How to Improve Garden Soil/Flooding - New Build House

kmcmwjn

Hello All

My Garden has the following problems and would be grateful for any advice

The garden only gets around 3-6 hours of sun in the morning but none in the evening

Only part gets sun in evening is decking area

This is due to the house is a new build 3 storey which has blocked out the light

The next door neighbor has install artificial grass and decking please see photos

I have 2 active boys which love playing in the garden mostly football

The main issues are

Soil cracks in the summer
Loads of weeds and moss in the winter months
Grass will grow in summer but dies in winter months

I think the soil is mainly rubble mixed with clay and drainage is really poor with flooding by the decking area and all of garden like a bog in winter

I want to redo the garden and am looking at ways to improve the soil quality and then install turf hopefully it will take 

Also will install a new patio aswell which will make sure has a slight slope for water drainage

Any advice many thanks 

kmcmwjn

Lizzie27

Hi @kmcmwjn, This is a typical new-build garden query which comes up on the forum many times. If you search on terms such as, new-build, flooding, clay soil etc,you should be able to read all the former posts and answers. Hope this helps.

kmcmwjn

Hi Lizzie27 Will take a look thanks 

wild edges

That looks pretty good for a new build lawn. Your main problems are probably caused from the frequent heavy use from the football team. A simple french drain dug along the decking, down past the garage wall and leading to that gulley by the gate would solve a lot of your drainage issues I imagine. Cut a path along the garage down to the decking and to give access to your washing lines and you could add the drain as part of that work. You can then improve the soil by forking and top dressing over a few years. Adding organic material and watering the lawn in dry spells will help stop the soil cracking. Last summer was particularly hard on even the best lawns so I would have expected some problem with a new lawn.

kmcmwjn

Hi Wild Edges
Many thanks for the advice