What to do with my boggy "new" build garden

[simonhutton]

I moved into a new build in 2019 and have so far not done much with the garden. It's a pretty basic square piece of grass with a wall at the back as the house at the bottom of the garden is higher up than mine they also have AstroTurf down. Because of this the top right hand corner gets very very wet and boggy over winter. I remembered my dad planted a dogwood in his garden when I was young and this dried up the boggy stream he had, so I did the same. It's flourished with the wet soil but hasn't resolved my water logging issue.

The soil is very clay based so retains water quite well! I'm basically after a few ideas of what I can do to make my lawn garden a bit more of a garden. I'm not a massive gardener so lower maintenance would be best. Attached is a pic of what I have so far. Garden is South East facing at 132oSE, the lawn in the picture looks a bit sorry for itself as it was scarified just over a week ago.

Thanks in advance

 

[Oliver Buckle]

That fence on the left must face just about due South, I would definitely carve a bed out of the grass there, a nice curved line on the front, not a straight rectangle. If you want low maintenance go for mainly shrubs, but there are other things, Michaelmas daisy for example will outgrow and suppress most weeds, and gives a nice burst of colour late in the season. Things like honeysuckle and clematis would cover the fence, they like their bottom in shade and their top in sunlight, so shrubs in front of them would work well.
Worth planting for insects and butterflies. Michaelmas daisy, is a favourite for them feeding before winter.
Weigela, Buddleja, and Forsythia all do well in clay, and if you amend it a bit roses do well.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

PS I would leave a strip along the front for low growing annuals, marigolds are a favourite, accessible to work on, and not too much of it, you should be able to run a hoe between the shrubs.