Amber Ormerod wrote:
"Amber Ormerod" wrote in message
...

Hi,

this is the first 'use' since last season and it was only a
watering
can full. The ground here is very dry. We have hovered out some of
the stones and its almost like mud and stones. Its less than a
year
old. It got too dark to try and futher down so going to try again
tomorrow but nothing at all is draining. Its very weird cos it
worked fine in November - when it was last used in any way.



Well we have pulled out what we can (two foot down) but its still
all
squidget and there is more sandy type material than grit in there.
Looks like the top layer is sharp sand as we are only just getting
down to the git after all this distance. Could the base have
'settled' onto it? Just seems weird and another thing to go wrong
this week - thankfully these things only come in threes?

If I'm reading you correctly, it looks as though the sump is silted
up from the surrounding soil. If that's right, then to make it work
as a soakaway again you'll have to dig it all out and refill with
good lumpy rubble: maybe it needs to be a lot bigger, too, to stop it
happening again.

I wonder if it would help to put a few old plastic sacks on the
rubble before adding the final soil and turf layer. Not enough to
retain water and make the new surface squidgy in wet weather, but
enough to stop it all subsiding into the soakaway.

Maybe a rubble-filled drainage trench all the way round the
greenhouse, too? Would the lie of the land make it possible to forget
all about the sump, and just lead a drain off down the garden, or to
the rainwater drain from the house?

--
Mike.