Newbee needs Help -- My backyard turned into a swamp

15 years ago

Hi everyone I am new here and I need help! We just move to our new home and I am so anxious to start my gardening this year, however, not so long ago I found out the backyard is all filled up with shells and heavy clay. So, trying to solve the problem I dug out about 2-3 inches of clay from the area that I want to plant flowers and tomatoes then I add 6 inches mixed soil on top of it. (a mixture of top soil, top soil with sand and decomposed mushroom and mushroom compost) after all the hard laboring and putting expensive soil on top, it rained heavily today, and then everything turned into a swamp, I canÂ¡Â¦t even set my feet in the planting area , itÂ¡Â¦s all soaked with water and my feet sinks into the Â¡Â§soupy soilÂ¡Â¨ immediately after I tried. I know that raised bed is a good solution, now can I avoid raised bed but still improving the drainage of the backyard? Putting drainage pipe under the ground? The yard is kind of underneath of a slope, do I still have hope planting anything in there this year? I am so afraid now can anyone give me some advice? Please help out!

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Comments (4)

backyardigan
15 years ago
I'm no expert, however my backyard was full of slate, rocks and heavy clay. My husband and I bought about 12 big bags of peat and spread it all over the yard, then spread top soil and then grass seed. It took us about 2 seasons, to sucessfully have soil that wasn't compacted by clay. It is still working, I add leaves to problem areas every fall to aid in the breaking down of the soil to enrich it.
stimpy926
15 years ago
Is the entire back yard a swamp, or is there an area less so, that's still sunny, for tomatoes, etc? The reason for asking, is it's a lot easier to use plants well suited for poor drainage areas, natives especially. Aronias, Ilex verticillata's, Itea's, Clethra's, Swamp magnolia, plus some perennials are well suited. Instead of trying to fight it, work with it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Will grow in poorly drained
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For one thing: DON'T step in your garden when its wet. Just leave it alone, you'll only compact the soil. Any cultivated soil will become thick, deep mud when when. I am very proud that rows in my garden have two feet of mud after it rains - I had to till deeply and repeatedly to get it that way! I also have a garden over clay with drainage problems (at the bottom of a hill). My solution has been to shovel deeply between rows down to more compacted soil, and to pile dirt into taller rows. The path between rows is more solid because it is just a little topsoil over clay and can be walked on when wet, and the rows themselves do not go under water. All that shoveling is also a great workout! You can see it here where the furrows are wet, but can be walked on, and the rows themselves have dried out.
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Pipersville_Carol
15 years ago
I've found that being a successful gardener means acknowledging the basic characteristics of your land. The land is the most fundamental part of a garden. Your plantings should adapt to the local conditions, not the other way around.

You've got a wetlands. Trying to dry it out will be difficult and frustrating and will destroy the fragile amphibian and plant life it contains.

I think the easiest, cheapest, least frustrating, prettiest, and most environmentally sound thing to do is to embrace and respect it for what it is. Let the native plants come back, supplement them with beautiful flowers and grasses that do well in seasonally damp soil, and put your tomatoes in pots on the deck.
lpinkmountain
14 years ago
The mix you created absorbs water very well. But it could also drain away rather quickly. What's it like there now? You have to watch things over a certain period of time to see what the long term viability of plants will be. Once I put in raised beds alonside this beautiful walkway up to my front steps. Did it during a drought year, actually several drought years. But come to find out, when it did actually rain, my front yard turned into a stream! The bed borders conveniently channeled all the water right up to my front steps! All I'm saying is don't get discouraged. Embrace your yard for what it is, as others have suggested, and make the best of what you've got. I'll bet it's not so bad now. Plus, once you get some vegetation in, it will soak up some of the water. Forget about tomatoes though! Like Carol said, those you can do in pots. But there are other vegetables that might LOVE that soil. Squahes, melons and cukes all come to mind. Blueberries--you can find types in every size imaginable. There are gazillions of other options, edible and otherwise, but I'm just tossing out a few ideas to get started.

Newbee needs Help -- My backyard turned into a swamp

Comments (4)

backyardigan

stimpy926

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Pipersville_Carol

lpinkmountain

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