Question

We moved into our forever home last week and weathered 2 storms (cross fingers without too much damage! ) The garden is large, beautiful and has 5 tpo pine trees and lots of rhododendrons but it currently looks like a scene from Glastonbury - completely waterlogged (as it’s a clay base). Any ideas for trees or plants we could put in to soak it up in the long run? Thanks.  

Answer 1

Camilla + Calls flamingo(dappled willow)I bought both a Standard & shrubs thru Thomson&Morgan

Comments

@merely6 you, 're welcome but all this rain turning into a nightmare for us all. If garden really big plant up some trees too but not near the conifers which I would probably chop down or make lower as evil beasts.  

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If I think of anything else I, 'll msg you

Answer 2

I wouldn't start by planting, I would start by thinking hard about drainage. Some good deep French drains, perhaps underneath where you plan to run your paths, might be a good start.  

Comments

@cooke Agree with you Guy, trees all around our property, however they do not prevent water logging. French drains etc are really only the effective solution.  

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@merely6 maybe what they put in was a bit minimal and needs enlarging?  

Answer 3

The tree should dry the garden up once it stops raining

Answer 4

Should wait at least one summer to see what the garden brings not sure any garden as avoided waterlogged over that few months well not in Lancashire lol mine is clay and bottom house on a hill so I get all the streets water

Comments

Act in haste repent at leisure lol

Answer 5

I’d leave it a year before you do anything do you can see what’s there and where the sun is  

Answer 6

Willow sucks up water

Answer 7

The thing with clay is that it stops water from draining away, but in the summer when it drys out it clogs together in a solid mass and cracks. Not the easiest to work with, but until you have seen a year through you don’t know what is hiding waiting to emerge through the seasons

Comments

Also, have a nosey in other people’s gardens as you won’t be the only one with clay in your garden. Others may have stuff that has helped and the neighbours may also know what the previous owners have already tried so you don’t waste time and money repeating things.  

Answer 8

In Scotland my soil was clay and was always waterlogged after rain, i solved it by digging a couple of holes about 7 inches wide, i went as deep as possible by hammering a steel pipe into soil, taking it out and removing the clay kept doing this till i had a decent depth in my case about 4 feet, then filled the holes with pebbles to about 6 inches from top then added soil, it worked a treat, never had water on lawn again, good luck.  

Comments

Its not easy going emma but it works.  

Answer 9

If your garden is big enough to take a Mimosa tree then it will do an excellent job of absorbing the moisture, the downside for us is that the label said 3 metres height max but in reality it’s at about 5 metres now and we have to cut down the top every year. We have considered removing it because of the maintenance but it does such a good job at soaking up the water from our heavy clay soil garden

Answer 10

You could dig trenches and put large gravel in as a soak away, but where you want to plant shrubs etc dig in loads of horse manure this will break the clay down in time. But do put some manure in every year. As not a lot of goodness in clay. My childhood garden was pure clay and my dad had a stunning garden. You would also get it cheaper from like a riding stables that’s nearby.  

Answer 11

Did they not mention any of this at the contracts exchange etc or point of sale ? Seems like they knew about it but never mentioned it from what the neighbours say. So they are liable if you want to take it further or make a claim against them  

Comments

Really is this what our society is about whinging to lawyers

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@proceeding10  this isn’t a new thing, but obviously you don’t have much experience within property & the law. This ladies costs could run into thousands to correct the problem.  

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Knew about what? That the ground was clay? That's not a big secret that could be claimed for surely? Lots of gardens have clay soil that becomes water logged, it's not a 'fault' with the property that the previous owners can be blamed for surely  

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@epley yes the fact they failed to mention it makes them liable. They knew there was a problem but didn’t say.  

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@proceeding10 I agree clay is natural and everywhere and you can break it down with horse manure. Just takes time.  

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@regent231 The ground gets wet when it rains cor who wqould have thought. Your searches should throw up flood risk ewtc if you havent done due diligence then tuffers

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@proceeding10 then Sue the lawyer  

Answer 12

Although the distaste for conifers is strong all over the land, they do do a great job of soaking up the water. We have pine trees and Rhodoendrons too as they too love to suck the water up. We have had an abundance of water these last few weeks. Give it until the summer and see how it goes, the plants are pretty dormat right now but they should soon have it dried out over spring so you can enjoy over the summer. As you only just moved in, give the garden a full 12 months to show you what it can do. If you have dogs, try to keep them in one area while the grass is so wet so not to turn it all up. :)

Answer 13

I would consider drainage. We have the same problem built on clay. So the previous people. Put in trees that decided they was going to grow through my house. We now have an insurance claim for subsidence and have automatically lost 10% value of our house. So when I dig. My garden out we are going to put in a drainage system no trees

Answer 14

Drainage definitely. plants too will help

Answer 15

I willow tree will drink loads

Answer 16

One solution for yard/garden drainage issues is to create an underground drain. The most common underground drain is a French drain, which is essentially a ditch that is filled with gravel and then covered over. This is actually what is done here in Iceland round all houses instead of having a damp course!  

Comments

You're welcome Emma. A french drain is basically a trench with gravel in the bottom although here our "gravel" is small lava stones! lol :P

Answer 17

Leylandii are brilliant for soaking up the water but obviously have to be kept under control.  

Answer 18

Firstly I was say that you need to manage the clay problem. A ball ache, I know - but the whole garden needs to be forked! Plunge the fork in as deep as it will go and wiggle it back n forth, then do the same every foot across the whole garden

Answer 19

Laurel shrubs live in anything and soak up water well we're working on creating a living fence out of them for the same reason

Answer 20

Put a fork in the worst parts, it should drain off a bit then?  

Answer 21

Google shrubs suitable for clay/heavy soil, there are lots that enjoy that situation and most of them are beautiful.