Flooding

Tony76 · « **on:** March 31, 2015, 14:46 »

Well, where to start.
Have a large plot, and have been told by a neighbour that a previous tenant covered a lot of the and with shale and other detritus.
So far I have only been able to find a couple of areas worthy of planting before hitting stone of one variety or another.
Apparently the guy had a lot of large huts all over the place.
Anyway. The garden suffers flooding everytime there is any rain, to the point of having puddles and a couple of small pools.
Have dug out some trenches, but to have a significant effect, would have to have them all over the place.
Any thoughts or ideas would be hugely appreciated 😊

gypsy · « **Reply #1 on:** March 31, 2015, 16:32 »

I had a similar problem, I now have 14 raised beds and have dug drainage ditches between them and lined the ditches with bricks. I made the mistake of not making the ditches wide enough, they are only the width of a brick so it is hard to walk between the beds and impossible to take a wheelbarrow through but drainage is much improved.

Tony76 · « **Reply #2 on:** March 31, 2015, 17:22 »

Yeah that was the line I was heading down lol
Fortunately there are lots of bricks I have already collected from around the plot
Cheers

snowdrops · « **Reply #3 on:** March 31, 2015, 22:34 »

Sounds like you might need to invest in a good riddle to prepare you soil well. Make a plan & then work on one bed at a time, cover up what you can to stop weeds

cadalot · « **Reply #4 on:** April 01, 2015, 06:33 »

I don't have a flooding problem, but I inherited a plot that had glass, scaffold fitting, bricks, stones, carpet old blow away green houses and all other kinds of rubbish buried in addition to brambles couch grass and it's taken me two years to double dig, weed and remove the debris.

But I now have woodchip and concrete slab paths and beds, and it's wonderful to see, record the progress and difference in a diary it really helps to keep you going, and its very satisfying to look back on.

Hampshire Hog · « **Reply #5 on:** April 01, 2015, 08:48 »

Looks like raised beds is the way to go. One other thought in the short term you could erect a cheap,plastic greenhouse and grow frost sensitive veg in grow bags eg tomatoes peppers etc. once this season is over your can use the used grow bag soil to fill some of your new raised beds for next year.

Good luck

HH

ptarmigan · « **Reply #6 on:** April 01, 2015, 10:36 »

I've got heavy clay soil with a really small amount of top soil - if you dig down get flooded quite quickly, I think there's also some collapsed field drains.

Raised beds have helped so much, put weed membrane and bark chippings down between them and some brick paths, and it's much easier to work with. The raised beds don't flood, and I can actually walk on the paths after rain. It's made the plot useable. It was quite hard work to put them in, and you have to get the spacing right for wheelbarrows etc but it's such a difference.

Tony76 · « **Reply #7 on:** April 01, 2015, 11:45 »

Thanks for all the responses guys, much appreciated.
With it being a big plot, am thinking of doing a bit of a 'secret garden' theme, as I have 7 kids lol
Plenty of space for different sections and internal fencing.
On the greenhouse front, I was planning to build a lean to in the side of the shed.
I'm thinking of digging two trenches the whole length of the garden and putting plenty of rubble in for draing. Kind of like a French drain. With look may work.
Time is one thing I do have at the moment lol
At what point can I post pics?

Goosegirl · « **Reply #8 on:** April 01, 2015, 12:26 »

Any point so we can see your progress. Look forward to seeing them.

LotuSeed · « **Reply #9 on:** April 01, 2015, 16:10 »

Raised beds are great. Not only do you avoid flooding but you have better control of the soil and anything added to it. If there is grass where you want to place them, remove that layer first and then line the bottom with cardboard. Filling the beds can get costly but you work around that by building them and then filling one or two at a time. If you have a stable nearby that has well rotted horse manure take advantage of it. If they use wood shavings in the stalls that gets chucked into the manure as well and really adds to it's "fluffiness" 😆

Kristen · « **Reply #10 on:** April 01, 2015, 16:47 »

Quote from: Tony76 on April 01, 2015, 11:45

I'm thinking of digging two trenches the whole length of the garden and putting plenty of rubble in for draing. Kind of like a French drain.

If you are going to go to that amount of trouble I recommend putting some perforated drainage pipe (flexible pipe with lots of small holes in it, it comes on a roll) in the bottom of the trench. It basically just creates a nice "void" through the stones that the water can easily run through.

http://www.pavingexpert.com/drain03.htm

Tony76 · « **Reply #11 on:** April 01, 2015, 23:33 »

Managed to downsize a panoramic pic

Tony76 · « **Reply #12 on:** April 01, 2015, 23:34 »

She'd is up and a bit more work done that isn't noticeBle til your there lol

LotuSeed · « **Reply #13 on:** April 02, 2015, 00:10 »

Nice job!

Tony76 · « **Reply #14 on:** April 02, 2015, 09:58 »

Cheers
Have a lot of fencing to sort out to make it a bit more secluded lol
Rear fence is in a bad way and backs onto an old sandstone quarry. Need that to be really safe.
The council has a habit of leaving allotments unattended and empty for long periods even though the waiting list is 4 years

Flooding

Tony76

Flooding

gypsy

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Tony76

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snowdrops

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cadalot

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Hampshire Hog

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ptarmigan

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Tony76

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Goosegirl

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LotuSeed

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Kristen

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Tony76

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Tony76

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LotuSeed

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Tony76

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