An Organic Square Foot Garden: Good Drainage Is Critical

A few months ago, I set up my first square foot garden (you can read all of my Square Foot Garden-related posts here).  I placed it on a flat, mulched area.  While things flourished at first, after heavy, long Spring rains, the garden became over-saturated, didn't drain well and rotted.  All of it.  It was quite sad.

While I hate to learn lessons the hard way, the lesson was learned. 

Here's what I did (photo is pre-grid):

I kept it in the same spot since the light was right, but I combined the two 4x4 foot boxes and lifted the whole thing up on top of cinder blocks.  How? I bought a 4x8 foot piece of plastic lattice fencing from Lowes.  Placed this on top of wood planks, which in turn were on top of cinder blocks.  I lined it with weed barrier to retain the soil yet let the water pass through.  While I was at it,  I added more vermiculite, compost and peat moss.  I then went about the planting, then watered thoroughly.

Drainage problem solved! Just like a potted plant, I now water until it drips out beneath, then I stop. Makes it easy to know how much to water.

I am very hopeful for success.  I'll keep you posted.

There's Something Putrid in the Garden

Drainage is a big deal in North Texas, for two reasons.  Firstly, there's a lot of clay in the soil.  Water tends to sit on top of clay and is very slowly absorbed.  Secondly, when it rains here, it pours.  Have you ever noticed what happens to a dry sponge when a lot of water is dumped on it?  At first, the water just runs right off.  The sponge doesn't start to swell immediately.  Put these two qualities together and if the lowest spot in your landscape is up against your house or key elements of your garden, then your foundation or your landscaping may be in trouble.

After watching a few trees really suffer due to poor drainage in our backyard, my husband and I got out there in today's driving rain to do something about it.  First, my husband cleared a trench from a major pop-up bubbler toward the street, then he cleared some backed-up (and quite rotten) leaves, etc., from the pipe to allow more water to flow away from the garden.  After that project, we began to inspect other bubblers around the perimeter of the house.  One, I noticed, was full of water but the water was only trickling out.  A possible sign of blockage.