is everyone's garden really squelchy???

my old garden never had cracks in the summer but I have seen it. Hope this one isnt like that

 

I did say hot summer

 

"Hot" summer is right, all the summers of my childhood the back garden soil would bake bone dry with big cracks running through it, the grass would just turn up its toes in the worst areas but we haven't had that happen for quite a few years now, we just dont get the scorching summer days like we used to do.

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I'm quite lucky here my garden slope right to left quite a bit and my soil is usually well drained.
Tried to turn it over today for my new border but gave it up as a bad job because it was sticking to the spade,
The lawn wasn't too bad though, believe it or not still feels quite firmish under foot but in summer never holds water

 

It happened last year, and 2010, and 2011.

 

It hasn't baked the soil bone dry in our garden for many years Clue

 

I too am on sand which although it is easy to work and even now I can shake it of the spade and it is despite the rain, fairly dry a foot down, it is extremely poor as it is the at the edge of lowland Heath. It went light brown last Summer, difficult to think of it now!!

 

My garden is that really nice fine moraine type soil (the stuff left by glaciers after the last ice age) and gravel (this is a gravel rich area), yet the lawn is a swamp. The beds are lovely though.

 

Had to look up " Moraine" great word

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moraine

 

Just looked at that - I had forgotten that there were so many different types!

 

So.... which one are you ....

 

The stuff at the terminal point of the ice flow. We live very much at the end of the Windrush valley.

 

down the side of the driveway it's positively arid though it has had a bit of rain this winter.. the side of the house tends to deflect the rain away. In more exposed areas, it's fairly moist but not too wet, we haven't had to rain that everyone else has had.

 

i'm actually surprised at how well my garden has handled the rain.

Last year before I did it (was a newbuild), you only had to see a quick 5 minute rain shower to get huge puddles of water everywhere. It had about 10cm of topsoil ontop of what looked and felt like solid clay. had to raise the garden and use 10 tonnes of topsoil.

after near enough 30 days of rain I have yet to see a puddle, the grass seems solid and not squishy. There probally is a bit of water under the Cotswold gravel but it cant be seen or felt when walking on it.

Of course I have now jinxed myself and tomorrow when I get up the grass will be yellow and the whole garden will be a wet soggy mess.

 

Mine is squelchy! Heavy clay soil. Used 6 tons of top soil and atleast 20 bags of compost when we did our beds before planting out, but no use... The grass is going good but i feel like a duck whenever i m out in the garden flapping around!


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