We have a field drain that takes the rainwater from out house, runs the length of our garden and drains into a ditch just outside out property. We needed to get land drainage consent from the council in order to do that so you might also need this to drain onto council land. If it's not council-owned then you would need permission from the owner. If it's within 8 metres of a water course then you'll also need discharge consent from the environment agency. We had a number of informal conversations with the council before applying for permission and have found them very helpful in giving advice on what's required.
I have a gutter drain downpipe that is at the bottom of the patio, can the drainage be dug into that?
The reason being is that the patio will be getting lifted an replaced, a Diagonal run across the grass will take the soil and grass water...2 birds 1 stone.
It is also the shortest distance run than any other routes.
I wonder if your lawn is heavily compacted. Can you show a picture of the garden? If a digger has been in and the lawn receives heavy foot traffic all of this can lead to compaction, certainly on clay. Another thought is that if you put down a patio where there was previously none this will lead to further pressure on drainage.
Yeah I suspect the digger that removed the conifers and 'turned the soil over' might have caused compaction.
Putting a stone filled drain with a perforated pipe, to either a soakaway in a low spot at the end of the garden, or connecting to the surface water drainage, wouldn't be a bad idea. Your patio will need a drainage gulley or aco drain, perhaps you can connect to that (I'm not sure it's exactly good practice to connect a land drain to a surface water drain though).
Thanks for the comments. The digger wasn’t in for long, and was on boards, just a small digger. Since then I’ve broken up the soil with garden fork and dug out the top layer. Back filled etc
It was like this prior to the conifer removal just couldn’t see the full extent of it due to the conifers and plants.
The lawn hasn’t had much traffic the house was empty over summer and autumn we moved in start of winter.
ive been over the grass with garden fork also. The water table in the area I believe is high with the woods and park that we back onto.
The new patio will be replacing the existing patio plus I’ll be going 1m into the existing grass.
I’ve read that you aren’t allowed to connect into the drains unless no other options and you need approval. There seems to be a lot of videos with people doing this tho.
I have an area I could dig in a soakaway but still in clay albeit the water drains ok there. It’s not best idea to put a soakaway in clay.
I had thought about connecting it into the patio drainage when that is out in but again not sure what that will be so need to check.
I am concerning digging to see if I can get past the clay, if prob only went 0.5m down, even if I can drill down to see if it’s still clay 1m down
I think the solution will have to be land/French drain perforated pipe but where it goes is the big question.
This is the area on opposite side of garden where everything has been ripped out. Top layer removed and soil forked and turned. It’s wet and soggy but no sitting water on the surface. You can see where I have removed a concrete whirly block this must of been 0.5m deep. The hole has filled with water and been like that for 2 days now.
This was a possible soakaway option area but I after seeing this definitely not.
I went out this morning with the fork, and sank it right down into the water, wellies on and got a far down as I could, did that about 20 times in different areas, and the water has not even drained at all since yesterday. I was hoping it might release some
How much lower is the soakaway than the problem area? Would it matter if that area became permanently boggy, or even a pond? There must be *some* permeability or else your garden would have ducks swimming in it!
By the way whatever you do in terms of cultivating or shifting this soil, you should wait until it is reasonably dry e.g. dry enough to form clods that crumble in your hands.
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
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The reason being is that the patio will be getting lifted an replaced, a Diagonal run across the grass will take the soil and grass water...2 birds 1 stone.
Putting a stone filled drain with a perforated pipe, to either a soakaway in a low spot at the end of the garden, or connecting to the surface water drainage, wouldn't be a bad idea. Your patio will need a drainage gulley or aco drain, perhaps you can connect to that (I'm not sure it's exactly good practice to connect a land drain to a surface water drain though).
This is useful on land drains Drainage - Land Drainage for Fields and Gardens | Pavingexpert
It was like this prior to the conifer removal just couldn’t see the full extent of it due to the conifers and plants.
The lawn hasn’t had much traffic the house was empty over summer and autumn we moved in start of winter.
ive been over the grass with garden fork also. The water table in the area I believe is high with the woods and park that we back onto.
The new patio will be replacing the existing patio plus I’ll be going 1m into the existing grass.
I have an area I could dig in a soakaway but still in clay albeit the water drains ok there. It’s not best idea to put a soakaway in clay.
I had thought about connecting it into the patio drainage when that is out in but again not sure what that will be so need to check.
I am concerning digging to see if I can get past the clay, if prob only went 0.5m down, even if I can drill down to see if it’s still clay 1m down
I think the solution will have to be land/French drain perforated pipe but where it goes is the big question.
This was a possible soakaway option area but I after seeing this definitely not.
By the way whatever you do in terms of cultivating or shifting this soil, you should wait until it is reasonably dry e.g. dry enough to form clods that crumble in your hands.