Poor Drainage

The French drain thingy sounds like what I know as a field drain.

There are two ways to achieve the same result with this strategy. You can buy perforated piping and sink that, then every few years dig it up and replace the clogged pipe, or dig a trench and fill it with rubble mixed with coa rse sand, then back fill over the top.

 

"You can buy perforated piping and sink that, then every few years dig it up and replace the clogged pipe"

Hahaha ...

1) Use a bigger pipe - takes longer to clog up (.e.g "every few years" plus one!!)

2) cover the pipe in barrier fabric that stops roots and crud getting into the pipe. Like an old sock. But I've never bothered with that ...

 

There's a field drain somewhere under my little piece of land in the countryside. I know roughly where it is because my dad told me where he'd put it, and the area is clearly marked out by all the marsh grass growing in the bit that was supposed to be drained

 

hehehe
Kristen ... you must have the benefit of some form of drainable soil that I don't have
Two feet down here and I hit plasticine :(
So ... the 'sump' fills up and everything just lies there

The skethch used in the article shows the water table well below the surface of the soil. Unfortunately the water table with me is just an inch or so below the surface

However ... I agree that one must try something

 

"I agree that one must try something"

Grow a Poplar or Willow in the soak-away / sump?