Unexpected soil problem.
Curmudgeon
Posts: 38
Our present house was new build 3 years ago. The builder seems to have imported a large amount of soil fill to level up the garden , 200-500mm in places. At first the soil seemed quite good and friable like a nice loam but I have now realised that it is in fact very silty. The problem is that it drains slowly and this is fine for the plants , but the silt element becomes waterlogged and then the soil flows like running sand. In winter the flower and plant beds have all become liquid and flowed out onto the lawn killing the grass round the edges. In fact in winter you can't get near the garden , it just becomes a soggy mess.
I realise that digging composts into the soil will help but with this depth of topsoil they just get swallowed up . Does anyone have any thoughts on how the texture could be improved ? I am embarking on a programme of drilling auger holes at intervals down to the subsoil and filling these with gravel but it is a long drawn out operation .
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Posts
To be honest, that sounds like a bit of a nightmare..Going on what i know about builders, they're not the green fingered type. Your 'top soil' would of probably been dumped on top of quite a compacted site, preventing any penetration of rain fall and thus your present predicament..and as you've already laid out your garden it could be difficult to resolve..One way to get through that soil pan cheaply would be to sow as many plants as you can, be they annual, perennial, vegetables or flowers that have long tap roots that can force their way down and through the compaction layer..Winter radish is used just for this purpose, horse radish likes damp conditions though it is invasive, In the lawn you could consider leaving it a bit wild and planting chicory in with the grasses..it has beautiful blue flowers and deep soil pan busting roots too..best of luck
I think your problem is below the imported top soil. I think if you dig down you'll find you have compaction. It's a common problem on new build properties where soil is compacted by heavy machinery and top soil is dumped on top. The only real solution is to remove the current top soil and and break up the subsoil which will allow water to drain naturally. It may be there is actual concrete below the top soil, which again is a common hazard.
Make raised beds for the flowers and plants filled with good soil. You may even consider a few inches of gravel/grit down as a bottom layer, to aid in drainage. Then in the lawn try driving a spud bar (one of those five foot long ones) down as deep as you can comfortably get it. Wiggle it around a bit to get it back out, then fill the hole with grit/sand. Depending upon how deep the compaction is, that may help. When you drill your auger holes, what do you find under there?