Look at dimensional quartzite or Tennessee cobblestones.

A sump will not work in clay soil unless the water has somewhere to go - somewhere to drain to ...... unless you mechanically remove it via a pump. That's simply not true in many cases unless you include straight down through the clay in your "somewhere to go" statement. Water moves just fine through clay, just very slowly. It will move downward through the natural channels and pore spaces between the clay particles that are formed by the (clay)+Ca+(clay) and (clay)+Mg+(clay) bonds. It's the opposite of why clay soils with insufficient calcium and magnesium to balance sodium don't drain. That's why exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) values take on even greater importance in clay soils....to ensure good structure to allow water and air to move through the clay. If water never moved through clay soils, we wouldn't even care if sodium was properly balanced by other cations. It would be a non-issue for clay soils. (which it most certainly is not) Here's how it works: First, you have the capillary action of the clay pulling water downward. The same force that can pull on water so hard that it will suspend it in a perched table when clay is over sand, due to the differences in sizes of the void spaces, is the same force that will pull water down and out of the sump, into the clay below. Second, gravity is also on your side. The heavier the water column, the more gravity will work for you to pull the water down into the clay. That's one of the reasons why I prefer the gravel rather than sand, and the pipe rather than the gravel. The gravel and pipe both allow more water per cubic centimeter of space than the sand, which means a heavier head of water in the same size column (or another way to say it is a shorter column will provide the same amount of weight). Also, the gravel has even less capillary action than sand and won't be working against the forces pulling the water down. That is to say, the water column (perched water table) won't have to be as tall for gravity to help push the water down. The pipe will provide the heaviest head of water and capillary action will be, for our purposes, virtually zero. The shorter the column necessary for gravity to do its job, the less chance you will have a saturated root zone. Of course, the deeper your sump the less of a concern this becomes. If you look at the picture provided upthread, it isn't difficult to imagine water moving laterally from the surrounding soil to fill the sump hole.......you have a hole full of water and the few gallons in the hole has had absolutely no measurable influence on the surrounding water table Well, I like "imagination time" as much as the next guy but it's a pretty big leap to assume that everyone everywhere has a high water table. I'm not even going to explain further. I'll just let you think that one through on your own. Will drainage happen slowly? Sure, but it will happen. The success depends on a number of things. Exactly how heavy is the clay? What is the silt percent? How much rainfall do you receive? Is irrigation monitored properly, etc... In my area one of my most frequent issues is helping people deal with clay soils, but we don't get much rain. When managed properly, a couple of those tubes can do the trick. Yes, a trench or drain tiles or tying the drainage into a nearby sewer line would be nice and if the sumps alone don't work, explore some of those options. But, if you can get away with the sumps, why use an elephant gun to shoot a mouse?

So the overgrown bushes, and especially their roots, must have soaked up and slowed down the water so that your patio stayed dry before, huh? Sorry to be a downer, but I'd be surprised if there is anything you could do with bricks and plants that would stop the water from coming down any time soon. Maybe eventually the plants might develop enough roots to do the job, but if it's going to be a veggie garden it doesn't seem to me that you would get enough. Installing drainage tile behind the base of the wall would work, but that's a ton of work, and would probably mean rebuilding the wall. I get tired just thinking about it. You could try digging down a foot like you were thinking and then lay the drain tile in that trench, covering it with small stones and landscape fabric. That might intercept enough surface water to do what you need. Good luck. ThinMan

Our pool is in the process of renovations. I am having trouble deciding what to choose for a decking to put on top of an existing concrete. I like the flagstone look that will go best for the lagoon style pool. The pool edges is covered with 1 to 2.5 in of coping and big boulders. My dilemma is deciding which flagstone to choose real vs synthetic vs concrete. The prices are about within the same range. I guess it'll come down to maintenance and looks. I am also converting to salt water system and getting the pebble sheen finish. I just need some advice. After months of research from contractor to products, I am absolutely exhausted.