Soil Tools and Poor Drainage

Soil Tools
Some soil tools are a basic necessity when you are ready to turn your ever so humble plot of land into a garden. It is very important to have a sharp spade to be able to turn the soil, a garden fork to break it up, a shovel to be able to dig holes in it, and a level-head rake to crumble the surface of the soil. You will also need a trowel for small-scale digging, a garden hoe and a scuffle hoe to keep the weeds down, also a long handled and a short handled cultivator in order to keep the surface loose and friable. Another necessary soil tool would be a good long garden hose, which is equipped with an adjustable nozzle.

A rotary tiller would be a good investment if your garden plot is larger than a few square yards. This makes deep cultivation a quick and relatively easy job. A wheelbarrow is handy, as well as a light roller, are good gardening equipment for working the soil. Other supplies for working the soil that may come in handy would be a crowbar for lifting heavy rocks, a soil auger for digging holes and taking test samples, and a pick for breaking up all the hard-packed surfaces.

When purchasing your gardening tools, always look for the best, the cheaper gardening tools will always be more expensive in the long run. Try out each one to make sure the handle fits your hands comfortably and that the tool is well balanced. Be sure you look carefully at the way the handle is joined to the working end of the tool; this is the weakest point. Round handles need to be fitted into long metal shanks and fastened firmly in place. All the cutting edges must be sharp, solid, and well aligned.

Good soil tools deserve good care. Good gardeners will clean their gardening tools after each use. Rust spots can be removed with steel wool and a solvent. You need to use a file to smooth out the nicks as soon as they happen. Everything that has been loosened needs to be tightened and once in a while apply a drop of oil to all moving parts. At the end of the working season, a good idea would be to rub down all metal parts with an oily rag before you store them in a garden tool organizer for the winter.



Poor Drainage
The way to check for poor drainage is to dig a hole about 2 feet deep, and then fill it with water. After 24 hours if water still remains in the hole, your drainage is poor. Even if your topsoil is sandy, the root development will be restricted.

Poor drainage may be simply a result of compacted subsoil or of a hardpad, which is a collection of minerals at a given depth that has cemented the soil particles. In either case, the problem can easily be solved by using a subsoil plow to break through the hardpan or by double digging. Then you can work in some porous material which will lighten the subsoil. If these measures don't work it probably means that your water table is too high. If that is your problem you may have to choose growing shallow-rooted plants, elevating your garden or lowering the water table.

The water table is the upper surface of a permanent body of water; not unlike an underground lake. It can be only inches below the soil surface or it can be hundreds of feet deep. In an ideal situation, it should be around 4 feet down, where it will provide a reservoir for the deep roots of trees and shrubs.

In low-lying areas it may be possible to lower the water table by digging trenches across slopes above your garden to divert water as it runs down. It may be necessary to install a drainage system in which case you need to decide where the extra water will go. It needs to drain beyond the lowest point of the system, in a ditch, downward slope, pond, or a stream. If no simple outlets exist, the other way is to connect with a storm drain or to build a dry well, which is a deep, gravel-filled pit. Both jobs will really need the hands of an expert. When planting your garden, remember, you always need to have a good set of soil tools and your poor drainage, if you have it, needs to be corrected.