Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: rawrecruit on March 29, 2013, 16:50
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I'm sure lots of people have the same problem this year, but as I'm new to 'allotmenting' I thought I'd get some advice! Basically my plot is a bit uneven and the lower bits get very waterlogged. I can't afford to fill the dips with bags and bags of compost, can anyone suggest any solutions?
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My plots on a slope and I get boggy areas down the bottom. I've shovelled loads of manure in one bit (our site gets it for free from a local farm) to see if it helps and will plant bog loving plants in the other bit.
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do you have to wait for the manure to mature before planting on it? I was wondering whether we could just lift the top layer of soil and stick a manure/woodchip mix underneath then replace the top soil. Maybe that's a bad idea, I just don't know! oh, and the added incentive for sorting out the waterlogging is to reduce the mud magnetism for our 2 year old!
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My plot is waterlogged at the moment (literally there's a puddle just below the surface) but usually its dry as a bone. The weather is against us at the moment. I suggest you wait and see what its like in a few weeks.
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I have the same sort of problem, one end of my vegetable patch pools a bit during wet weather. I have decided to go for raised beds to workaround.
Another option could be to dig a sump in the corner where the problem is most severe and fill it with pea gravel.
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hi rexmundi, what is a sump and what is pea gravel?!
the situation is not helped because the person who had the allotment before me seems to have 'planted' plastic a few inches below the surface in the areas where there is most water... why? I think I've got most of it out but its hard to tell.
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I was told by one of the older guys there to put the manure on the surface and use the area for potatoes so will give at a go. Like you it's my first year so might be grateful for that little patch of moisture if summer ever graces us with her presence! (and my little boy is 1 and could get filthy in a sterile room lol)
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well I reckon if we newbies stick with it this year we'll feel pretty seasoned by the end of it... personally anything I manage to grow will be a major achievement... especially as i have a newborn too!
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I'm sure lots of people have the same problem this year, but as I'm new to 'allotmenting' I thought I'd get some advice! Basically my plot is a bit uneven and the lower bits get very waterlogged. I can't afford to fill the dips with bags and bags of compost, can anyone suggest any solutions?
You are not alone there - It will get better over time by adding mulches, leaves, manures etc it will cope better.. and maybe a bit of sunshine will help!!
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Why not site your compost bins on the lower areas for now. That's what I did on one of mine and it's also where I put the shed.
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You don't have to do all your growing areas in raised beds, just the problem spots. Even 6" would help a lot to keep those crops dry. As for filling them, scrape up the 'path' soil and use that along with anything you have that will make the soil more spongy.
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hi rexmundi, what is a sump and what is pea gravel?!
Hi, a 'sump' is basically a pit that can be dug at the lowest level of your allotment to attract water to it. It can be any size but the bigger the better I would say.
'Pea gravel' is small rounded stones which is used in field drainage systems as water can easily pass over and through it. The idea is that the pea gravel stops the sump (or pit) you have dug from becoming back filled with soil.
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well I reckon if we newbies stick with it this year we'll feel pretty seasoned by the end of it... personally anything I manage to grow will be a major achievement... especially as i have a newborn too!
Sounds like you are already good at growing! :) I think getting to know the ground is the biggest hurdle, if we can do that we'll have a fab year next year and there's always over wintering crops to consider ;)
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There is no quick fix remedy for this if you are digging organic matter in. It will take a few years for the worms etc to mix everything deeply enough to eradicate the problem. As stated before, you could dig a trench down one side leading to a sump filled with gravel.
Totty
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all good ideas thanks, I'll go have a look at it this week if the rain/snow holds off!
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Because the water table is so high where you are, digging a sump will do no good. You will just suck water from all around. water find's it's own level so it will flow in from everywhere. This year has been exceptional for rain so take it on the chin and pray we get some warm dry weather soon.
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Despite the snow that we've had recently, when I went to the allotment yesterday, the waterlevel had dropped a few inches and the ground whilst wet was no longer waterlogged. How is yours doing?
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Despite the snow that we've had recently, when I went to the allotment yesterday, the waterlevel had dropped a few inches and the ground whilst wet was no longer waterlogged. How is yours doing?
I have been following this thread because my plot is in the same state as everyone else's. I had pools on both sides of the path at the bottom end of my plot. On one side I dug a ditch and am going to plant it up with things that don't mind getting their feet wet, and the other side I have made a hugelkultur (http://permaculturenews.org/2010/08/03/the-art-and-science-of-making-a-hugelkultur-bed-transforming-woody-debris-into-a-garden-resource/) bed in the hopes that the soil will be lifted out of the water.
The bottom of the ditch I dug to try and divert the flood water is just a muddy patch now, and the hugelkultur bed is just a big mound of soil which looks quite dry and I will plant with courgettes and lettuces when the weather permits.
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That hugelkultur sounds really fascinating... even if I didn't understand everything they were talking about in the linked article!
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That does sound an interesting way to get round the problem, please keep us posted Annen on how it all develops.
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I had waterlogged areas - I think it depends on the soil type and underlying sub soil . I dug down and found clay - I tried to double dig and found a hard pan - sort of blue silt stone skerry running through the clay but forming an impervious barrier - it was impossible to dig - but my purchase of a mattock proved the answer - broke it up - it was about 2" thick and the soil underneath was clay but drained eventually and the waterlogged area disappeared- hard work but worth it. Sometimes you have to dig deep to find the answer...
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Just been up the allotment and after 3 days rain half of it is like mud soup! I just sank down into it in some places and in others it looked fine until I tried digging and found a pond directly under the surface. the worst of it is that its coming up from the ground, because some of the affected areas were covered. wierdly, the other (dry) half doesn't look that much higher, just a tiny slope's difference, I hardly dare dig down. I'll be looking back over the advice here and try not to be too despondent...
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My sympathies! :(
It is surprising the difference in parts of the country, we have had very little rain for the past three weeks and my plot, which was awash a couple of months ago, is having to be watered.