Can soil hold too much water? My plants have died. Each time we dig one up water gushes in.?

Question

We've had testing done and no one seems to know why the water wont go away. It doesnt rain much and we can only use our sprinklers twice a week now.

Answer 1

YES !!!

If your soil is fine textured stuff like clay and gets really hard when it is very dry, you can have terrible problems with water. When a soil is waterlogged it is lacking air, and the roots of most plants will rot. Twice a week may be too much water, depending on how long the sprinklers are running.

Your best solution is to moderate the amount of water you are adding with your sprinkler system. A sprinkler system is nice to have during a drought but I have seen many, many trees and plants outright drowned with the attempt to water grass.

If you are getting good natural rainfall, you may not need to turn on your sprinklers at all. It depends on the season. In my nursery, we are constantly adjusting our water programming to account for the weather conditions. In addition, you can actually grow healthier grass by watering less frequently and more deeply when you do water. This practice is thought to encourage deeper roots for your lawn which may really help the grass, as well as cut your water bill.

Another thing to consider is the varieties of plants you are attempting to grow. Nature in her infinite wisdom has created plants for every ecological niche. Choose plants well suited for your location; as that is 99% of the battle when creating a beautiful landscape. If the plant's label says "prefers good drainage" that is another way of saying "don't drown me". But there are plenty of plants that like "wet feet" and that is what you may need to limit your choices too. I can tell you, from someone living over 30 feet of sand (with excellent drainage--too excellent!), I would love to have a place in my yard that doesn't drain well, so I could grow some cool perennials like Ligularia and Astilbe. Evergreens, however, mostly don't like a lot of water. Those little needles make them excellent candidates for dry areas as they don't lose water from the leaves very fast.

If you are killing plants, you are asking the right questions. Oh, and you can also consider adding soil amendments to improve the qualities of the soil in that immediate area. Stuff like peat moss and perlite may help you. Take a sample of your soil to an independent garden center and see if they can advise you.

P.S. If you don't think you are adding enough water with your sprinklers to cause this problem, I might be looking to figure out where all this water is coming from. Could you be catching runoff from a neighbor or an underground water pipe be leaking?

Answer 2

Absolutely it can be "over-saturated". There is rarely a perfect balance between the soil itself and the amount of water. And when there is more water than the soil can soak up, then the water stands around. Also, you may have a high water table in your area, which means that there is a great deal of water not too far underground. When it rains, or you use your system, the water doesn't have far to soak down before it hits an underground "lake". For us here in Texas, we don't have that issue, so our water rarely "pools"....it goes down deep searching for the water table. Hope this helps !

Answer 3

It just means you are at the level that the water table is on . Get some dirt hauled in and add 2 to 3 feet of topsoil on top of it . It may be that you are living close to a swamp or there is a major water leak

Answer 4

My plants have also died do to too much moisture (we have had too much rain). Too much water rots out the roots of the plants/flowers. Maybe try adding some mulch or more top soil to your dirt. That way there is more to work with.

Answer 5

If the soil has to much water, why use the sprinklers you are adding more water there.

Answer 6

There have been some excellent answers by the others who've written so far. I'd like to make another suggestion; consider raised beds.....it might require some work and money but it could solve your problem.

You can fill your beds with the soil and compost then use soaker hoses to minimize weeds and diseases.

Answer 7

COMPACTED soil or clay line below the surface!! a layer of this a few inches below the dirt is creating a water barrier that won't let the water drain through,,,

Answer 8

Sounds like you have a leak underground either in your sprinkler system or plumbing.

Answer 9

Yes it can. If you can't solve your drainage problem with a bit of landscaping or engineering, you'll need to build your bed up higher.

Answer 10

yes, you should be careful because plants can be overwatered. try puting rocks and or sand below your soil.