Should I grass?

Hi, guys!
I'm new year. I moved into my house towards the end of last autumn, so I had only got as far as digging over and removing the gravel, before the winter kicked in.

Having experienced the rainy nights, I have notice that the area does hold water for a few days.

What would be the wisest move?

I'd love grass, but if it's got to be gravelled, then so be it.

Plenty of work to do.

 

Hi

Is it a new build ?

 

No.
Mind the bits of rubbish. A few bins have been blowing over, last night.

 

You have a lot more choices than just grass or gravel. There's all kinds of shrubs and plants you could put in.

First, a few questions. What way does the area face? How much sun does it get? What kind of soil is it? I'm assuming that it's clay from the photos.

 

Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
The area is faced to the North, so we get the sun until around noon and then we get the sun in the back for the rest of the day and night.

I have noticed clay underneath, whilst I was digging.
It probably explains why I get a lot of standing water.

 

Welcome Fylde2022.

You say you have removed gravel. The soil certainly looks like clay so it would help to dig the gravel into it fairly deeply to help drainage. Digging in some compost will also help to open up the soil.

 

I tend to go along with Sheal. When mentioning, a 'New build' This is inclind to suggest that buolders waist and rubble may lie below the suface. Often it does, but this would allow an area of under terrain to be open and thus allow water to drain away.

Ok the area is clay so a good digging and adding some aggregate may help. Then also, the area might be over a buried foundation etc lastlty, it may simply be a catchment area.

Try a few test holes, if these fill up then the latter will be the problem. Of it really is such a problem, then you can lay some land drainage.

 

I agree with Sheal. The first thing would be to get the soil right. It's not a big area so should be fairly quick to do.

North-facing is going to cut down on the number of plants you can have but there's still quite a lot of choice if it gets plenty of light in the morning.