Dealing with the Swamp

Dani down in Ukee posted a comment on the first post in this blog and asked some great questions specific to gardening on the coast. She said she was "looking to find out how others deal with the swamp." Ah yes, the swamp. We all probably have one, although some more than others. (I've mentioned mine fairly often — a skunk cabbage or two usually appears right about now — so it is wet, wet, wet back there. This photo is not, thankfully, from my yard.)

So let's share how you deal with the clay soils and excessive rains we have here. I know that historically, many of the settlers dug ditches to drain their properties, or at least to divert some of the water. They did grow food and a fair amount of it; they had to. (On that note, I have access to a journal of George Jackson, who lived at Long Beach in the late 1920s. When I have a moment, I'll compile some of his gardening entries. I do know he had potatoes in by now.)

I think the most obvious answer to the moisture problem is good drainage and for most of us that means raised beds and the higher the better. (I'm sure we're all jealous of the three-foot-high beds at Stubbs Island, not to mention full-time gardeners!) The vegetable beds already on this property when we bought were only about 4 inches high. I used them for over a decade but last year changed that to 12 inches. It takes a lot more soil (I had to buy some for the first time), but it has made a huge difference.

I've also tried to keep more water off the beds, especially at this time of year, using plastic cloches. I think this is helping too. Things aren't quite so soggy and the soil/plants are a titch warmer.

A few other things I would suggest:
- constantly amend the soil with compost, tilled in cover crops, manure and perhaps some sand and anything else to give it body (I've never added peat as it seems to me this would just exacerbate the problem, but, please, others wade in with their ideas.)
- avoid walking on the soil, particularly when it is wet as it will just compact it further. And the same applies for working it too much when it is saturated. It will just get compacted in the end.
- add lime to deal with the acidity of the soil caused by leaching rains (make sure you read up on particular plants though as some, like potatoes, don't like lime)

Other ideas, folks? Taking time to make well-drained beds with great soil is the foundation you need for a wet coast garden.

Here are some other tips:
- from Gardening Know How
- from Linda Gilkeson in Year-Round Harvest: Winter Gardening on the Coast, who says: "Managing the soil mainly involves paying a bit more attention to crop rotation and adding extra organic matter from compost, aged manure or green manure crops. Organic matter both provides nutrients and improves the properties of the soil. It increases the water-holding capacity of sandy soils and drainage in heavy clays."
- from The Twelve Month Gardener try the soil test: "...check the look and feel of your soil. Good soil hold moisture well, and is rich and crumbly. If you squeeze it tightly in your hand it will hold together, and then crumble evenly when you let it go. Sandy soil, which won't form a ball, does not hold moisture; and clay soil holds too much, forming a compact hard ball when squeezed. Even soil in good condition can benefit from the addition of organic matter to improve the texture."