Last Updated on February 15, 2022 by Real Men Sow
For garden maintenance and care, good garden drainage is essential. Water management as a natural resource is important to save money and maintain your garden, lawn, and landscaping. You must use smart garden drainage techniques to ensure a garden that is productive.
5 Smart Garden Drainage Techniques
- Rainfall – Any kind of precipitation, including rain, snow, and sleet.
- Surface water – Water that is not in a stream, pond, pool, ditch, or another low spot.
- Groundwater – Water found in underground reservoirs like wells, aquifers, and the like.
- Sun exposure – The amount and intensity of the sun that an area receives greatly affect water retention and evaporation rates.
- Organic matter in soil – This is the organic matter found in soil, such as leaves, fallen fruits, and garden trimmings. It helps to fortify soil and to lighten it so that air can reach roots, and supports plant life.
Understanding these elements is key to harnessing their potential. This includes understanding the hydrologic cycle, the way water is delivered to the soil and used by it. It also teaches you how to properly grade your garden and amend it accordingly to ensure optimal water drainage.
What Is The Hydrologic Cycle?
This term describes the conditions that occur during the transformation of water into a vapor, which is free-floating in air, to rain, snow, or sleet. It is then delivered to the earth where it evaporates and then returns to the atmosphere.
The Important Relationship Of Sunlight, Soil, Water & Plants
To survive, plants need sunlight, water, and oxygen. To get the correct amount of these essential elements, plants need to have enough sunlight and water. This will allow them to hydrate and absorb nutrients as well as correct evaporation in order to dry out excess water.
This process is only possible if the soil has been properly amended with organic material. Light, well-aerated soil allows for oxygen to reach the roots and gives the plant energy. Plants need to have a good balance of nutrients, sunlight, water, oxygen, and nutrients to be able to develop strong root systems and absorb nutrients efficiently in order to grow vigorously.
How To Prepare Your Soil For Good Drainage
The soil should be rich in nutrients and beneficial bacteria. It has the right structure and texture to enable plants to grow strong roots and take advantage of all the soil’s positive qualities. Garden soil should be able to retain moisture close to the roots but drain efficiently to avoid waterlogging.
What Kind Of Soil Do You Have?
Even though you may live in an area with very good soil, it is possible that the soil around your house may not be as good.
New homes are often built on topsoil-free lots. This is because the land has been cleared away in order to make it easier to build. The soil’s ability to support life can also be affected by factors like grading and heavy equipment. It is important to amend the soil with organic compost before you start growing grass, trees and plants.
You should evaluate the soil before you decide how to amend it. You can make the best drainage and water use plans by understanding the soil quality and how drainage might occur in your landscape.
4 Conditions To Look Out To Ensure Good Garden Drainage
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Soil doesn’t retain moisture long after precipitation if it is well-drained and level.
You may also have issues with standing water on a level surface if there is a lot of precipitation. If you don’t care for your soil by adding organic compost regularly, it will eventually become compacted. Mulching with chopped leaves heavily can help retain water, and also add organic matter to amend or lighten the soil.
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Standing water will be a problem after heavy rains if your site is not level and your soil is dense.
Because compacted soil is unable to absorb water, this can cause problems. Your plants won’t be able absorb the nutrients they need, even if there is water on the ground. Instead, they will become waterlogged and root rot will occur. To break up and amend the soil, you’ll need to add organic compost. Then, add heavy, consistent mulching and chopped leaves.
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Your soil should be well-drained and sloped to ensure that your plants can thrive.
A sloped site can also lead to soil erosion. This will require you to alter the terrain so it retains water and topsoil.
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Desirable plants won’t survive if your site is sloped or your soil is compacted.
The roots won’t get the nutrients, water, or oxygen they need, because the water will just run off. This will require you to alter the layout of the land until organic compost is added to the soil.
The Key Concepts of Good Garden Drainage
- Moisture retention
- Soil permeability
- The nutrient value of the soil
Also, you need to consider how much sun your site gets in each case. Excessive evaporation will result from too much sun and excessive water retention will result from too little sun.
To ensure your garden gets enough sunlight every day, you must plan shade or pruning to make sure your plants are hydrated.
How To Recognise Your Soil Conditions
There are generally five types of soil that you will likely encounter.
- Free Draining: Refrains from excess moisture, but retains enough to support plant growth.
- Exceeding draining: Gravel and sand have large gaps between particles, so they cannot retain moisture.
- Improper draining: Keeps too much water in certain areas and loses it in others.
- Poor drainage: This refers to soil that retains precipitation for long periods of time and areas where water can stand in the cooler months.
