Boggy lawn

Well grass seed is down. Felt and looked much drier. Popped a few windmills around to deter birds. I am become sooooooo paranoid about birds. Today I came home to a lump of compost on my patio. Could tell it was out of any of my veg growing pots. But it sent me into a tiz. Sunday I need yo start with another plastic greenhouse, closh, and netting I think.

 

It's probably Blackbirds GYO they like to root around in the soil and pots. They should learn to tidy up after themselves.

 

Ahhhhh. Little buggers. Yep - we have a ton on birds but nothing interesting: Pigeons, seaguls, magpies, starling and blackbirds. We do get the odd tit or chaffinch, robin. But mainly guls and magpies. We do get regular visits from a young sparrow hawk, however he is pally with the magpies so is not much use to much.

Thank you

 

You get more birds visiting than I do, there's to many cats around here.

 

I have two that live next door - but they aren't very effective with the birds. They do though roam around and cause the magpies to scream.

 

Ok - still need help. The lawn is so boggy in the far top corner. I have mowed, scarified, poked holes, added sand and sown grass seed, but this recent rain is sitting in puddles.

As mentioned before, there use to be a willow and a cherry tree in that corner. I think I need to plant some water thirsty plants or bushes.

Any ideas?

 

I think the only choice you have now is.....a tree as you suggest or proper drainage underneath that part of the garden.

Willows are very good at taking up water but give it some serious thought before you plant one. They are protected trees and once it's planted you're not legally allowed to remove it unless it's dying. They also spread there roots a long way and can create damage to house foundations, drains etc.

 

Shoot - pardon the pun. Thanks. Will give it some thought. Didn't know that about willows, but to be fair it died and fell over. Far too much snow on it 3 years ago and it collapsed. I did try to stand it back up - but was unsuccessful.

 

The only other choice is to turn the area into a proper bog garden with various plants that like having wet feet, or have a pond there.

 

I would love a pond but I have young nieces, one is not even a month old, so it will be a while before a pond is an option. Had thought about a bog garden but the position of the standing water isn't convenient. I single tree/bush would be easier to work around.

Thanks though - going to seek some advice on drainage as well.

 

You could buy a grille to put over the pond until your nieces are of an age to understand the risk.

 

I have and are still considering it. Will see how much it dries up, if any, over the next 2 - 3 weeks and go from there. A little pond could be nice.

 

Hi GYO,
The gardening bit scares me to death, but as for your lawn, here's my take on it, you have two choices, it would appear your garden slopes slightly down to the bottom where the clay is and it's going to be a nightmare to do anything worth while with that part of your lawn, so here's what you could do.
1) Dig a deep sink hole, fill it with gravel to a foot from the top, then back fill it with top soil, this will help with drainage as there is somewhere for the water to go, then if you still want that part as a lawn then you might have some success.
2) Turn that area into a small patio with 500 X 500 slabs where you can place containers with plants in them, that way you don't have to worry about that part of your garden again other than a tidy up now and again, at least that way you can do something productive with that part of a difficult problem.