Water Logged Soil

Last September i had my back garden landscaped. One of my borders is now approx 8" lower than before and it seems that the water from my neighbours garden drains onto this border.

What can i do to increase the drainage here, would it be worth digging in some kind of grit if so what is the best type?

Also what plants are best suited to these conditions? Ideally i would like evergreens with white / lilic colour flowers. When the garden was landscaped some fertiliser and grit was added to the soil as it had some clay in it.

Thanks in advance

Mark

 

Hi Beaker, and welcome to the forum. I am on clay and have the same problem of water draining from other peoples gardens.

It would be good to dig in as much organic matter, grit and sharp sand as you can. Proper horticultural grit is the best but its more expensive and more difficult to find. So I just used 10 mil gravel from a builders yard as well as sharp sand from the same place.

If you Google plants for damp places you will get a lot of suggestions. In my damp spot I grow Eupatorium purpurea ,which grows to 5 or 6 feet and has large brown/purple flower heads. Lobelia cardinalis 'Queen Victoria' will like damp soil. But the flowers are red. However Lobelia vedrarense 'Tanya' has lovely purple flowers. Any Astilbe will like the damp; A. chinensis var pumila has lovely tall purple plumes, and you can also get white Astilbes. You can get Monarda in white and purple - another damp lover. But I have mixed feelings about Monarda, it has a habit of thriving one minute and then dying off the next. There are lots more.

 

First, I would speak to your landscaper for their comments - not blame.

Second, it might be possible to put in some drainage on your side of your neighbours property.

Third, I would do as PeterS suggests to improve clay soil