Heavily waterlogged garden | Clay soil | How are we going to fix this?
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 4 май 2024
- Hi,
This is going to be the start of a short series detailing what I do to solve the issues in our new garden.
Basically, it's like a swamp! Even when it rains ever so slightly, the garden pools water and this lasts for days on end. The drainage in the garden is terrible due to a clay underlying base. The next few videos will detail how we solve it and what we do to fix the issue.
Let me know if you've seen anything like this before or dealt with an issue like this.
Hi everyone. Came back to almost 60k views. Mental. No updates as of yet, we're deciding what to do with the garden..... whilst saving up for the works (going to be ££££) :(
I will post an update once we start for sure.
Liquid Gypsum....thank me later
Liquid Gypsum....thank me later
What have you decided? we have the exactly same problem.
@@Y0UTUBEADMINhow would liquid gypsum work over powdered, in terms of actually applying the product to clay under grass?
My Son had a similar issue at his previous property, over 3 weekends I dug French drains, and dug down 3.5 metres, by 1 metre square to break through the clay layer. Routed the drains to the soak away, which was back filled with pea gravel, I put a vertical section of pipe just a one ground level before back filling, this allows us to see the water level in the soak away. I then laid a new lawn using top soil and sand. It worked a treat, too well in fact as in Summer the lawn had to be well watered. Cost about £200 in total, plus a lot of hard graft!
Thanks for your comment. I took an Auger down to about 7 ft deep from the surface and Im still pulling up thick red clay! My fear with your method is that the whole would simply fill without sufficient drainage. In my case I need to route the water out and back in to the system.
Be great to have an update. Even if there is no update. Good luck!
Same problem in Canada as well -- home builders only care up to the point of sale, they put 2" of top soil on top of clay soil, turf on top and they vanish as soon as the house is sold.
Sucks doesn’t it!
Yep im dealing with this clay is like 1 inch down 😭
Massive rocks in my soil and hard soil grass looks unhealthy
Looks exactly like my yard/garden in the USA Atlanta, GA It’s really depressing. I’ve been battling it for 5 years. I haven’t been able to find a competent professional. The French drain system I had installed doesn’t seem to make any improvement. I hope your expert can help you!
Just found a road under my back yard……
Thanks Mate. I can't wait to watch how things progressed. Unfortunately my water-logged garden slopes away from my house so I would probably have to use a sump pump to bring the water back up to my drains.
Have a similar issue and had builder today to provide quote. Probably need two sump pumps.
I had French drains dug and it’s still not stopped the problem. No moss this year after new soil and turf laid but it’s again a bog out there at the minute. Fed up
We just did a complete landscape of our property. Tried french drains. Now we are doing a sump pump.
Same problem, considering planting cover crops to make the soil more drainable over time.
Hi Scott, any update on your garden?
i had this problem evrey time dog went out for pee we had to clean her paws, what i did was dig big hole placed a plastic bin in side to stop walls from caving in and then put a pump in and then fed water pipe to gutter drain works well and was only £15 for bin £45 for pump off amazon had it 3 years and we can now plant flowers in the garden and the dog cleaning days are over.
Is there a part 2 on this!?
Any follow up to this???
Hi Scott I'm having same problem, how did u get on
Did you do a follow up video 🤔
This looks identical to my newly purchased property in Ont Canada. Oh what work.
Have you considered using evapotranspiration of subsurface water from roots of large, clay adapted, plants? Sloping to swales and strategically locating clay adapted plants to uptake moisture may help. Roots of trees could enhance percolation of water, as well. I thought the You Tube video "How to Build Swales" was interesting. It is a long term solution but native clay soils are likely a geological event that goes back a significant amount of time. So it stands to reason there aren't quick solutions.
In the short term, your only hope is to divert surface sheeting of rain event water with solid wall pipes before it has a chance to get absorbed. Clay soil percolation rates are so slow, french drain approaches will yield less results. If the subsurface movement of water is there, a combination system might work, as well.
my garden is the same I'm having to put in layman drains and I will probably need to put in a soaraway at some point this Summer
Hi… did you ever do a follow up video? Thanks
I'll be intrigued on if and how you solve this - I recommended drilling a 6" wide 2 foot deep hole made with an auger to a friend: he made several of these boreholes and filled them with gravel.
But..... water actually puddled OUT of the boreholes: basically the clay garden was capping a high water table. Oops.
That is just something you wouldn’t think about but makes sense. Did you rectify it?
@@sprre3899 it has settled down - we don't know why. But Jan to March were VERY wet (UK north) so perhaps an anomaly.
@@digitalchris6681 I’m from Birkenhead but live in West Wales. My mates up there told me the rain has been bad for months and the rain here in Ceredigion has been really bad. I was thinking of digging down through my lawn but not too sure now. I think I will try a small French drain - only about 5 m. Thing is it would have to go to my neighbours garden as they are slightly below me in the down hill direction.
