Boggy garden

Hi,

Could anyone advise on how to deal with a boggy garden? Is there any simple way (absorbant sand maybe) to dry it out a tad?

Also I want to plant in pots in a shady garden, any recommendations?

Ta

 

The only way to deal with a boggy garden is to correct the drainage and if you are on heavy clay soil add humus (by the load!) to improve the soil.

Some trees such as willow or elder will also remove a great deal of water from the ground during summer (possibly too much in a drought) but really you need to look at drainage for a permanant solution.

 

Grow willows!! Actually, that's not a silly suggestion, but it depends on the size of your garden, and whether you have mostly grass that's boggy, or the whole garden is. There are quite a few threads on here about dealing with boggy grass - try a search with those words to find them. But if it's a general problem, as ~I have in my new garden, then, what I've done is to plant one large willow, on small, a few trees, lots of bushes in a hedge, and am digging out a pond in the worst area, building a bog area behind that, leading into a native wildlife area, leading into hedge and fence. Other than that, I'm digging the soil, incorporating as much co.rse organic matter as poss, sharp sand, and spent mushroom compost into it. This is improving matters - but it's a big job! Good luck! On grass, basically, prong holes in it all over the place, using a border fork or hollow-tined fork, and brush sand or top-dressing into it to help the drainage.

 

what you have to work out is if its boggy all the time or boggy now then baked in summer. there are not many plants will cope with both, but loads will cope with bog, so take heart.

willow great, and there are some very small varieties. also cornus - great winter coloured stema if you pick righ variety. My sambuca do Ok too.