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Poor draining soil that just won't amend!

Gaughan.davidGaughan.david Posts: 80
in Problem solving
Hi everyone, hoping you can help.

I have a strip of soil around 1m wide completely surrounding my paving, which I plan to plant up with grasses and perennials.

One side of it is a definite 'problem area'. It's extremely soggy and I can't seem to fix it. 

Having run the old soil in a jar test, I can say that the soil is in fact mostly sand- I'd say 50% sand, 40% silt and 10% clay at the very most. I've dug in plenty of compost and it's still a muddy mess with standing puddles. 

Is there anything else I can do? I was planning on buying some angular, fine gravel tomorrow to dig that in as a last ditch attempt. 

Another potential plan would be to plant up with my grasses, but ONLY heavily amend the actual planting holes with large amounts of grit in the mix. Might that work too?

Thanks!
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Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    If it's mostly sand, but isn't draining, it suggests there's a hard 'pan' lower down, probably of clay, preventing water getting through. Without seeing it in person, it's difficult to make any other judgement. 
    The other alternative is a high water table, but if it's only in one area, I think it's more likely to be the former. That would need broken up properly, and organic matter added in high quantities before planting. If that isn't possible, a raised bed is another solution. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Gaughan.davidGaughan.david Posts: 80
    Fairygirl said:
    If it's mostly sand, but isn't draining, it suggests there's a hard 'pan' lower down, probably of clay, preventing water getting through. Without seeing it in person, it's difficult to make any other judgement. 
    The other alternative is a high water table, but if it's only in one area, I think it's more likely to be the former. That would need broken up properly, and organic matter added in high quantities before planting. If that isn't possible, a raised bed is another solution. 
    To be honest, it feels more like the texture of the soil that's the problem. I just can't seem to get it to loosten up. 

    Would you say there would be any issue with adding even more organic material? Would the plants suffer if the top 8 inches was, say, 40% compost? I'm aware that grasses don't much like something too rich. 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    They wouldn't suffer as such, but it would also depend exactly what plants you put in. An empty border is always going to waterlog more than one filled with plants. 
    You may have to experiment a bit, and I certainly wouldn't plant anything small - I would use plants that are filling a 6 or 7 inch pot  - at least, and use plants that like moister conditions too.
    It would also be better to wait until spring now. If the ground's soggy, it isn't going to improve in the next few months. Add plenty of compost and if possible, keep it high, ie create a mounding effect.  
    If you have grit - mix that in as well. Don't put it at the bottom of planting holes. That just creates  a sump.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Gaughan.davidGaughan.david Posts: 80
    Very useful, thanks! 

    I'm quite set on grasses and perennials- I've got something like 25 individual deschampsias! 

    It could also be the near constant rainy weather and the fact that I've been trodding all over the bed for the past few weeks! I'll heap on some more compost, add some gravel and dig it over nice and deeply again to see how it looks! 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Tramping on wet ground is always a problem @Gaughan.david, so if you can fork over it a good bit first, then mix in your new compost etc, that will certainly help.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
    Have you tried spiking the bed with a crow bar to see how deep the soggy soil goes? I suspect you have a hard pan layer, possibly waste from the house being built or the paving laid.
    The whole of my garden has a hard layer of shale from the clay mining industry about a spade depth deep. I have puddles in different locations which take ages to drain, the top spade depth of thin gritty soil has no nutrients so I have to make raised beds wherever I want to grow plants.
    When I first moved here I used to dig up lumps of white clay. It was when the contractors had to bring in a mini digger to dig out the soak away for my new patio and conservatory that I discovered what I had inherited. They had to resort to a pneumatic drill to break up the shale. I am in the sticks so not on mains drainage, fortunately I am on a slope so my garden drains into the next door field. Goodness knows what  will happen if my neighbour gets his own way and sells the fields on each side of my garden for building development. Perish the thought.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Already suggested @Joyce Goldenlily  :)
    Huge areas of Scotland have sticky clay, so it's a common problem here, and it doesn't dry out in summer either, unless you're in the east, and even then - it's rare.
    I've done raised beds in most gardens I've had, as it's easier than tackling it for every area.
    I don't know if @Gaughan.david  wants to go down that route though, and without photos, or further info, it's impossible to advise. I didn't get the impression that was an option, but I could be very wrong   :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Gaughan.davidGaughan.david Posts: 80
    Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. 

    I dumped on a good 100kg of fine granite gravel and the same again of nice dry compost and dug the bed over again nice and deeply today. 

    I'm going to try not to step on it at all as I start to plant it up in the coming weeks. 

    Here's how it's looking now! (the problem bed was to the right)

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    That should help. It will also be better once there's plants in there.
    It's not uncommon for bare soil to be so soggy up here - at almost any time of year.  :)

    It'll look really good once you have the plants in. The better draining you can make it, the better the result, although I think you're on the 'drier' side of Scotland, if I remember correctly, so it should certainly be easier next summer. Certainly - constantly standing on it won't have helped   ;)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • grantcstewartgrantcstewart Posts: 4
    Hi,
    We have a similar problem to gaughan.david but my partner wants to add "pea gravel" from the local quarry and mix with our top soil/sand 6" layer on top of clay. Is this the angular grit you mention above? I'm not sure its worth doing but she would like to plant now.

    Thanks in advance.
    Grant
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