I would not refill with soil. Would dig out as much clay as possible and then fill with gravel.

To the top ? I did that once before and the surface was just gravel and water, Wasn't sure how to improve it so dug it out again a couple of years later which I found quite difficult.

Seems you would need to dig out a very much wider, deeper area, and then fill with free draining gravel. Maybe you could place a pot on the gravel with a plant in it.

I have an area like that Hank, just off our backyard, in over 40yrs of living here we have never managed to do anything with it and I assure you we have tried, our problem is because our yard is 3ft lower than our neighbours we get their water as well as our own, to stop it making the yard and pathway all muddy in the wintertime we dug down below the pathway and then filled it back up with pebbles, the waterlevel at the moment is just below the pebbles, thats because we have had a dry day today, luckily its in the dogrun area so apart from a hedge one side and climbing roses and honeysuckle the other, nothing much would survive there anyway, we often need our wellies just to walk down the yard and this past few months I've even thought about building a walkway over the top, lol......... You could have a little pond there for the wildlife, it would make a nice little feature in that corner or as Terra says place a pot there......

I have a very similar problem I don't think digging a pit will help its only like putting a large pot in the ground with no drainage holes it will just fill with water no matter what you fill it with the only solution is if possible to dig a channel to a lower part where the water can drain to and filling it with gravel or land drainage pipes.

hi hank have you thought about a small pump in it you can get them with a float on to make them automatic if you have electric near there or run an extension lead down to it just a thought but if you do put a bucket or similar with holes in the bottom to stop the pump blocking up with clay good luck.

There are plants that don't mind a lot of water such as water Iris. There must be others.

Thank you all for the suggestions.. I have plenty to think about.

Most likely,you have a very hard compact layer of shale near the surface causing the lack of percolation of ground water. Try bog plants in this little area or Hosta.

I'd turn that part into a bog garden. there are many plants that like their feet in the very damp. the more that grows the drier it becomes in that period of time.
google bog plants or scroll down to B and see what is in there.

Just keep digging.

Looking into bog plants just now, but don't want anything that grows tall.

Here's the link to GoYpedia bog garden plants...

http://www.growsonyou.com/gardening/bog-garden-plants

or you can click on letter 'b' at the base of the GoY page.

I guess if the flooding problem gets really bad, you might have to dig a drainage channel to send the water elsewhere. Good luck, Hank, and let us know your progress.

You'll need to excavate that hole 3 feet down, line with gravel and subsoil and follow Terratoonie's suggestion.

Thanks B, only another foot to go, and thanks T, will let you know only if I succeed.!

If memory serves, this little bit is at the end of your lawn, where you've shaped with paving - where's the sewer run in your garden, does it run through everyone's gardens, one to the next? Could there be a pipe below the compacted area, possibly even protected in a concrete sheath? If that's the case, there's not much you can do about it...

You're right about the position of it B, What a memory you have ! but it's nowhere near any drains, fortunately. I'm going to refill it, make a slightly raised bed and grow spinach etc there I hope.

A raised bed is a great idea.

When we first came here (30years ago) the watertable was extremly high, putting fence posts in and the holes fiiled with water......

Some years later we needed a new septic tank
The digger went down 12 foot.....dry as a bone, about 3" soil then 6 foot or so yellow clay, then suprisingly big limestone rocks which we kept for the garden (full of shapes and shells) the yellow clay to the bottom.....

Now we're back to squelching standing water......

I'd say drained raised beds as the answer. .....

Thanks Pamg, there's always a surprise when excavating.
I was digging recently on the front garden and unearthed an old garden roller, then I remembered my wife buried it about 35 years ago.!

You are digging a sump and water from the surrounding area will drain into it.

Quite honestly, you will only stop that hole from filling with water if you improve the drainage across you whole lawn with the use of land drains.

the water table looks to be fairly low if that's a current picture and given the amount of rain we've had in the uk in recent weeks, suggesting that your lawn isn't waterlogged. In which case the best thing you could do would be to remove the concrete slabs on the lawn sides (which won't be helping matters as they stop water draining out into the lawn) and to fill with material compacted to a density similar to the surrounding subsoil, add a layer of top soil and turf over or plant a small shrub or other perennials that will adapt to the amount of water available.

You could add a layer of gravel in the bottom of the planting hole if you install a shrub - that's common garden practice - but filling the hole with anything other than similar subsoil will leave the sump. It's a simple matter of hydraulics - liquids will drain into available space.

You can use the sump to your advantage to create a boggy area - create an impervious saucer below your current water line (clay soil or a pond liner) and fill the hole with lighter material than the surrounding subsoil.

Hank: I think Terratoonie's suggestion of drainage channel is the only option. I know it's not what you want to hear but the water has to go someplace. You need to move it out of there. It will be a monumental job but maybe you should rent an excavator to dig a deep channel out to where you want the water to drain. You'll need to dig the channel at least 2 feet below grade. You can use PVC piping, place in channel & bury it. Only once that's in place and functioning, then line the hole with gravel and subsoil.

Can you mole plough domestically?.......may be an answer you could try google

If considering a mole plough, make sure that you don't have any subsurface utilities in the way

Urbanite,
The water level is low because I bale it out every day ! Thanks for you suggestions.
And thanks to everyone else.

Good point Loosestrife!!......could be more than a flood ?