Drainage problem

[Millie]

Hi.

Hope you can help me.
Attached is a photo I took this morning of my new rose bed. Would you kindly advise what would be the best way to fix this drainage problem. Amending the soil with fall leaves when they are available or dig in with aged cow manure or city compost if when any available.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/MillieON/poordrainage.jpg

[img]
[/img]<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/MillieON/poordrainage.jpg">]

What about a French drain by just digging a foot deep and putting gravel down and how much gravel would I need or installing Corrugated perforated and non perfoated pipes.

Thanks for your help.
Millie

[gypsy55]

Where the standing water is, dig down about 18 inches and see if its waterlogged (what the soil condition is like) Dig a spot where the water isn't and check the soil under that place. There just may be a high clay content in the first place. So in a place away from the standing water area dig a hole about three feet deep, put coarse gravel in first about a foot deep, then finer gravel for another foot. Figure a hole about two feet across. Then make a trench the whole distance from the big hole in back of the flower bed along the back. Place perforated drain tile (PVC)in the trench and backfill leaving its end open in the big hole. Then fill in the whole trench and the big hole. Theoretically water seeping down will enter the drain tile and follow its path to the big hole and leach through the soil into the hole and distribute the rainwater.

Linda Lee

[Millie]

Thank you for responding Linda Lee. You are correct it's just hard clay on the bottom. That was one of my concerns where is the water going to distribute at each end. As you can see I have flower beds and roses planted at both ends.

If I understand this correctly I should dig a three foot hole deep by two feet wide at the back end (near the fence??) where the small shed is but the slope grading is going the other way.

Also, the trench then would be dug about 5-6' away from the walkway, is that correct?

Much appreciated!

[HayZee518]

It is nearly impossible to get water to flow or seep through clay, it just gets to be a gummy mess. Over time it will but your problem is of "the moment." It's impossible to tell the thickness of that clay layer without digging well to China, so we have to do the best we can with what's given. Gypsy is correct in digging that french drain with the gravel. I would go a little bit deeper than three feet. I would put in coarse gravel and sand mixed in followed with a finer sized gravel and sand almost to the top with topsoil over that. You can adjust the slope away from the standing water table just by placing the drain tile at a diferent angle towards the hole. Good luck!

[Millie]

Thanks for the good luck HayZee. After reading Linda Lee's post again maybe she meant for the big hole to be at the deck end.

The water has disappeared and it's not soggy to walk on the grass at the present time.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/MillieON/drainage2.jpg

Not sure how the posting of pics works, sorry.