@@sprre3899 I suspect that as global warming makes the UK's winters wetter, we owners of clay soil gardens will need to accept wet lawns. I'm now thinking of bordering mine with a 6" high strip (metal edging) and putting 6" of sandy soil on the lawn, then reseed. At least I'd have a lawn that wasn't as prone to puddles, squishiness and moss.
@@digitalchris6681 Lol, that is another thing I’m doing ha ha. I’m getting some gravel boards, lining the garden, and getting a 500l bag of topsoil, so should raise the lawn. I’ll still need french drains. Global warming will be catastrophic for some and a bonus for others.
my yard is the same all yards here are as we sit on a water table we built on french drain have like two to go when it rains it pours and becomes a lake in the yard.
Hi, not sure if you're still posting ... I don't suppose you're based in Bedfordshire (UK)?
We have the same issue, we are at the edge of the Bedfordshire clay basin, bricks were made at Stewartby out of the clay. I am just about to install a major land drainage system as below the clay there are a large number of watercourses, installing a soak away may result in an Artesian Well - water can flow up as well as down !
Did you get this sorted?
Any update?
My little bit of lawn about 3 mtr x 2 mtr. Growing under front window. Old neighbour blocked the natural drainage by building a wall from his house to garage. Stopped my lawn draining downhill slope towards his property then next house. I am still getting rainfall from properties uphill from me. Have all the main utilities entering my property plus I have main phone cable adjoining my wall for the four properties in our terraced block. The 3inch opened ended pipe the phone and internet cables stick about 1 foot up from ground have issues with water. Just give up
Solid clay bed put there by the developers no doubt
Same in Kansas
How did you get on with the works?
Wow we have the same problem here in our back garden 😮
Me, too, Maryland, USA....I could stock goldfish in the "pond" about 3" deep throughout my yard.
Any update on this?
Hello… Any updates?
have you managed to sort the issue?
Where did the rest of the videos go on this? I have exactly the same issue I'm trying to battle with right now!
dig big hole placed a plastic bin in side to stop walls from caving in and then put a pump in and then fed water pipe to gutter drain works well and was only £15 for bin £45 for pump off amazon had it 3 years works well
Same problem and worse- builders left loads of stones,some quite big and that makes digging nearly impossible.
Only thing I found that works is a mattock
I have a similar problem in my garden. When it rains the garden becomes very waterlogged. Digging down you hit standing water a couple of inches below the soil. The trouble is my garden is lower than the nearest rainwater drains which are on my drive and is surrounded on all sides by neighbours gardens which also flood (probably worse than mine). Only solution i can think of is to install land drains running to a sump and then pumping the water from there out to the nearest drain.
Chat with neighbours and see if they want to collaborate on something?
Your word and thought process could have been my own over the last couple weeks as I'm facing a similar issue. My clay soil isn't QUITE as red clay as yours is, but I have a hole I dug for a tree last week. A massive hole where I could sit with my body halfway in it. It rained & has been not draining for days now. I just filled up my watering can 7 times and I'm still not at the bottom.
I was going to get an augur, but now think that's a pointless expense after watching your video.
Gotta figure out something!
.. check with your water authority and your building inspector first. Normally unrestricted surface water run off into a private system and then ultimately into an adopted drainage system (either combined or separate) isn’t allowed - especially if it’s field drainage like you’ve suggested. The drainage network in your area probably couldn’t cope if everyone did what you’re doing. Better to be safe than sorry .
Yeah,I bought a new build. The builders had put a French drain that drained onto a lane at the back. Needless to say the landowner was not a happy lady.
Yeah,I bought a new build. The builders had put a French drain that drained onto a lane at the back. Needless to say the landowner was not a happy lady.
Yeah,I bought a new build. The builders had put a French drain that drained onto a lane at the back. Needless to say the landowner was not a happy lady.
How did you get on
I would use solid pipes as I used perforated an it backs up and just floods the lawn. Then dogs can't go out
how are you getting on? we have had a lot of sun recently... but also a lot of rain... :)
You know what - I cannot get someone to come and dig the trenches for me! Either they’re busy or don’t want the work. I’m looking into doing it all myself now and building a water store in the garden that will pump into a useful resource somewhere in the house. Gonna be good if I can do it :)
@@Scott221 best of luck! I have had drainage issues before and had some builders install a drain under the lawn. I’m looking into French drains to help a friend with a similar problem.
Did you ever fix this if so how?
Sounds like an unsuitable area for building on. The local authorities should be aware of this and the local water authorities can then allow you to hook up a drainage system to the main drains provided a percolation test shows the area to be unsuitable for a soakaway. This is at the discretion of the local water authorities, but some can be reasonable. So I would advise an official percolation test first (there is guidance on how to do this so the water authorities will accept the results as a valid test). If they then do allow you to hook up to the drains, I would still put in a big sump then to allow for the silt to settle before it flows into the drains; you would have to clear out that sump every now and then.
