Soggy /Damp (Plant high and you can get away with murder)

So you have soggy soil in your garden? Among the first questions to answer: is your garden soggy all over or just in patches, and is it soggy all the time, or seasonally? The underlying causes may be obvious –  a stream, a high water table, excessive rain on clay soil, or it might need a bit more investigation.  

It is always worth checking to see if the soil is compacted. This can often occur in new gardens where an impermeable layer has been created through the use of heavy construction machinery, and the topsoil has simply been spread on top. Deep digging will break this up and allow the soil to drain but be careful not to bring the subsoil to the surface. 

Plants need moisture and can generally grow well in quite moist areas provided that the water is passing over the roots and draining away hence the ‘moist but well drained’ requirement often seen in the planting instructions. Difficulties begin to occur when standing water pools around the roots and excludes oxygen. In high temperatures, capillary roots can start to rot in a few days though plants often survive longer when they are dormant or in colder temperatures. Following the death of these fine roots, a situation can occur where plants are both unstable and shallow rooting meaning that they don’t grow as well and can be vulnerable to drought in dry spells.