Improving drainage
Shawntiah Jones
3 years ago
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Flower beds - lots of mold, how to improve drainage
Comments (1)Work to improve the soil. I mulch with ground up leaves, and if the underlying soil has not been significantly disturbed, I actually stir some of those leaves deeply into the soil at first. The idea is to get a healthy system set up in the soil, with lots of good bacteria and organisms. Drainage is important. I know you'd probably like to just keep existing plants in place, but I've always had difficulty improving soil without being able to work stuff into it unless I have lots of time and no worries about plant failures in the shorter term. Often a good idea for improving drainage is raising the bed a bit....See MoreTo improve Drainage
Comments (8)If it does anything, the effect will be very temporary. The only way to achieve proper drainage is by starting with a good, durably textural potting soil to begin with and replacing it when it becomes depleted and begins to break down....See MoreImproving soil drainage for plants in the yard?
Comments (2)Yes, digging a large and well amended planting hole in a poorly draining soil is pretty much a recipe for disaster. If you do not wish to amend a much larger area (and often all that does is increase the size of the 'bathtub') then dig a wide but quite shallow planting hole and site the plant high, so that the top inch or two of the root ball is above grade. Backfill with the soil you have removed (break up well) and then top off with whatever amendments you want to make a small mound or berm of soil. No bathtub and the elevation will assist with drainage. This is SOP for planting in a clay based soil....See MoreImproving drainage
Comments (7)It sounds like you are suffering from the dreaded "bathtub effect" - even though the top of the soil is amended, underneath is tight clay and water is running in to the bed and has no where to go. And you are right - this is a problem for plants there. Especially for shrubs like roses that have deep roots. Here are my suggestions in order of bang-for-buck (or bang-for-backache). Raise the bed. Even if you only raise it 6" with a border around it, that will make a big difference to the plant. If you were doing annuals or vegetables, this would probably solve the problem. But you might need to an additional remedy for the shrubs - probably 10 to 12 inches would be ideal, but that is a lot of work and will radically change your landscaping. Put in a drain right next to the bed. Maybe there is a walkway, or just create an 8 or 9 inch French drain parallel to the raised bed. Fill it with gravel or stones so gravity will move the water away from the bed. Add some organic mulch like chopped leaves + coffee grounds + grass clippings as a thick mulch to the bed. This will break down pretty much over one or two seasons providing a rich and fast-draining topsoil for the shrubs. (Keep adding more mulch as needed.) Doing all three of these would probably work wonders. In short - you are not going to be able to change the actual properties of the soil without more work that it will be worth (not to mention the damage to the structure that more digging will cause). Better to raise the surface, mulch the top, and give the water a legitimate path to follow....See MoreShawntiah Jones
3 years agojc_7a_MiddleTN
3 years agoShawntiah Jones
3 years agojc_7a_MiddleTN
3 years ago
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rifis (zone 6b-7a NJ)