Better garden soil drainage conditions

If you’ve got soil that drains too slowly OR live in a fairly wet area like me (Oregon), then you’ll need to create better soil drainage. If your soil drains too slow the water ends up replacing the air in the soil and roots hate that. Roots need air to stay healthy plus if water takes up a lot of space, roots have less space in which to expand and grow.

You can test your soil for drainage by doing the following…

1. Dig a 30cm by 30cm hole. Give or take.
2. Fill hole with water.
3. The hole should be emptied within an hour or your soil is draining to slow.

In my home town it rains a lot so even without the test I err on guessing that the soil will drain slower simply because rain is pouring down often. BUT I don’t go to extremes. In the past I’ve mixed in more organic matter like peat moss, which yes holds water but also makes the soil more textured and creates a better balance of air, water, and dirt. You can use any basic soil amendment to try and fix your slow draining soil.

IF simply adding more organic amendments to your soil fails (i.e. after adding do the hole test again) you’ll need to try something else such as…

Build a raised bed for your garden instead.

Add layers of coarse gravel below your soil (harder than a raised bed IMO).

Dig a trench by your garden. Install drainage pipes or tile at the bottom of said trench. Make sure you’ve got an area where the pipe is pitched so water can drain off – near a sewer is good. This also sounds more complicated than a raised bed to me, but if you want to learn more read installing lawn drainage or Install a French drain.

How is your garden soil – does it nicely drain or get all swampy?

[image via stock.xchng]