden would be my suggestion too. The person who posted this needs to know about their local water table depth. If that doesn’t work, then a drain to the street might be the way to go.
What a beautiful space! I would suggest building a deep rain garden filled with native plants where the water pools. Could you add a water-loving tree or two like a willow or river birch, or something native to the UK? Please keep us updated on what you decide!
Flynt said:
Instead of letting the water spread everywhere, dig a pond and let it collect in one spot. The water naturally wants to sit on top of the soil, and you can either change that or take advantage of it.
