What’s the best way to drain a garden border?

The border/flower bed in question is at the bottom of the garden, at the bottom of an incline that runs from an old railway bank 150 yards up the road. The border already has a few small but mature trees and a couple of shrubs. There also a cover that I believe is a drain right in the middle of the bed. all the rain seems to end up here and it’s very heavy soil below the surface with lots and lots of roots.

I have thought about adding further topsoil to raise it a little, would this work and can I cover the drain cover?
The whole ‘estate’ is less than 15 years old, the area is definately my property and it backs on to other back gardens.

What should you do if you think you’ve uncovered a badger set /fox’s lair in your garden?

This morning I set out to tackle the end of my garden which has been overgrown since we moved in 12 months ago. I decided I couldn’t leave it any longer and since my husband has gone away on a work trip, I tried to deal with it on my own. All was going well, weeding and chopping back foiliage, when I noticed these ‘banks‘ at the edge of the garden which had previously been covered by this creeper. Anyway, I thought I’d stay away from them for the time being and concentrate on another bit…but a few minutes later I turned around and trod in some fresh animal poo, which i sware hadn’t been there before. I immeditelty panicked and came back indoors.

If I have disturbed something of a badger/fox variety, should i be worried? I really want to reclaim my garden and plant some flowers and shrubs there. What’s the best way of going about this?
Thanks for the responses so far. I realise there is a difference between a badger and a fox…its just that the only clues I have are the size of the poo and the fact there were these ‘animal’ created banks, which had until I came along a dark concealed shady area above them. Oh, and perhaps the other thing I should mention is that I live in the UK!

Trivia – Shakespeare’s Garden?

1. The first three questions pertain to the mad Ophelia’s sad bouquet of flowers and herbs in Act IV of “Hamlet”. When Laertes enters, Ophelia gives him an herb which symbolizes “remembrance”, and adds (more to the absent Hamlet than to Laertes) “Pray you, love, remember.” Which herb is it?

Sage
Thyme
Rosemary
Rue

2. Ophelia gives Laertes some flowers which symbolize “thoughts”. Their name is derived from the French word for “thoughts”. Which flower is it?

Columbines
Pansies
Daisies
Violets

3. Ophelia regrets being unable to give any of these flowers, since “they wither’d all when my father died”. Which flower are they?

Violets
Daisies
Roses
Lilies

4. Shakespeare’s great narrative poem “Venus and Adonis” is a retelling of the mythological story of the goddess of love’s ironic infatuation with the indifferent hunter Adonis, and its tragic denouement. Adonis is fatally gored by a wild boar and is found by Venus lying dead in the forest; what flowers spring up around him, watered by his blood?

Anemones
Roses
Poppies
Tulips

5. “Where the Bee Sucks, There Suck I” from “The Tempest” is sung by the sprite Ariel, set free at the play’s end by his master Prospero. According to the song, Ariel “couches” in the bell of this flower “when owls do cry”. What flower is it?

Canterbury bell
Foxglove
Bluebell
Cowslip

6. At the end of “Love’s Labours Lost”, two songs are sung; one symbolizes Winter and one Spring. The “Spring” song lists four different flowers; which of these flowers is NOT mentioned?

Daffodils
Daisies
Cuckoo-buds (buttercups)
Violets

7. In a beautiful speech from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” which begins “I know a bank where the wild thyme grows”, Oberon describes to Puck the bower where his wife, Titania, makes her bed. According to this speech, which two kinds of wild roses form a bower over the fairy-queen’s bed?

Cabbage and musk roses
Damask roses and eglantine
Musk roses and eglantine
Moss and damask roses

8. In the comedy “Twelfth Night, or What You Will”, the melancholy song “Come Away, Death” is sung at the request of Orsino, the Duke of Illyria, who is brooding over his unrequited love for Olivia. The singer of this song asks to be laid in a grove of which “sad” tree?

Willow
Cypress
Yew
Hemlock

9. In “Richard II”, Act II scene IV, a Welsh captain observes to the Earl of Salisbury that the people believe the King to be dead, because of certain signs in nature. What type of trees, according to the captain, have all withered in the country?

Oak
Bay
Arborvitae
Myrtle

10. Samphire is a succulent herb which grows on rocky cliffs by the sea. It is mentioned by Edgar in Act IV, scene 6 of “King Lear”, when he tries to convince his blind father, Gloucester, who wants to end his life, that they are at the edge of a cliff. To heighten the illusion, Edgar describes someone gathering samphire (“Halfway down hangs one who gathers samphire- Dreadful trade!”. Samphire gatherers were lowered by rope along the cliff side; it was, indeed, a hazardous task). Which fisherman-saint was samphire named in honor of?

St. Fidelis
St. Philomel
St. Peter
St. Phillip

11. Which herb completes this line from Sonnet #99: “The lily I condemned for thy hand, And buds of ________ had stol’n thy hair.”?

Marjoram
Rosemary
Lavander
Lemon Balm

12. In Act IV, scene 1 of “Macbeth”, the witches are concocting their vile brew. Among the revolting ingredients is the root of this poisonous herb, which figured in the death of Socrates.

Nightshade
Mandrake
Hemlock
Larkspur

13. In “Romeo and Juliet” what type of fruiting tree grows outside Juliet’s window, from which the nightingale sings each night?

Pomegranate
Apple
Fig
Orange

14. In Act IV, scene III of “Othello”, Desdemona is burdened with a sense of foreboding and thoughts of death. She sings the “Willow song”, which she had heard sung as a child by a love-sick maidservant of her mother’s who had been abandoned by her lover. Which Italian composer wrote a memorable setting of this song in his operatic version of Shakespeare’s tragedy?

Giuseppe Verdi
Giacomo Puccini
Vincenzo Bellini
Antonio Vivaldi

15. The comic denouement of “The Merry Wives of Windsor” takes place in Windsor park. The park is dominated by a tree, which is associated with Herne, the ghostly hunter of Windsor. What type of tree is it?

Fir
Ash
Sycamore
Oak