Veggie patch, thoughts?

Hi all, thought I would post this here as I can post as the patch forms but also to ask for a bit of advice.
First up is about the location, I have what would be a good spot however it can occasionally get a bit flooded as you can see in the pic below.

This will only happen a couple of times every spring and autumn after some serious downpours and the drainage is pretty good it will drain in less than a day but still I wouldn't imagine it would do the veggies much good.

In this type of situation would a raised bed be a better option here than straight in the ground?

Also as you can see we will have to move all the stones first but could I perhaps dig in a layer of stones at the bottom of the raised bed if I go that way, it would probably help with drainage but how much soil would I need on top of that.
To be honest I don't like the stone base idea I'm just being lazy and looking for ways to get rid of the stones.

Still, this is really the only place for a veggie patch unless I do containers.
How would others approach this?

 

If you were to build a raised bed in that location, where would all that surface water then go?

 

I don't know if I'm honest, I don't think it would go anywhere else as it's the lowest point in the yard so it would probably build up and drain off after a few hours.

Actually it might flood the compost heap which is off just to the right of the pic but that is up a bit higher.

 

I think that first you need to get some land drains put in. But I say that not knowing the lay of the land, is it just your garden that floods, your end of the street or what?

Steve...

 

Well its just this side of the house as it is the lowest point of the house and it's lower than the street which is to the left of the pic. Nothing in the area floods exactly but I guess it's mainly run off puddling.
It takes around 40mm of rain in about half an hour to an hour to cause this which probably only happens 3 or 4 times a year if that.
It rained all night last night and this didn't happen so it is only when it comes down rapidly.

There is a vacant plot behind the pics that is a bit lower and I guess I could funnel it to there if I had to, I'll have to check that out. Maybe a little trench is all that is needed.

 

A French drain would work too, just dig a trench, fill with gravel and top with soil, paving or whatever.

You already have the stones to use for the drain...all over the garden!

Steve...

 

After having a look at the area it looks as if there is already drainage out to the street, I was wrong in saying that it is lower than the street as it isn't but there are certainly drainage holes in our fence that sit below our soil level.
It's probably why it does drain off so quick.

 

Personally I don't think there is a drainage problem as such as it does drain away fairly rapidly, as I said the water will only do that a couple of times a year and it will go quick enough. That's probably not the major point although how damaging would that be to you crop if you planted to the ground .

But that said just how much of a problem would it be, if I did a raised bed would it even be a problem?

 

A container is really just a little raised bed. I use containers a lot. Leeks, and cucumbers and tomatoes and peppers and peas and on and on. I do have some raised beds too for larger items such as strawberries etc. but I do NOT have a drainage problem. Can you fix/speed up the drainage so it runs off just as quickly as it falls so that there is never any buildup?

 

The fact that the water collects in the first place is an issue, certainly something underlying and just because it drains away fairly fast just means what you can see drains, I would suspect there is something underground, probably a blocked drain or maybe even plastic sheet under all that gravel. It's not normal for water to pool like that.

Certainly a raised bed is a way around this but it is just a sticking plaster and whilst some veg will grow in shallow soil, some needs a deeper area and I would advise a couple of feet at least.

Steve...

 

Well the drain vents on the wall are definitely not as clear as they could be, full of dirt and birds nests.
I have no idea what system the original owners used but going on everything else they did I'd say there probably isn't a system at all and they just back filled them with soil.
I wont know until I dig it up but it looks as if the edging by the fence is creating a basin where the water accumulates instead of directing any to the vents.
They have also planted trees and shrubs right above some of the vents.

I was planning on getting rid of the edging anyway so fixing this will be the start of another project it looks like.

My plan is to dig out the drain vents and clear them out, see what if anything is in place and probably introduce a french drain type system back filling the hole and a little trench with gravel using some wire mesh to cover the drains so the stones don't flow out.

 

Sounds odd, what are those?

I hope you don't mean air bricks on your house walls, or even perforated bricks/blocks in a boundary wall (as you have no right to drain into your neighbour's garden).

 

My terminology may be off so I apologise, it's new to me too. They do build differently over here as I'm finding.

Basically as our property and most in the area tend to be built on levels and slopes you need to have some drainage, it's like putting a drain pipe at the base of a retaining wall.
We are halfway down a slope so the water bottlenecks where the picture above was taken.

This article explains the need about halfway down but annoyingly they don't actually have a pic of the drains.
http://murciatoday.com/gardening-in...oating-keep-falling-off-the-walls_2130-a.html
Most houses have a number these drainage outlets on their walls and they go out to the street, thankfully we are on a corner plot and there are no houses on the land down the slope.