Improve drainage
Depending on your soil type, plant roots can be prone to waterlogging. Give the ground a helping hand, says Bob
IF you have a sandy, stony or chalky soil, you’re unlikely to know what bad drainage is unless your garden is a very low-lying site. With a loam you’re probably fine. But with clay soil, it’s a pound to a penny you’ll have drainage problems – in other words, if you dig a hole then any water collected in it will sit there for weeks.
This is a curse – however, such heavy clay soils, although naturally badly drained, are also the richest in minerals. The problem is not the water itself, but that this is stagnant and waterlogs roots, which then die as there’s not enough oxygen in it. Roots need air to breathe, and standing in water drowns them.
Good drainage means that rain does not pool and soak the ground, but passes through and away. This has two effects – first, the influx of water expels the stale air and then, as it passes down, it sucks in fresh air after it. So how do you take advantage of this pump action?
You could double dig or triple dig deeply, breaking all the soil up. This may not be enough, though – you may need to lay in drains to get that water away. All hard work, and expensive!
Of course, you could try getting nature to do the work. Encourage the bigger worms with dressings of friable compost, grass clippings, ground garden lime, and fish, blood and bone meal. When these thrive, the soil drainage magically improves. You see, healthy well-fed worms can drive their tunnels up to two metres deep. These conduct water and air deeper down than you could ever dig.
It takes them a bit of time – a year or so – but perhaps you won’t mind waiting when you realise they’re doing all that work for you, even while you sleep!
“Roots need air to breathe”