The Brew Cabin

Hi as a newcomer to this very informative web site, let me first thank you for answering a number of questions already, and educating me slightly on certain issues.
My question is regarding a gully i have just dug in my waterlogged garden to let the rainwater drain away, i have led this gully to the main inspection chamber on my patio, i only dug it out yesterday, ( still feeling the pain) ready for the gravel and pipe to be inserted, as it was dug out it started to fill with about 3" of water, and eventualy drained away as i got lower and closer to the I.C.
The heavens have just opened up for the first time in several days, and the gully filled with water, and eventualy found its way into the drain.
But what is worrying me is that the water has settled in big puddles all along the length of the gully, either side, on the lawn? will this be due to me compacting the turf as i have been digging out? will it happen all the time?
Solution?

(Edited by jasonjohn at 5:09 pm on Mar. 10, 2003)


(Edited by jasonjohn at 5:12 pm on Mar. 10, 2003)

Gully? I suspect that what you're referring to as a 'gully' is actually a trench. A gully in building site speak is a pot or construction designed to collect surface water and divert it into the drainage system.

Can you clarify this before I move on to your main question?

Sorry, yes i mean trench, about a spade wide and about 15m long, depth 1' at the end away from I.C. and the end joining the I.C is about 3'
I will be filling it with pea gravel, and the flexi pipe with the holes in, before covering it with more gravel and finaly soil and replace turf! I believe that is the correct method?
However since my message, it has been chucking it down, and a new puddle has emerged on my lawn in an area about 6' from the trench, which was not there last time there was a heavy rainfall?
Am i becoming paranoid about these puddles!!
Would it be better to put in another trench coming off at an angle to remove the new water forming?
Thanks.
Peter.

You've got the methodology about right, Peter, but you might want to consider using a geo-membrane to line your trench and prevent the gravel from silting-up, once the drain starts to function. This is shown in more detail on the Land Drainage page.

I wouldn't worry too much about puddles that appear in heavy rain and disappear a few minutes later. Once you have a land drain in, the flow of groundwater in your garden, what we call the "Groundwater Regime", will change to take advantage of the new escape route, and you should find that the incidence of these puddles is reduced. However, if you find, in 12-18 months time, that you're still having problems with standing surface water, then it would be fairly easy to extend the new land drain to collect from the problem areas, whereas, if you put in too much land drainage at this stage, you could find you're parching the ground in summer.