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Flooding lawn into patio & pond

no1catman
no1catman Posts: 2,973 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts I've been Money Tipped!
edited 26 December 2012 at 12:18PM in Gardening
Advice/ideas/suggestion/comments please.

We have a garden that's about 70 -80ft long - about two-thirds of that is patio - half of which has a gentle slope to the lower area, to the right of the lower area is a goldfish pond about 10.5 x 7.5 ft. From the other end, apart from a raised border on three sides with railway sleepers - it's grassed over - again with a gentle slope to the lower area.
In the summer, we had landscaping done (hence the sleepers) a pergola over the pond, and a connecting archway over a central pathway - fine looks great.

Previously, the lower level could get flooded in continous heavy rain - water off the garage roof would flow river-like along the patio and into the pond and eventually flood the area.
By having interconnected water butts has reduced that happening.
However, last Saturday water seemed to overflow from the bare earth of the 'archway' down into the patio. I shifted about 100 buckets of water in 1 to 2 hrs - took it down about an inch!
I have dug down around the archway - soil very cloying clay! The concrete foundations of the archway may be creating a dam?
Intend to continue to dig down - get as much clay out as possible - add a layer of sand, then better soil.
Anything else please??
I used to work for Tesco - now retired - speciality Clubcard

Comments

  • no1catman
    no1catman Posts: 2,973 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts I've been Money Tipped!
    Thanks - but I don't have space for a French drain - it's only a foot x 6 inches.
    I trying to dig straight & diagonally (underneath a paving slab) down, and by hammering down a tube - taking plugs of clay out, in an effort to create drainage channels. Seems to have helped but more still to do. For example, after last night's rain & hail scoopped out three buckets of muddy brown water, before more started seeping in!
    I used to work for Tesco - now retired - speciality Clubcard
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