When you look at your garden after there's been heavy rain, does it look more like a swamp rather than a beautiful garden? You know, like all muddy, lots of deep puddles all over the place, the grass is all soggy, and looks like the lawn that swallows things in the movie Monster House – not nice.
Obviously, when you see these types of issues, the soil doesn't have proper drainage, so the soil is saturated with the excess water, having nowhere to go.
When the plants are waterlogged, there's no way for the plant roots (including grass) to get oxygen and aeration (to breathe). Even though it's a difficult issue, it can be solved.
In this article, we'll go over a couple of ways that can help you fix up your garden and make it beautiful, even if you've got rainfall of Biblical proportions (well, maybe not THAT dramatic, but you get the point).
1. Soil Drainage (Long-Term, Not Short-Term)
If you want a solution that works and also that'll work long-term (not just a one-off fix), the best way to go about it is to increase soil drainage. You can also back this up by adding a lot of organic material that physically separates fine particles. In heavy clay soil, compost, properly aged manure, or peat moss can be used to assist this process.
As the materials break down, what happens is you get an environment where microorganisms get to thrive. And when they do, they produce this sticky substance that binds soil particles together into very stable aggregates. This helps improve aeration, water infiltration, and nutrient retention.
For a new garden bed, add a 2- to 4-inch layer of compost into the top 6 inches of soil; alternatively, gravel or decorative aggregate can be a great addition for helping with the drainage of the soil.
If you're adding organic matter to the soil every season, and you do this for years, you can permanently improve both soil structure AND health.
2. Construct an Easy French Drain in Solution to Problems
In an ongoing localized and soggy local area, the easy and good engineering solution is to place a French drain. This approach involves digging down a trench about one foot deep from the problem area at the right angle to arrive at a location of discharge.
The trench is surfaced with a water-permeable geotextile fabric containing gravel, filled with a perforated pipe (ag pipe) located in the center of the trench that captures and directs to a drain or discharge point. This prevents the soil from clogging both the gravel and the pipe and keeps operating for years.
This method is beneficial in areas of dense clay, as it serves to relieve flooding problems by providing a pathway for excess water in the area to bypass to the outside.
3. Aerate to Relieve Compaction
Compacted soil is one of the biggest causes of waterlogging, with the air pockets that water must then drain from the soil being squeezed out thanks to foot traffic or heavy equipment. Core aeration is the cure.
Using a digging fork, aeration tool, or machine, you sweep out the dirt in little plugs throughout the affected area. This provides rapid vertical channels to water and oxygen reaching the root zone.
After aeration, brush sandy topsoil or compost into the holes to improve soil texture.
4. Introduce Raised Garden Beds
Whenever improving native soil feels like a losing battle, it is better to build up.
In the heavy clay soil around Maryland, raised beds are one way to go, as they can be built with soil for plants Flintstone MD suppliers can provide you with. This basically enables you to do gardening under any situation, using specially created soil with great drainage – no muddy puddles.
For most vegetables and flowers, a depth of no more than 12 inches will do, while shrubs and trees may need beds up to 24 inches deep and deeper.
Using this technique provides instantaneous control over your garden environment and can convert unsung wet soil into a very efficient space.
5. Use Gypsum to Develop Clay Soil Structure
Calcium Sulfate (you might know it as 'gypsum') can be applied to heavy soil.
This will cause a chemical reaction that replaces the extra sodium in the clay with calcium ions. What this does is it forces all the smaller clay bits to cluster up into larger pieces.
This causes soil structure to improve, allowing more space for the movement of water and air. It's a physical soil conditioner, not fertilizer. You may use granulated gypsum and pour water in as well. Over time, and with the ongoing addition of organic matter, this can greatly reduce crusts and surface pooling.
But, How Do You Know Which Plants are Waterlogged?
As you're patching up the soil, you might notice some of your plants exhibit signs of distress.
What's really important here is that certain symptoms (e.g., yellowing leaves, wilting, stunted growth, etc.) can be deceiving; they mimic drought stress but are actually caused by roots suffocating in airless soil.
- If plants have damaged roots, then adding fertilizer can make things even worse because the plants can't really absorb the nutrients.
- Don't water too often.
- Whenever you see any dead/rotting shoots, be sure to remove them.
- Some days, the very best solution to problems is to play with your garden's natural conditions. However, in case an area remains wet, try to plant species that do best in damp or moist soil.
There are a lot of gorgeous plants that naturally adapt to 'wet feet'. Here's a couple:
- Trees: Willow, Bald Cypress, River Birch, etc.
- Shrubs: Red Twig Dogwood, Buttonbush, etc.
- Perennials: Siberian Iris, Joe-Pye Weed, Ferns, etc.
If you've got yourself some chronically wet spots in your garden, then you can plant one of these plants there. They'll fit right in as they would in their natural habitat, and, most importantly, they'll thrive -- what you want.
Conclusion
If you've got yourself a waterlogged garden, then two things are your best tools – a good plan (you need to know what you're doing) and patience (it can't be fixed overnight).
Fix the issue in increments. Aeration, focus on getting the soil healthier (long-term healthy, we don't want any short-term fixes). Work on drainage.
Once you've finally sorted out the issue, you'll have yourself a beautiful and healthy garden that thrives – something you can be proud of.
