poor drainage
poor drainage
Hello my soil in one of my beds is very water logged. It has a fair bit of clay in. What can i do to make it better draining. I have an idea but i thought i would get some expert advice. Many thanks
Re: poor drainage
You could mix in compost, to keep the soil open, or sharp sand/grit to open it up, but in my experience the only thing that works well is a land drain. (Trench, put perforated drainage pipe [which comes on a roll] in the bottom, cover the pipe with gravel, backfill. The drainage pipe has to have an outlet, flowing away downhill, or a soakaway - and that probably needs access so you can pump it out in really wet periods - like we are having right now.
- Dave Brown
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Re: poor drainage
Before doing major work get a long metal rod and bang into the border to see if the drainage is impeded by something. I had a pan of compacted clay about 10" below the surface.... just below dig level. Once I realised that was the problem I was able to break it up without digging it all out. You also be surprised how much builders rubble impacts drainage.
Best regards
Dave
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Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Dave
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Re: poor drainage
my who garden even the lawn gets very water logged. I dug the boarders out and dug down about 2ft and there is a lot of stones now I have turned it over. I dug a section out as an experiment about 2ft deep and filled the bottom full of stones and filled it back in to see how the rain effects that area now.
Re: poor drainage
Maybe plant things that enjoy the boggy ground. Trying to radically change the composition of your soil is going to be a long and expensive process.
Re: poor drainage
There is one corner where the ground is always boggy and i do plan on leaving that for boggy plants. Just want to sort out my south facing bed as its the hottest part of the garden. Thanks for all the kind advice
- ConcreteJungle
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- Joined: Mon Dec 23, 2013 7:07 pm
- Location: Greater london
Re: poor drainage
Has anyone used gypsum into their heavy clay soils, does it work to loosen up the soil to take in more water easily?