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Down pipe and concrete onto grass

aimeebolluaimeebollu Posts: 1
in Garden design
Hi,

I’m new to gardening and struggling to come up with ideas to cover / plant / add some greenery to this part of my garden. 

It’s concrete and the grass is about 1 inch higher than that, and there’s also a down pipe coming off my garage which drains straight onto this concrete area. Behind the pipe is my garage door.

I’ve looked at rockery / alpine options because of all the water they’ll receive, and also looked at raised planters as options but in both I don’t know how it will implicate the down pipe being able to drain water away.

Does anyone have any advice?


Posts

  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    I don't think alpines are necessarily a good idea as the area will get damp during rain. I would dig a bed and fill it with very free draining material, and plant up with plants that tolerate dry spells AND periodic wet conditions. You could extend the bed along the patio. 

    This is a planting I just went to see in Sheffield.... it's a sustainable drainage scheme that drains all the surface water from the road. The planting medium is 70% crushed stone, 20% composted bark, and 10% topsoil, which absorbs water very well and apparently sustains the planting very well.

    Image may contain plant flower tree outdoor and nature

    Image may contain plant tree flower grass outdoor and nature
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    Install water butt(s) to catch the water off the down pipe for summer use.  Run an overflow pipe from it to a more suitable position in the garden or a drain.  Then do whatever you like in terms of planting (the down pipe will no longer saturate the area).
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Alpines hate being soaked, so definitely not those.
    Unless you lift it all, you couldn't put anything there apart from pots, so you'd need to build a decent raised bed, allowing a gap for water to drain through. Then plant according to the site - shade, sun etc. That would work extremely well.
    How far you bring it out will depend on how much you want to keep the grass too. The narrower it is, the higher it needs to be to give a decent volume of soil to support the plants. 
    The pipe would still drain onto the grass which isn't ideal, but you could certainly do as @nick615 suggests to alleviate the problem.
    If you lift the concrete to plant directly, you'll need to thoroughly improve the soil as it won't be great. It will then depend on how the site is. The water may still largely collect at the downpipe end, so that will have a bearing on the type of plant you choose. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    I mean the concrete is only about 150mm wide, I would just plant something in front of / alongside it. It's possibly the edge of the foundation pad of the garage. The water butt idea is great if the OP doesn't mind a water butt there.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
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