Which trees are good to help dry garden soil

[ApriumBen]

Since we lost a couple of old birch trees I have noticed that the garden which was previously only like a mini-swamp during winter, is now often suffering from pools of water after heavy rain. The underlying soil is clay. Ihave been told Eucalyptus trees can drink a lot of water (but may have their own problems) - is this a sensible way to get the back lawn useable again in wet weather?

[cado]

trees with wide crowns provides shade and therefore prevents sunlight from directly hitting the ground hence why the ground is always wet, damp or moist. so refrain from planting those types.

[hammerman]

Have you thought about putting some more birch trees in ?...Willows and Alders love wet ground too.

Another alternative is for some of the redwoods such as taxodiums (florida swamp cypress) or the metasequoia....although they have the potential to get big

Other than that, you'd have to spike the lawn with a fork or hollow tiner and then add top dressing which is very sandy to allow better drainage.

Hope this helps a bit

[sp1214]

Willows are excellent for soaking up water but keep them well away from your property.

[May1982]

Check out these gardening how-to videos. There are tons of videos and I bet you'll find your answer here: http://www.sutree.com/videos/Garden/125

[oldernowiser]

The problem with just planting trees is that they are dormant in the winter (when your problem mainly occurs) and therefore take up very little water. If you are really dedicated you could dig up strips of grass (4-5" wide and deep), dig out some of the clay and replace it with either land drains (flexi plastic land drains are quite cheap) or, say, sand.
If you use land drains you need to slope them slightly towards an outlet where water can run away.

[ApriumBen]

Thanks everyone. Am thinking that I will replace one of the trees, but first need to dig some trenches and fill them with gravel to help the underlying problem.

hard work!