We moved here to the wet and wind far west of Cornwall 2 years ago. After clearing the garden we noticed pools of standing water after the first winter.

It longer than it is wide and I put a slight camber on, with gullies along either side leading to a 300mm deep sump in the middle. Although the land was more-or-less this shape before, it still needed days of work moving many wheel-barrow's full of earth to achieve. We back-filled the sump with 30mm then 12mm gravel for a future Zen garden.

Well, http://landsendweather.info/ are reporting about 80mm rain month to date and 200mm year to date and yesterday, after two fine days, I was able to dig over about 100m2 and to fork it clean. The soil is pretty free draining, with quite a lot of course gravel, but I think the drainage may be working. Of course, without a control patch next door I can't be sure. Can I have cracked it?

Wind next....

Peter

http://www.pendeengardeningclub.co.uk

Thanks Chris, for the insights on the geology. Our soil is just as you describe. We have to pour on manure and fertilizer to keep the fertility up but that is easier than having to deal with waterlogging.

We moved from East Anglia, which is pretty arid. I was expecting high rainfall, but it is still a surprise when you actually encounter it!

Peter

http://www.pendeengardeningclub.co.uk