Flooded Garden Help ! ! !

I'm a newbie to site and need some help!

I have a very small garden, and at least a 1/4 spends most of its time completely flooded! Water can stand on the surface for weeks at a time.It takes a dry spell of at least 2 weeks(impossible in this country!) before water disappears, and even then under the surface is completely soaked! I have,tried and failed with all the following:

1.I can't build a drain to move water off land as it is impossible/expensive/illegal to get it to a drain
2.The whole area were I live has a clay layer and it is impossible to dig through or make a soakaway a viable option.
3.I have tried improving the soil with nutrients/sand etc...I doesn't work

So my last idea, is this.
To raise the affected bed by about 1 foot...by enclosing the affected area with concrete slabs/flags and then filling (what would now look like an enclosed pit) to the top with first a layer of gravel,then sand,then top soil. I think the whole problem is a very high water table and what I want to ask everybody on the forum is

a)Will this work?
b)Is there an alternative?

Any advice is WELCOME! ! !

Thanks

 

Hi Preston

Just a thought, but would a bog garden / pond area be feasible?
Possible probs with enclosing with slabs would be establishing firm footings - if ground is so wet

How big an area are we talking?

 

I agree with Bayleaf. Work with what you've got, and put in a pond, that way you will attract much more wildlife aswell!

 

The area is approx 10ft by 2ft

I have thought of a pond, but wouldn't it need lining? The problem seems to be the water level just below surface. I thought a pond with lining may just disperse the water into areas around the pond and make the problem worse.

Also I was worrying about the footings for the concrete slabs, but in principle do you think raising the top soil level would cure the problem?

Thanks for your responses!

 

I go with Bayleaf - work with the conditions to do otherwise is both expensive and causes high blood pressure - pool and bog garden. If your gardening on clay with a high water table, then you may be able to create a clay pan pool without a liner.

You could create a raised bed - but from the sound of it - it would need to be lifted off the wetland

 

OK, if I decided to go with a bog garden, what suggestions for plants, are there for example any bushy,water loving plants that would grow and camoflage the standing water?

If I still went with the raised bed Idea I think the footing would stand on the solid clay.As you may of noticed we have had heavy rain the last two days and the problem is as bad as ever! But this morning I dug through the water! and about a foot down is SOLID,UNMOVEABLE CLAY ! I think a concrete foundation would stand on this, and if I threw two foot of extra soil on top , surely this would cover the water.

 

Why are you thinking of putting a concrete foundation? You need drainage - me I would rotavate the clay adding some grit - then with either wood or whatever, create the sides of your raised bed, then fill with top soil, compost and vermiculite or grit. Plant roots will go down into the clay pan if they want to.

Re suitable bog garden plants - as I'm not sure of the size, and aspect - or indeed your taste, I would suggest a visit to your nearest nursey - gunnera, iris and astilbe and many many more.

 

There are lots of pretty plants that grow in water logged conditions, Purple loosestrife(lythrum 5-6') yellow loosestrife(lysimachia 2' bit of a thug) Calla/arum lillies(zantedesia 2-3')Hostas(4"-4') marsh marigold(caltha 6"-1') Astillbe(6"alpines,1-3'garden vareities)
Most are perenials,but another option might be to plant a small willow, they like water and there are many different sizes available in trees and live withies, perhaps a living screen would be the answer.
As for a pond if you dig down to your clay, dig a bit up and spread it 6 inches thick in the bottom of the hole you want as a pond then tread it in (traditionally barefooted,yuk) thats the basis of many of the artifically landscaped lakes mand by famous landscapers such as Cabability Brown, Stourhead, the Serpentine, Kew garden, Hestercoombe. All were either made or 'enhanced' by 'clay-puddling'.

 

Hi Fran, I was using the concrete to hold flags which I was going to use on end to hold in the top soil...you see they would move without something to hold them because the soil is so wet.

 

Thanks for the explanation - sorry I misunderstood.