Water-logged garden

Does water in your garden stay even long after it has rained? Then does it start looking more like an ugly swamp than the gardens of heavens you envisioned them to be? Read more to learn about this.

Usually we only think about pumping the water out as a viable option, but as a matter of fact if we understand the problem areas and deal with them a little before the rains have fallen, they can be dealt with quite efficiently.

WaterloggingUsually there are two main reasons for standing water. If your garden is on a level lower than your neighbor’s garden then water from their gardens will also flow into yours. This water over the years leads to soil compaction which is the major cause of standing water. And the second reason could be because the clay content in your soil is too high preventing water from flowing in.

Both these problems seem hereditary to the garden and thus hard to counter, but there are a few ways which can help you counter them. Do anyways remember, that no particular plant, shrub or tree can take you out of this situation because there are no “water soaking plants”, and all plants will die if their roots are water logged for long durations of time.

If you know that there is a lot of clay content in your soil, then add gypsum to it. Gypsum helps clay particles to come together to form larger particles. These larger particles have greater space between them which gives the soil more space for air and water to move. This will let water to flow through it and counter standing water.

But if water is flowing in from someone else’s garden then you will have to channel this water out of your garden. If you have a drain following nearby your property then the water can be drained there or else is has to be distributed evenly in your yard itself. To make the water flow out to nearby drain, follow the following steps. You will need-

  • A plastic 4” perforated drain pipe
  • Spade
  • Yarn
  • Spirit level
  • Wire mesh

Drain Pipe for Water LoggingPerforated pipes let water fall in them hence are the most appropriate for this activity.

  1. Start digging a trench from the center of the problem area (the lowest lying area) till the drain.
  2. Make sure that the trench has a gentle slope which will allow the water to automatically flow till the drain. Approximately the slope should increase by 6 inches for every 100 feet.
  3. Lay the pipe in the trench and cover it with stones and then soil. The size of the stones should be greater than the holes on the perforated pipe.
  4. The width of the trench should be appropriate for it to fit snugly in it, while its depth at the start point should be around 6” for the 4” pipe.
  5. At the start point of the pipe attach a wire mesh so that no soil of the garden is drained out.

Following this method water from your garden will get channelized and gently go down in a drain. But if you have no drains around your property the only option remains is to distribute it in the whole garden. This can be done by installing the French drains.  A French drain is exactly like the one explained above, but instead of taking water till a drain, the pipes should branch out distributing the water all around the garden. For this close identify the lowest area in your garden (this is your problem area). Now start digging a trench from it and branch it out till various high points in the garden. Soil on the highest area will be the least compacted and water will eventually seep in from here.French Drain

The main problem which prevents water from seeping in the earth is soil compaction, so if soil compaction in the garden is dealt with then related problems like standing water, which in turn becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes, also dwarfed or stunted plant growth can also be dealt with.

So water logging can and should be dealt with to prevent your garden from becoming a stunk paradise.

Happy Gardening

You must be logged in to post a comment.