At the beginning of this year, we moved in to a new build property in central Scotland. As with most new developments in the UK, the back garden is mainly clay, and it just isn’t draining very well. This is a common moan. I levelled and de-stoned the garden in May, put some top soil down, and scattered some grass seed. To my amazement the grass grew incredibly well. The bare patches in the photo are where I have put some additional top soil down to help in the damp areas. This is the reason no grass is visible there.
How can I improve the drainage of the ground below? I am willing to re-soil, seed etc and really put the work in over the winter period. I just don’t know what it is that I need to do. Can anyone offer any advice? When I say I have no idea, I really mean it.
by Aurum_Albatross11
4 Comments
Does the water just sit there or did you give it somewhere to go?
If you really want to fix, am afraid you gonna have to go back to the basics and slope the yard towards the French drains by the fence. You can try and put a drain but that will not get rid of your puddles.
I agree with the above comment about getting the grade to slope out and away or towards drains if you have any.
Acidified cotton burr compost or something similar is a soil conditioner and is used to help break down/loosen clay soil. You would need a considerable amount for your entire yard…
If the area isnt too large.Either driving a stout garden fork to its full depth and wiggling open the holes every foot or so,or a digging bar down to say 2 ft every foot or so then backfilling in with a small size sharp gravel should deal with the surface water.