[tom/barbara]

Hi, I have just been reading some ideas to solve drainage problems on my allotment, some have been very helpful, (i did't know b&q sold pipe with holes already in for drainage).

Does any one know if planting trees or shrubs that bear edible fruit, or take up loads of water would help, if so what type.

This is a really good site for swapping ideas and learning new ones.

[arugula]

Hi and welcome! I'll move this to the growing board to get you some answers....

[aelf]

trees do draw a lot of water from the ground, the main drawback is that to be effective, they need to quickly grow into big trees eg willow, silver birch etc), not really suitable for an allotment and don't produce edible fruits.

If you have standing water on your site, it would help to know what the cause of this is so that the right suggestions can be offered. Eg, is it high water table, clay soil, compacted soil etc.

[JayG]

Agree with Aelf - trees are hardly a quick fix, and even if they were you would have created an unwelcome source of competition for light and nutrients for your other allotment crops.

Do others on your site have similar problems (if so, what have they done about it?)

[angelavdavis]

I planted artichokes and rhubarb in the main area that gets water logged in winter and also planted a cranberry bush in the most wet area which is pretty boggy during winter.  I also put in raised beds so these areas were fairly usable anyway.

[tom/barbara]

Hi, thanks for replying so quickly , the soil on the allotment has a lot of clay in it. I have spoken to some of the other guys down there and a few do have the same problem on both sides of allotment, no-one seems to be doing much about it, just wading about in their wellies. Mine is on a slight incline though and seems to get the worse, down at the bottom, we had our chickens there and seeing that the poor things couldn't swim, have had to move them to the top.