If your current planting ambitions involve plants that’s require good drainage, I am sure you are aware how disheartening it is to have a yard that just won’t cooperate. Some plants can handle the excess water that happens from being in an area that doesn’t drain properly. In point of fact, it could just cause them to bloom more lushly. However, other plants don’t cope as well, and it will make them die a gruesome, bloated death. Invariably you should find out about the drainage needed for every plant you buy, and make sure that it will not conflict with any of the areas you are thinking about planting it in. You can keep from over watering by using water timers or a garden hose soaker.
In order to test how much water your designated patch of soil will retain, dig a hole approximately ten ins deep. Fill it with water, and come back in a day when all the water had vanished. Fill it back up again. If the 2nd hole filled with water isn’t gone in 10 hours, your soil has a low saturation point. This implies that when water soaks into it, it will stick around for a long time before dissipating. This is unacceptable for nearly any plant, and you are going to need to do something to treat it if you would like your plants to survive.
The normal method for improving drainage in your garden is to create a raised bed. This requires creating a border for a small bed, and adding enough soil and compost to it to raise it above the rest of the yard by at least 5 inches. You’ll be astonished at how much your drainage will be improved by this small modification. If you are planning to develop a raised bed, your prospective area is either on grass or on dirt. For each of these situations, you should build it slightly differently.
If you would like to start a raised garden in a non grassy area, you will not have much trouble. Just find some type of border to keep the dirt you will probably be adding. I’ve found that there’s little that works quite in addition to a few two by fours. After you’ve designed the wall, you should put in the proper amount soil and steer manure. Depending on how long you plan to wait before planting, you will want to adjust the ratio to allow for any deteriorating that may occur.
If you are trying to install a raised bed where sod already exists, you will more than likely have a somewhat more difficult time. You will need to cut the sod around the perimeter of the garden, and flip it over. This can sound simple, but you will need something with a very sharp edge to slice the edges of the sod and get under it. As soon as you have become it all upside down, it is best to include a layer of straw to discourage the grass from growing back up. After the layer of straw, simply add all the soil and steer manure that a normal garden would need.
Planting your plants in your new area should not pose much difficulty. It is critically the same process as your usual planting session. Just be sure that the roots don’t level too far into the original ground level. The whole point of creating the raised bed is to keep the roots out of the soil which saturates easily. Having long roots that extend that far completely destroys the point.
Once you’ve plants in your new bed, you’ll notice an nearly immediate improvement. The added soil facilitates better root development. At the same time, evaporation is prevented and decomposition is discouraged. All of these things added together makes for a perfect environment for almost any plant to grow in. So don’t be intimidated by the thought of adjusting the very topography of your yard. It is a straightforward process as I’m sure you’ve realized, and the long term results are worth every bit of work.
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