Slopes, moss and clay lawn.

[Dackers]

My back garden isn't the most level thing in the world - one side of it slopes down a bit - it's not disastrous but makes mowing problematic. The sunken side tends to get waterlogged in the rain and even after the heat of the last few days is soggy and your feet have a tendency to sink into clay-type soil. The more raised side seems to prefer growing moss instead of grass.

Has anyone got any hints on the best way to level the ground and make it drain a little better? Am I going to need to remove the existing grass and lay more turf? Will the clay underneath make the problems reoccur? Are these likely to be relatively simple tasks or am I best to get someone in to do it as I'm not the best DIY-er in the world? It's not the biggest garden - it's about 25-30 square feet.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[sandwell]

25-30 Square feet, is that right?

I had this problem with my daughter's garden. To level it, is hard laborious work, and obviously you would need to remove the existing grass, and then relay the whole area. I dug a trench on the lower side, about 1'0 wide and 1.0 deep, laid drain pipes into it, filled up with stones, built a small soakaway at the bottom, and it solved the problem.
I am surprised you are getting moss on the high side, damp is usually the cause of moss.
If the garden is so small, have you considered dispensing with the lawn, you could make a border all round the garden, and put stones, a few planters etc, to replace the lawn. Save you a lot of lawn mowing, and there is plenty of choice of plants, some that like dry conditions, others that like wet conditions.