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Best way to treat waterlogged garden?

Melody1111Melody1111 Posts: 11
in Garden design

I moved into a property which has a sump pump in the garden. When it rains the grass area becomes flooded and I have to turn the pump on to reduce the water level in the garden.

i don’t want to keep the sump pump long-term and don’t want a boggy garden when it rains.

I've contacted different landscapers and they're all offering different solutions. I'd really appreciate any additional insights on how to resolve this. 

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  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited June 2023
    Hi @Melody1111 and welcome to the forum 😊 

    It looks to me as if the adjoining properties are all on higher ground than yours … is this correct?

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Melody1111Melody1111 Posts: 11
    edited June 2023
    Hello @Dovefromabove Thank you :) Yes that's absolutely correct. 
  • Butterfly66Butterfly66 Posts: 970
    What have your landscapers recommended?
     If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero
    East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
  • Melody1111Melody1111 Posts: 11
    edited June 2023
    Hi @Butterfly66, one is suggesting stripping the grass down and bring in alot of soil to raise the level then lay down turf. The other one is suggesting filling garden with something called hard core (I may have the name wrong) to raise the level then lay down artificial grass! 
  • Butterfly66Butterfly66 Posts: 970
    Oh, not what I expected. I wouldn’t expect simply raising the level of your garden will help? Given how much water your picture shows I’m assuming that your neighbours’ gardens slope towards yours rather than just sitting at a higher level? 

    Did that landscapers explain why their solution would/might work? 

    The fact a sump pump has been installed suggests that someone has investigated solutions before now. You could install a French drain system but it would need to be able drain the water somewhere -but presumably this could be wherever your sump pump sends the water.

    Why don’t you want to use the sump pump? Whatever solution you decide on, I suspect that your garden may always be damp if not boggy. It may be worth your time to research rainwater gardens as these will offer ideas for managing rainfall and temporary flooding and still having a beautiful garden
     If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero
    East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
  • Melody1111Melody1111 Posts: 11
    Hello thanks for your response. Answers below:

    I don't think the neighbours garden slope but both are alot higher 


    The idea from both landscapers is that by raising the level, the water will sit underneath the new level and gradually go into the earth. It's worth mentioning that my partner also thinks underneath the current garden is clay which adds to the difficult of water draining away (however not sure about this!)

    The sump pump is sending water into the drainage system. 

    Ideally we don't want a sump pump as we feel it's like sticking a bandage over the issue. It's also worth mentioning that we think the previous homeowners may have done alot of jobs on the house themselves so pump seems like it was installed as a temporary fix 
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Is your house in the dip too. Would your house get flooded or would you breach the damp course if the soil level was raised?
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • MikeOxgreenMikeOxgreen Posts: 812
    I think I would move out, create a water garden or grow rice.
    What a crap place to build a house! 
  • Melody1111Melody1111 Posts: 11
    B3 said:
    Is your house in the dip too. Would your house get flooded or would you breach the damp course if the soil level was raised?
    No our house is above the damp course 
  • Melody1111Melody1111 Posts: 11
    MikeOxgreen said:
    I think I would move out, create a water garden or grow rice.
    What a crap place to build a house! 
    Unfortunately we bought it not long. A bit annoyed it wasnt spotted in our structural survey  
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