Fred The Canuck
New member
I have cleared an area of my yard and want to grow grass and eventually a vegetable garden. The area is 60'x70' and is all thick heavy clay. The area behind it is another plot of the same size with about 20 trees on it. The back plot drops about 6' over 100' towards my house and new area.
When it rains, the new area becomes a mucky mess with standing water for about a week before it evaporates. My lawn develops a miniature lake and I can't go near it with my mower without leaving ruts everywhere.
I'm thinking of placing a drainage ditch along the back of the area and placing weeping tile and running it to a hole I will dig. (4'x6' filled with crushed stone)
I want to add sand to the clay and mix it in prior to covering the area with 4" of topsoil. (Cover the clay with coarse sand and then use the tines on my box scraper to mix it in, followed by tilling.) My thought behind this is to allow water to soak into the now sandy clay mix. I'm worried that just placing the top soil on the undisturbed clay will just create a layer for the water to sit on, continuing my soggy saga.
Sorry for the long post.
When it rains, the new area becomes a mucky mess with standing water for about a week before it evaporates. My lawn develops a miniature lake and I can't go near it with my mower without leaving ruts everywhere.
I'm thinking of placing a drainage ditch along the back of the area and placing weeping tile and running it to a hole I will dig. (4'x6' filled with crushed stone)
I want to add sand to the clay and mix it in prior to covering the area with 4" of topsoil. (Cover the clay with coarse sand and then use the tines on my box scraper to mix it in, followed by tilling.) My thought behind this is to allow water to soak into the now sandy clay mix. I'm worried that just placing the top soil on the undisturbed clay will just create a layer for the water to sit on, continuing my soggy saga.
Sorry for the long post.