Brain boggling boggy bit

There is an area in the garden where water drains slowly. Someone covered it with big stones that don't look attractive to me. I wanted to grow plants there.

Removing the stones unconvered a metal cover of some kind under part of it, which had been filled in by sand, stone and fabric-that-prevents-weeds-growing. It has bricks all around it and so without the sand and gravel it acts like a bucket. I do not want stagnant water.

I was hoping for a way to allow easier access to the metal cover if it is ever needed, without ruining the cover, looking nasty or creating a stagnant pond. Is the current sand-gravel-weedfabric method the best thing there is, or is there something else I can put in/ over the "bucket" that will not be heavy/ faffy to move, and not create a pond. I wanted to just put a big plant container on the cover to hide it and suck up most of the water but I have realised that plants might drown when it rains a lot because the container would be sitting in the "bucket" and might still get waterlogged.

 

Presumably what you describe is a brick frame around a Manhole cover.
Normally these are flush, so the brickwork has been artificially built to hide the cover.
The options you have are:-
a. Remove the bricks altogether and just hide the cover with a pot.
b. Leave the bricks in situ and drill a drainhole(s) through the bricks at the
bottom to release the water.
c. If, for some reason, the surrounding area soil has been built up to the the level
of the brick frame then lay a metal plate on top of the brickwork and stand a
Pot on there.

Whatever you do, don't make the manhole cover in-accessible. That will guarantee a blocked drain - Sod's Law.

 

Thanks very much, that's exactly what I'm talking about. (c) is what has happened. Do not worry; I'm attempting to make it more accessible than it currently is, and prettier too. Your suggestions have been very helpful. Now I can get rid of the sandy gravelly stuff and big rocks!