Wet garden, heavy soil

[CatNippy81]

We have gotten so much rain that our ground has become incredibly saturated. My soil is some what on the heavy side, but has never been an issue. Until this new monsoon season that we started having. Now my garden is really soaked and muddy in some areas. I have plants in and they are not doing very well since all the rain. where the water is soaking in the soil is left very heavy and packed down. I would imagine the young roots are having a hard time with this. Is there anything I can do since the plants are already in the ground?

[Susan W]

Ugh!
Think ahead to next season when you may be in desert-like conditions!

My situation not quite the same as yours, but wet is an understatement! We had 10+ inches in May alone. I have mostly containers for the herbs (150+). The rains beat down that soil. I try to go back through and loosen. I use the small hand cultivator claw thing. I gently loosen the soil, and many of the plants are still tender, so be nice! You have to judge if you can gently cultivate around your plants. As you are planting in ground, can you add a light layer of straw or something to help break the rain? That can sometimes help break the pounding and diffuse the water.

Hope this helps.

[jal_ut]

Relax. It may soon dry out some. The plants will be OK.
Plant roots have an amazing ability to penetrate even compacted soils.

Whatever you do, don't try to work the soil when it is wet.

[tomc]

This fall start scrounging stuff to build raised beds. How fast you build beds will depend on how much free stuff you can find.

[bcallaha]

We also have heavy clay soil. Two years ago, we had similar conditions that you describe. I lost a couple of tomato plants. They just wilted up and died, but the rest of the plants came out ok. I had just planted some beans, and they didn't come up. I suspect that the crust that formed on the top was too much for the young tender plants to push up through. I had to replant the beans, but most everything else was ok. This year I had to replant my potatoes for the same reason. Only a few potatoes came up. I've been amending the soil with compost, and that's helped a lot. Good luck!!

Brad

[Susan W]

I wouldn't suggest going in while soil soil real wet. Perhaps you'll have a few pretty days and can start working the drier areas, that is before the next wave of rain. Ugh!

[imafan26]

If the ground is wet, but not flooded, the plants can handle that if the soil drains reasonably well and it can dry out in a week. At least you won't have to water for awhile. But, yeah all you can do is wait until everything does dry out, the soil can't be worked.

However, it is a good time to pull weeds. They come up better when the soil is wet and you know the weeds will be coming on strong after the rain stops.