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Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 12:28 am
by london
Land drainage is principally used to alleviate water logging in fields and gardens, but it can also desiccate certain ground types in prolonged dry spells. How do you guys solve this problem? I use soakaways
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:43 am
by Tony McC
??? How does a soakaway work in a waterlogged site? And how does it avoid desiccation?
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 3:26 pm
by GB_Groundworks
i'm from up north whats a 'prolonged dry spell' ??
but i'm with tony how does a soakaway drain a water logged field/garden if the soil has the permeability to work as a soak away then why would it be water logged in the first place.
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 4:50 pm
by msh paving
Sounds like a load of rubbish to me MSH 
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 4:57 pm
by DNgroundworks
how odd:rock:
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 5:12 pm
by lutonlagerlout
if dessication is a problem there are plenty of irrigation products out there
i see from your website you work a lot in central london robuild, I have done a fair bit in piccadily circus and the strand,pain in the rear TBH
cant see soakaways working very well in london,due to bundles of lovely clay
LLL
Posted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 8:38 pm
by seanandruby
maybe harvest the water in a holding tank via filter drainage. install an overflow and add an irrigation system to help elivate dessication.
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 10:54 am
by Artisan
london wrote:Land drainage is principally used to alleviate water logging in fields and gardens, but it can also desiccate certain ground types in prolonged dry spells. How do you guys solve this problem? I use soakaways
Sounds like a dodgy exam question!!
Here in deepest Weston-super-Mud, we have vast amounts of horrible claggy clay soil, that is like the Somme at the minute, and in the middle of summer, sets like concrete, then opens up cracks and crevices that would swallow a small child. We use a few ways to get round it, in terms of gardening, but really your water table is always somewhere round your ankles in the winter. As others have said, soakaways are no use, if you install land drains, they have to go somewhere, if you are lucky enough to have a ditch or stream to run them into (legally), then that is a start, otherwise you are a bit stumped. Conservatory installers who put in "soakaways" to get rid of the rain from their gutters simply make the problem 10 times worse. In terms of dessication, I guess that is a soil improvement problem, incorporate lots of organic stuff to hold the water in the dry spells, whilst also opening up the clay soil to improve drainage in the wet periods. Raised beds get you away from the water level, and let you bring in better soil to grow plants. Either that, or make a feature of it, bog gardens are wonderful!! :;):