lawn drainage

i have a fenced square relatively flat lawn that is south facing, it gets the sun most of the day, however i have found that the lawn doesnt drain very well at all and even in the summer is quite damp and the back 40 % of the lawn is thick with moss. i have dug a few inches down and it does appear to be some clay present.

i have been advised to do several things including:
a 2ft by 2ft soakaway at the lowest point { not really an option as i have other gardens surrounding me and i fear affecting them as a result of this},

a herringbone drainage system to an existing drain :
either using a: garden liner based 4inch trenches filled with fine chipings
or b: circular porous drainage pipes in the above mentioned 4inch trenches { a costly possibillity},

and { the easiest option and possibly cheapest in my case } to rotivate in a couple of tonnes of sand, level the lawn and start again with seed or turf.

im really stumped as what best to do as i want to do it "right" first time and not have to be looking on here for answers this time next year again!

any advice would be great! cheers!

 

Hi Thetwys,

I was in exactly the same position as you this time last year. Rotivating it and adding organic matter and sand wasn't going to be an option as the amount of clay soil would have required enormous amounts and re-applications again and again. We briefly considered a soakaway but after I did a soil test I found that the watertable level lay only a few inches below the soil surface. In the end we opted for the herringbone drainage system leading into the main storm drain and it has done wonders! Expensive, yes, but it's was all done in a few days and needn't be done again. We laid top soil and turf over the top and never had any problems since.

 

thanks for your response mate!
ive dug down about 8 to ten inches and no water so im figuring that i may not be in such a bad way as you were to begin with! im maybe thinking and seriously swaying towards the airating and rotavating of the soil! there is some clay present but also alot of what appears to be very compact soil! { apparently redrow houses are notorious for it} im a big lad so im thinking of nothing better than humping the rotivater throught the soil over the next few days!
just a few questions tho if you dont mind!

ball park figure will do how much did it cost to herring bone it? based on the size of your garden!

did you just use gravel lined trenches running to the drain or did you use proper drainage pipes either clay or porous plastic bad boys!

as much info as you can spare would be great in aiding my final decision!

i really appreciate your time in responding to me mate thanx! thetwys!

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Hi Thetwys,

I was in exactly the same position as you this time last year. Rotivating it and adding organic matter and sand wasn't going to be an option as the amount of clay soil would have required enormous amounts and re-applications again and again. We briefly considered a soakaway but after I did a soil test I found that the watertable level lay only a few inches below the soil surface. In the end we opted for the herringbone drainage system leading into the main storm drain and it has done wonders! Expensive, yes, but it's was all done in a few days and needn't be done again. We laid top soil and turf over the top and never had any problems since.
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