Extreme weather conditions have affected many gardens this summer. For many, the problem is drought, but what if it rains?
In some gardens, water is stored on the surface of the ground, or it may remain on the ground for a few hours after the rain stops. The best advice is to move your garden to a better place.
But you really want to keep your garden.
OK, then plant the yellow flag iris, sweet flag, marshmallow, swamp marigold and other plants that love the swampy soil.
But really, they want to grow tomatoes, roses, and marigolds in that sunny spot.
OK, it can be done. But you need to put some air into the soil – that is, drainage – so that the roots of these plants can breathe.
Work cat
One approach is to drain the water to a lower level. The easiest way is with a well, or if your garden is large, a few holes. Of course, you need a low point where the well can flow.
There is a lot of clay in the soil, and many wells are needed to drain the water.
Drains should not be large. The backyard is large enough for a garden. As the well sinks, the depth of the well-drained soil will be greater, so dig at least 18 inches deep. At any length of about 100 feet and a half, the length of any well is gradually reduced.
Pits that cross your garden should not be eye strain or uncomfortable. Imagine a garden with flat rocks and a bridge over canals. The whole system can be a beautiful “character” of water.
Although in the latter case the long narrow waterways are used to bring the water to the plants, they do not remove it, the result may be similar to that of the ancient Persian garden.
Pipe dreams
Use a perforated pipe to drain water without changing the appearance of your garden.
Dig a hole as described above, then lay it in a 4 inch diameter black plastic tube. Available in home and construction stores, the pipe is easily folded and has a hole for water to enter. Cover the pipe with a cloth to remove dirt and gravel, then refill the soil.
Make sure the outlet at the bottom of the pipe is open or in a bed of gravel in the ground.
Like drinking water, the bottom is needed to drain the water.
Raise the rows
Instead of lowering the water level below the roots of your plants, you can raise the air above them so that you can breathe. Trees and shrubs can be planted on raised hills. The roots must be large enough to allow the roots to expand. The size depends on the final size of the plant.
For vegetables and flowers, raised beds provide well-ventilated soil. Build wooden or stone panels for each bed, then load each bed to a depth of one foot or more. The higher the bed height, the better the depth of the well-mixed soil.
Stone caverns can carry you to the ancient Persian magical carpet, high bed design, and materials for their sides and paths can transport you to medieval Europe. Eat beige pebbles for the roads, especially if the edges are cracked.
Or place the beds with heavy-cut logs and straw or crushed oyster shells on the sidewalks, and instead imagine a horse loading a post outside this colonial American garden.
You don’t have to choose between pools and raised beds to improve soil drainage – why not do both?
To elevate them, they can be likened to Aztec gardeners in Shokomilicho from the beds of their gardens. Their gardens were actually built in the water, and boats closed the “roads.” Plant many popular marigolds in Xochomilicho to give authenticity to such a garden.
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Lee Rich regularly writes about gardening for the Associated Press. He authored a number of books, including the “Weed Garden” and the “Trimming Book.” He blogs at http://www.leereich.com/blog. It can be reached at garden@leereich.com.
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