HELP - waterlogged garden

Good afternoon.

Recently my family and i have moved to the fylde area.

our rear garden has a problem - water logging.

Neighbors say that our houses were built on an old waste land and only two of us have this problem.

this is a picture of it right now :(


we have removed a lot of growth (as seen in piles) and have not discovered any drains, which to us means there is not one (took off manhole cover and only pipes from houses) and since we have done this, water seems to have covered more of an area (about 1 meter more towards the house)

the slabs are not flat, which would cause water to buildup and im worried that if i make them straight the water would get worse.

An idea i had was maybe to collect pallets and just lay them across the whole garden to rise above the water (cheap deck building) so we can have a little play house for our special needs children but is there another way of a cost effective means to prevent this from happening?

any help would be great

thank you

Lynx1121
(steve)

 

Hello and welcome.

Is it just my eyes, or is almost the whole area concreted over?

 

Yes, its all concreted.

from the bin to the far fence is one piece of concrete. to the right are a line of slabs with the left being a large area of slabs.

was thinking of taking them up if that would help even more

 

Welcome to GC lynx.

I think it would make all the difference if all the concrete and slabs were removed. The ground would then soak up the water.

Does this only happen when it rains, or is there standing water during dry spells?

 

Yes it only happens when it rains.

if i removed all the slaps (large area) and say maybe build a decking on the soil for a play house, should that prevent some of the water?

Obviously i would turn the soil over as it would be compact from the slabs

 

Might pay to dig a soakaway, big hole that you could fill with broken up slabs then soil or gravel on top.

do you know if its a clay soil underneath?

 

Not to sure yet, but if the rain stays off tomorrow i will take a couple up and dig a little to see what is underneath

 

Myself i would get all the concrete up...not an easy task i know then get a garden fork and spike the compacted ground underneath and see how quickly it drains it will give you a better idea of the next plan of action

Welcome to GC lynx

 

Concrete is easy enough to get out. You just need a sledge hammer. You don't even have to belt it. Just slow and steady swings repeatedly hitting the same spot, and after a few goes it will start to crack at that point. Once you've got one crack in it, the rest goes fairly easy.

I wouldn't personally go for decking. Its slippery when wet and in my opinion, it soon gets to look scruffy unless its tediously looked after. Maybe pebbles? Not sharp gravel, just nice round inch (ish) pebbles.

 

cheers for the advice.

i woke up this morning to find the whole garden under water now.

this is going to be a night mare hahaha

 

Is Fylde anywhere near Venice?

 

its Lancashire in the United Kingdom by Blackpool

 

picture attached taken at 3.30pm. it was a bit worse at 7am

 

I don't suppose moving out is an option is it?!?!

Val

 

Ahh, there you go, its all in the name. Blackpool.

Never buy a House in Water Street, Flushing Meadows or Flood Lane