[gregmcalister]

I'd like people's views or suggestions on this...

I have recently taken on a derelict allotment plot and have cleared over half of it.  One half is great soil however the other half is very waterlogged.  Last night after work I dug a drainage channel across the slope then dug another one running downhill down the edge of the plot to the lowest point.  I have a reasonably large fibreglass water tank so the plan was to sink this into the ground at the lowest point and channel the water into there.  Thus hopefully draining the ground and providing a steady supply of water.

When the ground is a bit drier I would dig over the ground ready for planting while keeping the drainage channels.

Really what I was wondering was if anyone had similar drainage problems and whether they managed to get round them or whether I should write off that part of the plot as not suitable for my veggies.

[WG.]

A sketch would help me visualise but drainage is a pretty specialised hands-on sort of a thing.    The drain you dug across the slope will drain the ground downhill from it.  Sorry if this is grandmother<>eggs to you.

Do you know any farmers or possibly greenkeepers on golf courses?

[gregmcalister]

I have a sketch of the plot but I have no idea how to get the sketch from my PC to this post so I'll try and describe it as best I can.

The plot is a standard rectangular plot with the plot running generally downhill from the top right hand side (looking uphill) to the bottom left of the plot.  The water problem is on the top left hand side of the plot (looking uphill).  There are flats/houses adjacent to my plot on the left hand side (looking uphill).

I have already dug a channel down the left edge of the plot and also a channel running perpendicular to the slope along the lower part of the waterlogged area.  This has left the downhill section of the plot well drained and ready to plant (once cleared and dug over).  The waterlogged section is effectively separate from the rest of the plot however I was going to dig another channel along to top edge of the plot to take channel the drainage, from the adjacent plot uphill of mine, away from my plot.

[David.]

I have flooding problems at the bottom of my plots but I expect this with clay soil.

I your plot is flooding at the TOP of plots, and adjacent to dwellings, I would wonder whether their surface water drainage is connected to the mains system, or discharges into soakaways that surgcharge  into your plot.

You can inspect the surface water drainage plans free of charge at your local authority offices.