First drought; now this! Rain, dogs and drainage are playing havoc with your lawns
'…new dog has pulled all the grass up… grass is like a sponge…nowhere for the water to go…here in Yorkshire we are also on clay…ground is so wet…helped a neighbour trench their garden…been flooded four times…despairing of what to do… probably easier to get rid of all the lawn...the mud and mess he brings into the house is unbelievable!'
We appear to be in the midst of a gardening waterworld and it's causing chaos. Many Gardening.co.uk members are suffering fallout from heavy rains, with mudpool lawns and problems with poor drainage. The lawn is a popular subject on Forum at the moment, so now could be a good time to get yourself a copy of Gardens Monthly magazine's Spring Edition, which includes a Lawn Special supplement. It goes on sale Friday 2 March. Meanwhile, here's an update on your lawns in turmoil from the Gardening.co.uk Forum.
Wet ground meets clay soil
For Natalie Stephens, who is new to gardening, the wet is getting to her:
'We've just moved house and have a 50-foot, straight garden with a wall that goes all the way round. We have dug big beds on either side and it's beginning to look nice. The only problem is that the ground is so wet – the area sits on clay, and there seems to be nowhere for the water to go. Could anyone suggest any plants that would help to dry up some of the water, or any ideas for stopping this?
Janet Horkan replies: 'Here in Yorkshire we are also on clay and it's very, very slow to drain. If I was starting again with my back garden, I would definitely put in some land drain – not difficult to do – just hard work. During this winter we have been flooded (garden that is) four times. I'm just grateful it hasn't frozen. Advice for planting would be difficult, although bog plants do work. Maybe a couple of small trees to absorb the water would be good, although even that doesn't help much, as they are at their slowest growth when it is the wettest. I've helped a neighbour trench their garden and it did make a big difference.'
Read more about Natalie's watery situation.
Sponge-like grass
Another beginner to gardening, Lisa Layton, has also been affected by the rain. 'We have just moved to a new house where the garden appeared to have been landscaped, but when we had a rainfall, lots of water stayed on the surface. The grass is like a sponge and the gravel looks more like a pond? What can we do to try and sort this out?'
Your answers include experimenting with digging a hole, while the aptly named Matt Plants suggests filling the area with moisture-loving plants.
Read more about drainage-control ideas, or contribute your own.
Square lawn: change it and drain it
Valerie Hutton is going around in circles trying to change her lawn shape from square to round. To achieve this aim, she wants to kill her existing lawn (but save the cherry tree in the middle); and she wants to know:
'What would be the best thing to use for edging a circular lawn?
What plants would be best for around the circular lawn to give the garden a 'modern' look?
What is the best thing to use to help with drainage?'
Fortunately, one Gardening.co.uk member has just put in a round lawn in her son's garden and describes what she did:
'For the edges I used stone sets. Bricks would look equally good, but make sure they are paving bricks rather than house bricks which degrade too fast. These must be set so that the mower can run over them for ease of maintenance. The lawn can be killed using a glyphosate-based herbicide such as Roundup but take care to avoid getting it on the trunk of the tree or any low branches or leaves.
You could spread a generous layer of pea gravel, or coarse grit, and fork that into the top few inches to improve the surface drainage, although it is hard to know how bad the drainage is. Is the poor condition of the old lawn due to poor drainage, or perhaps excessive shade and drought from the cherry tree?
As far as what plants to use...spiky plants, such as phormiums, give a modern look as well as ornamental grasses, mix in some bold foliage perhaps hostas, and try to use some evergreens for winter effect. I hope this gives you food for thought.'
Destructive dogs
Meanwhile Nikki Thompson has a problem of the four-legged kind: 'Please help me – my new dog has pulled all the grass up in the garden and it's just a mud bath outside…'
A problem shared with Michelle Butler 2 who is unhappy with dogs, lawns and rain – especially when the three come together:
'My lawn is so muddy, the more it rains, the worse it gets. I'm thinking it's probably easier to get rid of all the lawn but do not know what to lay instead. I have a dog who likes to visit the lawn but the mud and mess he brings into the house is unbelievable! The house was built on an allotment with no drainage. I'm despairing of what to do?'
Read more on troublesome lawns and dogs and what to do about them.
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