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Soil, Compost & Mulch

help soil retain water

16 years ago

We are blessed with well draining soil in our area but for some areas of my lawn the soil dries out too quickly. We have a 2 1/2 acre property and about 1 acre of lawn. Bringing in tons of topsoil really isn't the best solution for me because 1) it would take a lot and be costly and 2) I have an underground irrigation system so can't really add a lot without having to then have all the heads raised (at least 50 of them).

I've read about zeolite for soil conditioning. Is this just for clay to get it to drain better or would it also help condition the soil so it holds water better? Any other suggestions?

Thanks

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Comments (7)

Kimmsr
16 years ago
The singele best material to add to soil to aid in moisture retention is organic matter, lots of organic matter. One of the primary benefits is that for many of us organic matter is available every year for free as the leaves fall off the deciduous trees.
hoyess
Original Author
16 years ago
thanks kimmsr -- believe it or not I don't get many leaves yet. Trees are still small and most blow away but in time that will change. Another suggestion was adding peat moss so I may look into the cost of that if I can get it in bulk. Other options may be triple mix.

Sharon
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In decades of gardening, I've never had a circumstance where peat and/or vermiculite did more good than harm (not including containers). The situation will eventually work itself out, but my policy is to never add anything that mother nature wouldn't. "Good soil" just takes time, kudos to you for getting started! Assuming the raised beds are directly on the ground, the plants will soon get their roots down into the - clay? - and be better able to withstand dry conditions more easily then. I would mulch too. A finely shredded wood, so it helps add tilth to your soil by decomposing quickly. Growing veggies is not the easiest thing to do, you'll have lots of learning experiences. For example, even if it goes right, it can go wrong. About 12 years ago my daughter planted watermelon seeds and I didn't pay any attention to the package. One of the vines grew a melon but it stopped growing long before I thought it should. After about a month of waiting for it to get bigger, it never did so I cut it off and sliced it open. I was so disappointed to see that it was orange inside and hadn't even made any seeds yet. I thought it was poisoned from the neighbors lawn service (heavy rains would cause a flow from their yard into ours) and threw it on the compost pile. The next spring I was looking at veg seeds and saw a package of little round ORANGE seedless melons. Well duh, I didn't know there was such a thing. I probably threw out the best edible thing we grew that whole year! I think the curse of the scorned melon was finally lifted last year. Mother nature let 2 little melons ripen enough for us to eat but not get torn up by squirrels. Good luck, keep trying & have fun!
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tumblenes
16 years ago
Possibly this wont be the popular view: the very best thing you can do for the lawn is to make it smaller, a size that takes only an half hour to cut, that way maintenance tasks like spreading compost wont be such a back breaker.
smallaxe
16 years ago
Grass clippings make good organic matter. Do you have an active soil culture with deep roots yet? Mowing higher in the trouble area helps too.
gardenlen
16 years ago
yes add heaps and heaps of organic material, and don't forget to mulch the top then with hay or similar.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page
hoyess
Original Author
16 years ago
Tumblness - not as bad a view as you think! I've actually gotten rid of a lot of lawn already. Down from over 2 1/2 hours cutting to a little over an hour. One half hour is not likely feasible as we have a large weeping bed, plus you need a 20-30' perimeter around that, plus side lawns, back lawn and front lawn -- maybe 45-50 minutes will be my ultimate target.

I water the lawn as deep as I can with my irrigation system (can get about 1/2inch on, 1 inch is not doable would have to run for three days). I cut the lawn VERY long and leave clippings on if they are not too long (if we have a heat wave I don't cut then am forced to sweep but I set my sweeper high and it picks up only the thick piles). Most of the lawn is in great shape now except the borders along the outside of the property line where I think they put down less good topsoil. I can usually weather drought and grubs around the house but these areas keep getting hit and are having a hard time establishing that 'deep root system' so I'm looking at cost effective ways to ammend the soil here.

Thanks all for the advise, I follow up on many of these thoughts before fall.

Sharon
terran
16 years ago
Hi Sharon,

Here is a link to previous post on this forum about Terra Preta soils.

If I remember correctly, as little as 10% pulverized charcoal in the soil by volume is enough to hold moisture and provide the benefits.

Terran

Here is a link that might be useful: Anyone Using Charcoal? gardenweb.com/forums/soil/

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