Total bog

heatherjohnson

Hi, really need help and advice. We recently moved into a new home, house built 30 yrs ago ish. Now after quite a lot of rain we have two areas that are totally waterlogged in the lawn. On one side The garden slopes away from the house to the west. So the bottom of that lawn is a total bog and an area which again slopes away on the south side of the house is really muddy. We dug holes in both places and the one on the west side is full of water. Yes there is clay, we haven’t worked out how deep the layer of clay is yet will need a mini digger for that, but the garden is unusable in these areas. We are surrounded by other properties so can’t drain out. The flower beds on the side of these areas are not muddy though! The larger area is under a neighbours very large oak, which they won’t top off. Any and every suggestion would be soooo helpful. Love gardening and this is driving me mad. Thank you

Fairygirl

Have you got some photos? It's impossible to offer advice without knowing the size and aspect etc.
Also - when you suggestions - what exactly do you want to do with the area? Plant it? Improve the grass? 
I'm afraid in wet areas, waterlogged grass is fairly normal, and not much can be done without expense. Most people just stay off it in winter 

JennyJ

The neighbour's tree will take up quite a lot of water while it's in leaf, so hopefully the area will be dry enough to use in summer. One solution would be to use the damp areas for plants that will like those conditions, instead of keeping them as lawn. Maybe even a pond (but not under the tree).

philippasmith2

I think as @Fairygirl says, much will depend on what you actually want to "do" with the garden as a whole.  
Is the water table high in your area ?  If so and the change in weather patterns is anything to go by, you may just have to live with it and do as @JennyJ suggests and take advantage of the wet areas. Lateral thinking is the term I think  
If it is important for you to have a useable lawn for most of the year, your other option would be to alter the shape so you have grass on the drier part and borders on the damper bit or even raised beds if you don't fancy moisture loving plants.

gjautos

Depends what you want to use that area for. Could you build a raised deck over the damp area and have pots on the deck?

Fairygirl

I think @heatherjohnson might live up here.
Persistent rain and waterlogged ground is something you often just have to work with in a Scottish garden 

Loxley

In all probability you're just going to have to live with the clay, I wouldn't be hiring a mini digger. The lawn is probably worse than the borders because you walk on it. This creates a pan of compacted soil which is impermeable. You can break up the pan mechanically but the problem might come back if you continue using the lawn the same way. 

Is it possible to build up the levels? 150mm of grit sand mixed with decent topsoil would create a good free draining base for the lawn, essentially elevating it above the wet zone. (Not mixed into the clay - the sand loses its drainage properties when you do that).

Inglezinho

Go with the flow. Nature is telling you to plant bog garden plants here, not grass

Fairygirl

Unless @heatherjohnson comes back with relevant info, it's difficult to make further suggestions.
Saturated ground is normal at this time of year.