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The cure for a soggy lawn

The "white collar" gardener misses much of the fun of gardening. He is the fellow who likes the pleasant, pottering jobs but steers clear of the rough work. He misses the satisfaction of doing many a heavy job that is essential to a successful garden.

We rate the draining of a garden as one of those operations that too many gardeners shirk, but could do. They grumble about a wet corner or a soggy lawn, and yet do nothing about

Although drains may have been laid in your garden years ago, constant flooding of a section should be taken as a warning that something has gone wrong with them.

Most gardens should be drained by four-inch tiles at a depth varying from 18 inches to 2½ feet. These tiles should run into a main drain which, in turn, empties into a ditch, a stream or a large sump.

If you have no plans of your garden's drainage system, then you must dig until you find the drains. Should you have flooding you'll probably find that the tiles are broken, out of alignment or blocked by rubbish.

If you are sure there are no drains in your garden, you can do much of the work yourself. Make certain, before laying tiles, that there will be an outlet for the water. If there is no convenient stream or ditch, the best method is to make a large sump — a hole filled almost to the top with stones and rubble and situated at the lowest level of the garden. The main drain runs into the sump, carrying the water from the secondary drains.

Although not quite as effective as tile drains, rubble drains can be used. These consist of lines of stones, and are quite suitable for draining a lawn.