Drainage advice

My project is to golden-gravel both sides of my garden, but I have an issue with this left side of my garden, with heavy rainful.
It becomes waterlogged.

My intention is to build up the garden with top soil, before gravelling it, as everything, including the public pavement, seems to slope towards my property.

First, I have to sort the drainage out, but I have nowhere to run the water to, if I install French drainage.
I've dug a trench, with an initial idea of filling up with crates, topped with gravel, then soil, but I'm not so sure.


Any ideas?

 

Hi,

Assume your house wall is not far from the concete path where the bags of gravel are ?

Your soil looks like Clay so likely the water will just sit there with nowhere to go.

Expect at the moment its tending to run off more at surface level, perhaps just under the concrete paths ?

If you create a sump, it might start seeping more towards the house wall ? which we would want to avoid.

Is there any drain or gutter downpipe nearby you could connect to ( though probably not really legal, but if done discretely who would know)

 

Thanks for the reply.
There is no gutter or drain, for it to link it up to.
You were right, that the house wall is behind the bags of gravel.
My plan was to build it up and slope it away from the house.

Should I fill the trench back up with the soil and dig a trench at the opposite end, towards the street?

 

Hard to say without being there, but if that area slopes down toward your house wall and there is nowhere for you to allow the water to escape to, then would say its better not to have any sump and just let the whole lawn /gravel area act as its doing now and naturally draining as much as it can.

If you are putting gravel down, does it matter if its a bit waterlogged durng heavy rain ?

The bottom of our garden can be 150mm deep in water at such times but in a few hours it naturally drains away, though we have to keep off that area of grass for several dry days.

 

Fair enough.
You're right. My idea was just that I had might aswell attempt at resolving the drainage before I throw a few more tonnes of soil and then the gravel on top.
I have a lot of time on my hands

Initially, I wanted a lawn, but it's too boggy in the winter.

Thanks. I'll fill it up and leave it be.

 

A gravel or shale bed can be a lot easier to look after than grass.

You can use plants in pots in the wetter areas or use marsh loving plants direct into the gravel to add form and interest to the area.

If you Google 'gravel garden planting scheme' and then select Images you will see a vast selection of how simple or detailed you can make such a gravelled area.

eg -

 

Thanks for the advice!
You've helped loads and saved me a lot of needless graft.
I should have come here before I bought all of these bags of white gravel lol.

 

If you cannot use them, say as a sub base to your top coat gravel, probably find they are easy to sell locally as plenty of folk trying to buy diy stuff, though seems B&Q are just reopening today, if you want to spend ages queuing.

 

Having looked through past pictures, I think I'm flogging a dead horse, with that trench!

 

That does look bad, afraid I cannot really offer any simple solution.

Looks like its all a mass of clay and its just holding the water up there instead of being able to drain away naturally,

Perhaps others might have some ideas...?