Garden Drainage · Solihull
Garden Drainage in Solihull
A garden that turns into a pond every winter is not something you have to live with. Most waterlogging has a cause that can be found and fixed, and winter is the honest time to see it.
Proud Gardens installs garden drainage across Solihull and the surrounding areas: land drains and French drains under lawns, soakaways, linear drains along patios and against the house, and re-grading where the levels are sending water the wrong way.
Much of Solihull sits on heavy clay, so standing water is common. The answer is rarely a bag of sand; it is working out where the water comes from, where it can go, and building the route for it.
- Land drains, French drains and soakaways
- Patio and house-side drainage, channels and falls
- Cause found first, then fixed as part of the landscaping
Winter slots available
Fix the wet garden while you can see the problem.Drainage Work We Do
Garden drainage solutions in Solihull
Every wet garden is wet for a reason: clay, compaction, levels, a neighbour's run-off, a blocked outlet or a patio laid without falls.
We find the reason before we recommend anything, because the right fix for one garden is the wrong one for the next.
Land drains and French drains
Perforated pipe in gravel-filled trenches under lawns and borders, laid to fall, collecting water and taking it to a soakaway or outlet.
Soakaways
Crate or gravel soakaways that give collected water somewhere to go when there is no drain to connect to. Sized to the ground and the area being drained.
Patio and house-side drainage
Linear channel drains along patios, doors and walls, and patios re-laid with the correct fall so water runs away from the house rather than towards it.
Re-grading and levels
Ground re-shaped so surface water runs where you want it, often the simplest fix for a low corner that collects water.
Lawn drainage
Drainage installed under a new lawn as part of relaying it, so the lawn does not drown again. See lawns and turfing.
Drainage behind retaining walls
Gravel backfill, land drains and weep holes so walls are not holding water as well as soil. See walls and steps.
Downpipe and gully connections
Rainwater from the house routed properly into gullies or soakaways instead of discharging onto the patio or lawn.
Permeable surfaces
Gravel, permeable paving and artificial grass on free-draining bases where a solid surface would make the water problem worse.
Drainage as part of a bigger garden
Drainage is usually the first thing we design into a garden rebuild. If the patio, lawn or levels need doing too, it all goes in together. See landscaping in Solihull.
Tell Us Where
The Water Sits.
Let us know where the water collects, how long it stays after rain and whether it is the lawn, the patio or against the house. A photo taken when it is wet is worth a lot.
A Practical Starting Point
Where does the water collect in your garden?
You do not need to know why. Just tell us where and when.
Some gardens have a lawn that squelches from October to March. Others have a patio that runs towards the back door, or a bottom corner that stays under water for days after rain.
Tell us what the garden does when it rains and we will tell you what is likely causing it and what the sensible fix is.
Heavy clay or compaction. Land drains under the lawn into a soakaway, usually combined with relaying the lawn on a free-draining base.
The patio or ground is falling the wrong way. A channel drain and re-laying with correct falls.
Water from the whole garden, and sometimes next door, ends up there. Re-grading plus a soakaway or drain at the low point.
Laid without falls or on a failed base. Usually re-laying rather than patching. See patios in Solihull.
Compacted subsoil under a thin layer of topsoil. Breaking up the ground, drainage and proper topsoil before a new lawn.
From Enquiry To Dry Garden
How a drainage job works
A drainage system that goes in without understanding where the water comes from and where it can go is money in a trench. We look before we quote.
Tell us what happens
Send a description of where the water sits, how long it stays and photos taken when it is wet if you have them.
We look at the garden
We check the levels, dig a test hole to see the soil and how fast it drains, and find any existing drains or outlets.
Agree the solution and quote
Drain runs, soakaway size, channels and any re-grading set out in an itemised quotation.
Excavate
Trenches and soakaway pits dug to the right depths and falls, with the garden protected where we cross it.
Install the drainage
Pipe, gravel, membrane and soakaway crates installed and connected; channels and gullies fitted.
Reinstate and hand over
Trenches backfilled, lawn or surfaces reinstated, and the garden left tidy and draining.
Drainage. Properly Diagnosed.
Why use Proud Gardens for garden drainage in Solihull?
We are landscapers, so drainage is built into the garden rather than bolted onto it.
That means the lawn, patio, walls and levels are all considered together, and the drainage goes in while the ground is open rather than being dug up again later.
We find the cause
A test hole and a look at the levels before any solution is suggested.
Built to a fall
Drains laid to the correct gradient to a real outlet or a properly sized soakaway, not a trench of gravel that fills up.
Reinstated properly
Lawn, borders and surfaces put back so you cannot see where the trenches were.
One team for the whole garden
If the lawn needs relaying or the patio re-laying, the same team does it in the right order.
Local Drainage
Garden drainage across Solihull and nearby areas
Proud Gardens is based in Solihull borough and installs garden drainage across Solihull, Shirley, Knowle, Dorridge, Balsall Common, Sutton Coldfield and the Birmingham side of the borough, much of it on the same heavy clay.
Send us your postcode, where the water sits and a wet-weather photo and we will tell you the sensible next step.
Also see lawns and turfing, patios in Solihull and garden walls and steps.
Common Questions
Questions about garden drainage
Why does my garden flood every winter?
Most often heavy clay soil that does not let water through, compaction from building work, or levels that bring water from a larger area into one low spot. Occasionally a blocked or broken existing drain. A test hole and a look at the levels usually tells us which.
Can I just add sand or spike the lawn?
Spiking and sanding help a lawn that is slightly compacted. They do nothing for a garden on clay that holds water for days, which needs a route for the water to leave by.
Where does the water go?
Into a soakaway sized for the area, or into an existing surface-water drain or gully where one is available and connection is permitted. Never into the foul sewer, and not onto a neighbour's land.
Will you dig up my whole lawn?
Trenches for land drains are narrow and the turf is lifted and relaid, or the lawn is relaid afterwards if it was failing anyway. We reinstate as we go.
Can drainage be done in winter?
Yes, and it is the best time to see the problem. Wet weather can slow digging for a day or two, but a drainage job is not seasonal. Doing it now means a dry garden by spring.
Do I need planning permission for a soakaway?
Not normally for a garden soakaway taking rainwater from the garden or roof. If you are connecting to a public drain, the water company may need to be told. We will flag it if your job is one of the unusual ones.
Fix The Wet Garden
Fed up with a waterlogged garden?
Tell us where the water collects, how long it stays and what you would like to be able to use the garden for.
Add a wet-weather photo if you have one. We will come back with the next step and, for suitable jobs, a date to look at it.
Re-planning the whole garden? Book a design consultation →