Water drainage in garden
technogardener
Posts: 4
I live in the UK and I would like to have a covered canopy installed in the rear garden. The issue comes about with how to deal with the water drainage. Having the collected water from the canopy routed straight to the drain is not environmentally friendly because it creates unnecessary load on the drainage system. If I have the water dumped into the grassy area of the garden in one location then it will create a puddle of mess as the ground in that location would not be able to take all that water during times of heavy rain. What I'd like is an easy way to disperse the water that'll allow a larger area of the grassy garden to be used to soak up the water, but I'm not sure how this can be done. Ideally, I'd like it to just work without any intervention from me. As a complete last resort option, I could collect the water into a big water butt and then manually empty this out as it gets full. I have no desire to actually need the water for anything, so it would just be used as a storage tank until I can empty the water over a few days in a managed way (but this will take a lot of effort, which is why I'm not mega keen on it). Thoughts?
Posts
Create a bog garden with moisture loving plants ... also very wildlife friendly
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I don't think this'll work, sorry the canopy I have is used to cover cars. The garden has about 50% concrete and 50% grass. And about 90% of the grassy area is needed for the cars to drive in and out of the drive way.
so you have pretty much no garden then? by those calculation you use a maximum of 5% of your garden for actual garden? (as opposed to concrete or access for vehicles over the grass)
the question is, why are you asking a gardening forum how to get rid of water, if you have no garden? surely a landscaping forum would be better?
but any way - collect the water in a water butt and use it for washing cars, you can run a pressure washer off most large water butts.
I always defined my "garden" as the area at the back of the house bounded by the fence. Whatever I decide to use my garden for, doesn't mean it stops becoming a garden. I'll look into the idea of using a pressure washer of a butt, that might be the easiest way to be honest.
Rainwater is good for rinsing cars off after shampooing as it won't leave lime deposits on the shiny surface .......son always tries to use water from a rainwater butt for his pride and joy
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I think the usual solution would be to put in a soak away under the grassy area. We have several of these in our garden to take water draining from a retaining wall, a patio area and the roof of the house. They do require a lot of disruption to install though.
Okay, so I'm convinced on getting a water butt and a compatible car pressure washer to help me use the water. There's a minefield of choice out there. Can anyone help suggest what features/size and things I'd need to have? I don't want to get a water butt only to find I need a different type to make it work with a car pressure washer. TIA