Water

So. I inherited this garden when my dad passed a couple of years ago. It’s not in the best of shape because I don’t really know what to do with it. I’m new at this gardening thing.

My dog has this digging habit which is where this hole came from. We were on holiday for a week in September, and we came back to this hole being full of water. This was the week when the heavens erupted everywhere, so I wasn’t too surprised.It’s a good six inches deep. Thinking it was a drainage issue I poked a few holes in the garden and didn’t think much of it. A week later it still hadn’t budged so I threw some compost down and tried to dig it all in.

Not only is it still there three weeks later, a good half of the garden is now sodden. Thinking we might have a water leak, I contacted the council (it’s a council property) who said to contact the water company. Who said that it’s council land and I should go back to the council. I don’t see any obvious signs that water is moving (for want of a better word) other than whenever I’ve tried any digging, it appears to spread.

I have no idea what to do. I’ve probably made lots of stupid mistakes already but from a “trying to soak the water up” perspective does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance