maybe go with the bad drainage and have a bog garden and a natural pond.your ducks would love it to .its just a thaught realy.you could terrace it up the higher end wear it will be quite dry and have the water feacture and bog garden on the lower part to look down on.maybe have a patio up top that mite be nice .just a thaught.take care bye for now .

Or alternatively, the panacea for all drainage problems is to add loads of organic matter to loosen up the soil. Really you need to identify why your garden is badly drained in the first place - is it compacted, is there the floor of an old building beneath the soil, is it heavy clay, are you at the foot of a slope? Obviously some things you can remedy, others you'll have to live with.

thanks for that, I'll have to dig a bit deeper..... we have plenty of prganic matter so thats a start!

you could even just have a very high water table.sids right about that.mite be worth asking the neighbers as they mite of already sorted it out.

Our soil is compacted and is clay. where we live, used to be a railway track, so we have found lots of iron and bits and pieces in the areas we have dug. At the base of the wall which runs along the bottom of our garden you can just see the top of some arches, we think these were perhaps culverts once upon a time, like drain holes.... I'd love to see old pictures of how things used to look.... So all in all, there are a few contributing factor to our garden becoming swap-like in the rain and over winter! Nosey, a bog garden sounds interestin abd I like the terrace idea.... It would also attract the wildlife too....

We have a load of compost from our chooks to dig in which is good, so that'll help Sid, we just need to hire a rotavator one weekend. :)

yes you could make your garden half wild or semmy wild and the top very formal with the raised patio.if you made it so the patio hung out ove the terrace about a foot and planted it right it would look once the plants had grow like you were hovering above the bog/water part of your garden.as you say especialy if you also had a shallow pond you would have a lot of wild life and you could get lillies etc and frogs /toads etc.be nice aswell if you put some subtle lighting under the lip of your patio.

wow Nosey! you have great ideas!!! That sounds really good! We'll have to make a start wont we! It'll br so nice to have our garden on its way :) Do you sit and design your garden, draw it out etc, or do you just go with the ideas you have in your mind?? I was just thinking if me and Kev should sit and plan a bit.... we've never done anything like this before, although Kev has had more garden experience and is good at getting jobs done, I'm a real novice, as in "what can I do to help? Can I hold that for you?" !!

i sat and designed it in my mind emma if you like but i gave it a lot of thaught as i only have about40` x 20` to work with.i have a gate at the end and a bricked up double shed at the end to.i have 5 dogs but have always had dogs as they are a big part of my life.have you looked at my garden bye the way emma ? i also wanted a big pond ,somewear to sit round my fire pit and a pagoda that has a roof so i can do pottery and sculpture if its raining.i also wanted it as im disabled a garden that was low maintanance.dogs ruin your garden so i have a seperate dog run with a big raised planter and some sculpture.my pond is raised and the back and side become the wall or fence of my dog run.i have a gate into my seating area so the dogs only come in when i want them to.the dogs run on cement and crazy paving so its easy to wash down behind the pond wear theres a big cherry tree.the dogs nails keep trimmed just for good measure to.i never put wood next to dirt as it rots out to quick.also my budget wasnt much as im not well of and im terrible with money s i looked out for plenty of bargains.i think its well worth a good thinking or planning as there much the same thing realy . it depends how well you can see the finished garden in your mind.think about what you want from your garden in the long run as its not worth spending a lot on some wear you will be moving from.there are other things like children perhaps.i did draw my pond out and at one point i ran out of money but changed a bad plan while i couldnt do anything.do you want winter interest as most bog plants completly die down in winter ? i would give it a good bit of thaught if your staying a good while and if you feal better draw out your design.it would be worth measuring your garden and wear doors and gates are and drawing a scale size as you can work out what materials you will want so you dont have much surpless.i hope that helped good luck take care bye for now .
ps any questions just ask.

thanks for that Nosey, you've worked really hard and it sounds like you have your garden just how you want it, need it and it works! We want a seperate area for our chooks too, like you have your dogs. I havent had a proper loom at your pics of your garden, was having a look, then got way-laid by your fab tattoo pics!! i will take a good look tho...

We too are om a budget as we both have recently become self-employed and have our wedding in June :) We do like a bit of winter colour and sources of food for the birds.

I'm no way as artistic as you, but maybe my Kev can help plan the garden. We know what we want, but personally, I'm no good at actually visualising a plan or a finished garden. Putting pencil to paper sounds like a good idea, because we literally have a blank space.

It sounds like you're as crazy about dogs as we are chickens!! Thank you so much for all your help and ideas. I'm going to take a look at your garden and have a sit with Kev when we get chance and get some ideas down on paper. When it comes to deciding where things can be put, we know where to get advise! Thanks again so much, I know I will be asking again for your expertise. :)

He he - now steady there with all your fab ideas NP! lol Emma - if you invite NP round to your house he'll build you an elephant in your back garden!! lol Joking aside, do check out his amazing sculptural garden!!

I would just add, when planning out your garden, do a quick sketch just identifying the main existing features - the location of the boggy bits for example. Then draft your design out on top of that (tracing paper is useful). If you lay down a strong structure of hard landscaping (ie your paths/terraces/patios or whatever), then add some focal points (which might be a sculpture, a bench, birdbath, large pot -anything really), then the rest will just fall into place. Good luck with it!

Thank you all so much for your help! Sid, I'd never had thought of the tracing paper technique, but that makes sense and we'll definately give it a go.... Phew! Its going to be a big job, but we're happy to do it bit by bit and get it right. It'll also be a huge learning curve!

NP, my grandparents used to live in Hockwold in a house up a lane called Flint House. The outside was covered in flint stone and as a child, I used to sit in their gravel driveway searching for fossils! I loved that house and keep saying to Kev I'd love to go back to visit, thats if its still there.... I know Thetford's not too far away from there :)

Well, we'd best get drawing!!!

good luck for your wedding emma yes thetford isnt far away at all .about 12 miles i think of the top of my head.i do think as much of my dogs as you do your chickens i just dont get so many eggs lol .its worth getting a book and looking round and doing like a scrap book of what you like .you dont have to use all the things in it just your faverite.planning is everything as sid sais and the rest will just happen.a garden never realy actualy finishes i dont think but as long as you get the basics right thats the main thing .as they say a stitch in time saves nine.as for your granmars house i doubt that sort of building in that sort of village would go anywear realy.they dont like change which is good and they have a slower pace of life i think.anyway your welcome to ask me anything take care bye for now and good luck xx.