"0tterbot" wrote in message
...

Our block is
very poorly drained and so far, any fruit trees I've tried to grow have
drowned. We're hoping to do *some*thing to fix the drainage problem, but
not sure what... Main push at the moment is to get rid of the 'lawn'. I
have learned that lawn is a very overrated phenomenon and I no longer want
any.

that is bad news (about the drainage). whenever i see those diagrams of "how
to make drainage trenches" in books, i feel very sad for anyone reading them
with a special interest. jackie french (rather typically!!!) breezily writes
that one can "plant them on mounds" if drainage is bad.


The soil at my place is about 15cm of silt on top of solid plastic clay.
Every time I read about some new fruit or vege that I am thinking of trying it
says "requires good drainage". Grrrrrrrrrrr

One thing that helps is the main paddock is slightly sloping. When I do plant
in raised beds I allow the rows to point slightly down slope, not on contour,
this means that when the rain stops the bed drains between rows and the rows
drain downslope. So far this has saved most things.

our drainage is not so good, either, & we've lost a few from waterlogging. i
spoke to dh about not letting the holes be "glazed" and too smooth when
planting them in. he did that a few times & i think that didn't help the
problem whatsoever.
kylie


For trees I don't plant in holes. Holes become ponds in the underlying clay.
I built up a mound of topsoil and amendments (manure, compost, gypsum etc) and
plant into that. Even so you cannot spend your whole life building hills.

Of course trees will get their roots down into the clay eventually but it
doesn't seem to matter, sitting in wet clay doesn't seem to be as bad as in a
pool of water. In fact I am learning to love the clay bed as when it stops
raining, whcih must happen some time, the clay will slowly give up its water
for months and keep the place green.

It's raining again today. This summer we have had:

Nov 194
Dec 117
Jan 144
Feb 73

That's La Nina for you.

I just need a magic bullet for powdery mildew and sooty mould. And the car
has algae. Really.

David