- Very Poor drainage: This can be found in areas with a concave or flat soil surface, compacted earth, limited sunlight, and/or high water tables. These conditions create continuous swampy conditions.
How Can You Evaluate Your Soil For Good Garden Drainage?
For the average gardener, the most important layer of soil is the upper. It is important that your soil be well-drained and able to retain the correct amount of moisture for plants to thrive. These qualities must be present in the soil.
These are the steps to determine soil’s permeability:
- Place a few liters of water on a small area.
- Allow it to soak in for a while.
- Dig to determine how deep the water was absorbed.
You need to amend the soil to make the best use of water. Pay attention to the soil depth while you dig. If your soil does not retain water well, it is likely that you have hit too much rock or compacted soil. You may need to amend your soil or raised-bed gardening might be the best option.
If your soil’s top layer is dominated by silt or sandy, it will be more susceptible to erosion from wind and excess water runoff. In unstable, loose soil, plants cannot establish root systems.
What’s Soil Amendment In Garden Drainage
To amend the soil, you will need to add soil amendments. You may also want to plant ground-cover plants that have strong root systems. Certain plants, such as clover, can also improve the soil. Some plants, such as clover, can also help improve soil quality. They can be tilled down at the end of their growing season to improve soil quality and amendments for poor, silty, or sandy soils.
6 Simple Fixes To Poor Garden Drainage
Remember that poor drainage can have simple causes that have nothing to do with the soil condition. Even if it is, a single step could solve your problem. These six smart tips can make a huge difference.
1. Circumvent
You can create a raised gardening bed to take care of hardened, compacted soils or lack of topsoil. Then, fill the bed with organic, rich garden soil. This is a simple way to have complete control over your garden soil.
2. Divert
Drainage can be affected by the location of your garden. You may experience standing water if your garden is located next to your home. This could be due to excess runoff from your roof. Install gutters and a long downspout to redirect the water. You can also use a rain barrel for water capture and storage.
3. Accept
You can simply plant water-loving plants in a low spot or allotment if you have it. You might even want to build a pond.
4. Drain
A drain can be used to redirect standing water to the areas that require it. You will need to dig a trench towards the area you wish to redirect water.
Install a catch basin at the source of water. This can be connected to a PVC drainpipe that will run along the trench to transport the water to its desired location. This is a great way to bring water to a lawn or garden area.
5. Disperse
Another type of drain is the French drain. It does a great job at rerouting water and makes good use of it. This type of drainage system is installed by digging a large trench and covering it with gravel. Next, place perforated PVC pipes inside the trench. Finally, cover the pipe with gravel. This system disperses water evenly along the ditch’ length.
6. Reroute, capture & repurpose
Dry wells are a great way to temporarily capture water runoff and disperse it evenly and deeply in an area. This type of water dispersal system is created by placing a specially prepared barrel with perforations in an area you want to hydrate frequently.
A French drain or PVC pipe could deliver water to the dry well. This would be used if there is standing water in a low location. The dry well should be properly installed to disperse the water slowly and deeply.
Bigger Fixes
You will need to develop a comprehensive garden plan if none of the above solutions work. To help you analyze your problem, draw a map of the property then proceed to take a walk around the property. Doing so should help you determine where high and low-lying areas are. These areas should be noted on your map.
A clear picture will be helpful in creating a garden drainage plan. It will be much easier to see the whole picture and to decide what you can do to change the way water flows on your property. These are three suggestions that could help you implement effective changes.
1. Adapt & amend
You can alter the slope of your land by tilling, creating an effect of stair-steps, or simply changing the pattern of natural drainage.
2. Dig a ditch or creek bed
Once you’ve analyzed your map, you will see patterns in how water flows through your garden or allotment. You may be able to divert standing water by simply digging a ditch to force it into the street or storm drainage.
Turn your ditch into a dry creek bed to make it attractive, this will add interest to your property, you can add attractive rocks, gravel, and plants.
3. Create an eco-friendly rain garden
You may just want to follow the flow, as mentioned. Research on the native lowland plants in your area to help you create a space where they can thrive in your garden.
This type of space attracts positive fauna, e.g. This space attracts positive fauna (e.g birds, butterflies, frogs and toads) to your garden, which helps improve the soil’s condition. The roots of water-loving native plants create a deep, fibrous system that stabilizes the soil. It filters out any environmental toxins and then passes the moisture to the surrounding areas.
Begin With Good Garden Drainage
If drainage issues have plagued your garden in the past, these tips and information will help to rectify it. You can wait one year to see how the water flows and the plants grow in your new garden or allotment. You will have the knowledge and experience to make your garden paradise a reality with a year of observation.