You say you still hit clay 7 foot down; this _may_ be localised. You can try and drill a fairly large number of 2" diameter holes with an auger, and hope enough of those holes will punch through localised thinner areas of the clay cap, and then fill them with gravel.
If this thick clay cap is underneath the whole garden there is little you can do other than dig a sump with French drains and _pump_ it out. You are not allowed to directly _permanently_ connect the sump to the drains except if the local water authorities give you an exemption (see above), but I would simply wait until the weather is dry and then pump it out using a dirty-water submersible pump fitted with a 1" hose to the nearest drain.
We had the same issue with a garden that regularly flooded with about half a foot of standing water on top of the lawn, i.e. three quarters of the garden regularly turned into a lake. In order to "deal" with this I dug a large deep hole _in_ _the_ _lowest_ _part_ of the garden, and put a two foot diameter two foot deep plastic tub of a *pebble* *pool* inside it, drilled with holes in the bottom and surrounded on all sides by gravel. Then the metal grating on top which is rated for standing on (up to 250kg). The idea was that whenever the garden fills up with water, I would have a good place to put a submersible dirty-water pump and simply pump out all the water once the weather was dry (i.e. once the drains could cope again).
However, I have since then never had to use pump; I noticed when I dug the hole I was hitting a few sand pockets underneath the clay, so I think most of the water is now draining away naturally via the holes in the sump.
That's how my lawn looks here in Tennessee, USA. The entire state is chock full of red clay soil.
I’m in Tennessee as well. A lot of Red Clay! I came on RUclips to hopefully learn a few different ways to break mine up so I can plant.
@@GlobalRevolushun sod busting radishes planted as a winter crop help quite a bit. Sand, leaves, composed mulch, and many other organics added as soil amendment help as well. For acidifying the soil (for blueberries, rhododendrons, etc.), amend the excavated clay in a wheelbarrow with sand, pine bark nuggets mulch, coffee grounds, and peat moss, mixed thoroughly. I also water my blueberry bushes with cold plain black coffee sometimes.
@@MaryCumbersnatch Thanks so much! I bought Blue Rug Junipers to plant in front of our vacation rental and it says they’re best in dry well drained areas. 🙄
So I have a lot of digging & mixing to do! lol
I feel you. I’m in Ohio, lots of clay but we don’t have that southern red clay! Just grey muck filled with water. I can’t seem to find any fun evergreen trees or flowering trees to work in my yard!
So what happened? No more follow up video?
Brother you sure you ain't got a burst pipe somewhere around or your pond has a leak coz man that's a lot of water "wow
Really bad isn’t it! No leaks. Talking with the neighbours and they have had similar issues.
So where is the work vid mate
I don’t think you are allowed to have a garden drain plumbed into to the waste water/roof. As you will silt up the hole pipe for you and the neighbours. Check your building regs as you can get a fine for doing it
They wouldn't be allowed as the builders will of done it like that there's another pipe somewhere in the garden for that. If they look at the planing of the property they will know where the garden pipe are hopefully, good luck though lad.
Where are the next videos??
It irritates me how people will post a video like this with no follow-up! Why bother? The last update was 4 months ago, saying no update...
you have a beautiful garden otherwise
That’s really nice - Thankyou!
Future homeowners wont have this issue as theyll have no front or backgarden lol
You’re not wrong!
It'll be IN their house in that case
The contractors/builders have either really screwed up with their construction (layering, compacting etc), or frankly your house is built where it should'n't have been in the first place.
Putting in drainage (pipes, gravel...) is not a long term solution. They will eventually clog up with silt and clay particles, effectively becoming useless. Nor is diverting any water to the public sewer system because when everyone does that, it won't be able to handle it and you'll have flooding anyways. Where I am it's already being forbidden...Soaking in situ as much as possible.
If it's construction caused, digging down deep, breaking up layers and mixing it into a homogenous soil will be the first step (and costly). Second is to keep off it as much as possible and add organic matter on top to bring life back into it which will rehabilitate it. This isn't an overnight solution; in fact it'll take years, but keep at it, and you might end up with something decent.
Thanks for advice. Our’s been like this ever since neither built outhouse wall where use to be a wooden fence
Pointless video with no follow up
The problem is probably still there. I'm sure the council can help because the whole neighborhood must have the same problem.
Put a lid on it. In other words flag over the lot. Or dig out the top soil and some of the clay, then fill with limestone hardcore level it up then you could use artificial grass.
And then what? Divert every drop of rain into the sewer system? Sure, move the problem to somwhere else for someone else to deal with....
Well this video is worthless......what the heck happened?