There's a hole in my garden ...

Great blog, Gem.
I've added to GoYpedia.
I hope you manage to sort out the drainage problems !

Quite a problem there, gg! You certainly need to keep the standing water away from the house walls.
I assume that the soakaway was constructed when the house was built to deal with roof water. You could try a completely new soakaway in a different part of the garden, though that will cause more disruption. How do your neighbours deal with roof water disposal?

And you wondered why the people you bought the house from wanted to move...
Oh dear, what a job. I'm sure you have everybody's sympathy. Your plants look very happy in their pots fr now though. Hope you don't have to relay the patio as it's so nicely done, but it looks as though it might be the best solution.

When we moved here we put a post and rails fence in and every hole filled with water so although we live on top of a hill we knew we had a high water table, some years later during a really dry spell ( remember them?) we needed another septic tank so a 12' hole went straight down in the field.... 6" loam and the rest more or less solid yellow clay with just a few rocks and a bit of shale.....putting the drainage fingers across the field was a nightmare for the builders, every time it rained the septic tank filled with rainwater, loads of millwaste in steeper gradients finally solved the problem....
So I do sympathise! Looking at how the neighbours manage the problem could help, water as we all know goes the easiest way......

what a shame when you had done the border so nicely! Still the important thing is to sort out the drainage especially near the house. We have a soakaway [although don't know where it is!] but it all goes somewhere that's for sure, luckily we do have fast draining sandy soil as well.Clay can be a bit of a nightmare.Good luck.

It looks like that soakaway was put in to deal with the surface water in the garden because the pipe leading into it comes from a drain in the patio, and the roof drains into something round the side (which is what we're now being advised to see if we can use instead). Having the conservatory built is what probably made the situation worse as the water is now getting trapped in an area that is lower than the patio drain.

The neighbour on one side has similar problems (though not near the house) and uses a pump to get rid of the water, and we're wondering if water from the other neighbour is actually contributing to my problem ... but they're not there at the moment so we can't go round and ask them about it.

In a way (looking for a silver lining in that raincloud!) it's probably been good that we've had a wet summer so I could see it at its worst and do something now ... finding out after I'd done other work out there would've been really frustrating. Plus I'd quite like a new path anyway as my slippers get muddy walking across the grass. Got to put a positive spin on things :o)

Clay soil is an awful problem. Years ago I read about and made a Roman drain on my other allotment. It involved gathering bundles of branches. Digging a trench and packing them in. Then piling the soil on top.
When the branches went rotten I fell into it.
Not so funny, as I had forgotten it was there !

While sympathising with you on your drainage problems .... may I ask what the lovely potted plants with tall pink spikes of flowers are? They really took my eye. :o)

I'm sorry to hear you've got all that work going on, and I hope it can be sorted out ASAP before the winter sets in.

I hope you didn't hurt yourself Diane?!

Nariz, they're Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Taurus' (red bistort). They're quite vigourous but they flower for ages and insects love them. They're also good for bog gardens which may be just as well considering where I'm going to be planting them! :o)

Thanks Hywel, I've just arranged for someone to come and have another look at it on Monday so fingers crossed ...

I really hope you get it sorted out, it's sounds like a nightmare!

No I didnt hurt myself Gem.
Was talking about this today with my Therapist.
He thinks the best way is to have the whole lot of horrible clay soil, as deep as your hole, taken out with a small earth mover, and taken elsewhere.
The fill up the bed three quarters with a lorry load of gravel to give the water clear drainage , with a quarter of new soil on top for plants.
Builders merchants sell prepacked gravel. Some builders sell better quality by the lorry load, loose. So it has to be barrowed in from the road.
A lot of work either way.
Best done slowly.
Dont make yourselves ill over it.

Gem, hope you resolve your problem soon.....all the best.

Thanks Diane and Sixpence :)