Having moist, well-draining soil is one of the key factors that ensure optimal plant growth. But it is also possible to water too much, resulting in soggy soil that drowns roots and leads to root rot. Fortunately, there are several ways to keep your soil moist but not soggy, whether you’re growing indoors or out.
To keep soil moist but not soggy:
- Invest in a drip irrigation system.
- Ensure your plants have good drainage.
- Practice deeper, less frequent watering.
- Cover your soil.
- Add water-absorbing materials to your soil.
- Use watering globes for container plants.
- Monitor soil moisture levels regularly.
This article will explore each option, so you can choose the method that’s most suitable for your garden type, preferences, and budget. With this information, you hopefully never need to struggle with soil moisture again.
1. Invest in a Drip Irrigation System
One of the best ways to keep the soil moist without flooding is to install a drip irrigation system. These systems provide controlled, slow application of water to soil through several pipes fitted with outlets called drippers.
Because the water released is minimal and slow, the chance of oversaturating your garden soil is low. Compared to hand watering, drip irrigation is far less likely to lead to soil soggy.
You can set drip irrigation to run automatically by connecting an automatic timer to an outside faucet.
This YouTube video by Grow Your Heirlooms shows you how:
Luckily, consistently moist garden soil isn’t the only benefit of switching from hand watering to drip irrigation.
Benefits
If you’re on the fence about switching to drip irrigation, you might want to take a moment to consider all of its advantages.
Some of the most notable benefits of drip irrigation include:
- Decreased water usage
- Reduced risk of root rot
- Less labor required to keep plants hydrated
Watering a large garden can easily consume gallons of water, especially during the warm summer months. Drip irrigation systems minimize your water usage and waste as they provide a near-constant source of slowly-dripping water directly to plant roots where it is needed, rather than across large patches of soil where the excess evaporates away.
Another concern is root rot, commonly caused by overwatering. When soil remains damp for extended periods, fungal spores and bacteria proliferate, wreaking havoc on your plants’ roots. Drip irrigation can reduce the risk of your plants developing this issue by stopping the soil from becoming oversaturated.
And, when you have a drip irrigation system, you can say goodbye to sweat-filled afternoons lugging your watering can or garden hose around the yard. That’s because most residential drip irrigation systems connect to an outdoor water supply, easy to turn on and off as needed.
Drawbacks
Though a drip irrigation system can help you achieve the dream of having moist but well-draining soil, it might not be right for all gardens and gardeners.
A few of the potential drawbacks of drip irrigation are:
- They can be expensive.
- They require occasional maintenance.
- Installing them can be time-consuming.
Generally, installing a drip irrigation system is priciest when you opt to have a specialist come to your home and install one on your behalf. You can keep costs low by deciding to install a system without professional help.
That said, installing a drip irrigation system without outside help can be a time-consuming process, and it’s fairly labor-intensive. After all, you’ll need to connect the components of your system, place drip emitters close to plants, and potentially bury irrigation hoses beneath the soil.
Another aspect to consider before switching to drip irrigation is maintenance. The drip emitters and hoses can become clogged after prolonged contact with soil, and plastic components may weaken and break over time. As such, drip irrigation systems require more maintenance than garden hoses and watering cans.
Still, if you’re struggling to find the ideal balance between dry, hydrophobic soil and muddy, flooded garden beds, a drip irrigation system could be a worthwhile investment.
2. Ensure Your Plants Have Good Drainage
Adjusting the amount you water doesn’t guarantee your soil will not become soggy. External factors like rain can also influence moisture levels negatively. The only way to combat this problem and to keep the roots healthy is to ensure the soil drains well.
The likelihood of overwatering is higher in certain areas like Louisiana and Florida, which are among the rainiest states in the US. Whereas states like Nevada and Wyoming that receive the least amount of rain nationwide are at much lower risk of overwatering.
Excess water causes the soil to become waterlogged. When this happens, roots suffer oxygen deficiency, inhibiting water and nutrient uptake. One of the best ways to prevent this is to ensure your soil drains well by amending it with materials like perlite or sand to help the excess drain away.
For plants planted in the ground, you can also install a garden drainage system to divert surface water away from your garden.
3. Practice Deeper, Less Frequent Watering
A common mistake new gardeners make is to water often but superficially.
Shallow watering leads to the development of shallow root systems, and shallow-rooted plants are more susceptible to drought as the roots cannot reach the moisture in deeper soil layers.
Instead, growers should aim to get the water deep into the ground where it’s needed—around the roots. A slow and deep watering technique encourages deep root growth, which gives plants an advantage in capturing water and nutrients.
Infrequent watering and slow delivery are crucial to ensuring the soil does not dry out quickly or become soggy. Plants that get used to being watered frequently will not develop the deep root system required for drought tolerance, and rapid delivery may lead to standing water and soggy soil.
4. Cover Your Soil
In perfect conditions, it’s relatively easy to ensure your plants get the correct amount of water by testing the soil with your finger. If it feels dry, water your plants, but if it feels damp, don’t add more water.
Unfortunately, growing conditions are not always ideal. For instance, water evaporates faster from plants and soil in conditions of higher temperatures, low relative humidity, and higher wind speeds. So on hot, windy, dry, sunny days, plants require more water than in cool, wet weather.
Applying some type of cover over exposed garden soil reduces how much moisture evaporates, keeping your plants well-hydrated even during bouts of hot weather. It also regulates soil temperature and keeps weeds down, impacting moisture levels in the soil.
Applying mulch to the soil surface can help reduce the amount of water lost to evaporation by shading the soil. Consequently, your soil stays moist for longer between waterings as mulching prevents it from drying out too quickly.
Materials You Can Use to Cover Garden Soil
There are several types of materials used to cover exposed garden soil and keep moisture locked in.
Some of the most commonly used options include:
- Wood mulch
- Rubber mulch
- Small stones
- Landscaping fabric
- Yard debris
Choosing the best option can be challenging, as each has potential benefits and drawbacks. Additionally, some options are better for raised garden beds and in-ground plants, while others are better suited to container plants.
Let’s explore these coverage materials to determine which works best for you.
Wood Mulch
Wood mulch is one of the most commonly used mulches, and it’s undoubtedly one of the most affordable options. Two cubic feet (0.06 cubic meters) of wood mulch, which can cover 8 square feet (0.74 square meters) with a 3-inch (7.6 cm) depth, typically costs between $3 and $5.
This coverage material is also biodegradable, making it a comparatively eco-friendly and sustainable option. But because wood eventually decomposes, wood mulch coverage requires annual maintenance and replenishment.
Rubber Mulch
Rubber mulch is a popular alternative to wood mulch, as it’s a far more durable type of soil coverage material. After all, wood naturally decomposes when exposed to water, sunlight, and air.
Wood mulch can rot away entirely in just a few years. On the other hand, recycled rubber can last for about half a century. So, if you’re looking for a type of coverage that you might never need to replace, rubber mulch could be the right choice.
But this superior durability comes at a price. On average, rubber mulch costs about four times as much as a bag of wood mulch, but this cover material is still more affordable than landscaping stone.
Small Stones
Landscaping stones come in several sizes and colors and are even more durable than rubber mulch. After all, most types of stones take centuries to show signs of decay, so once you’ve covered your soil with stone, you’ll likely never need to invest in soil coverage material again.
Landscaping stone is also one of the most aesthetically pleasing coverage materials.
You could create a picture-perfect backyard garden by covering exposed garden soil with stones, using the excess to build decorative stone footpaths around your yard. But this coverage material is often more expensive than wood mulch or rubber mulch.
Landscaping Fabric
Landscaping fabric is one of the most affordable alternatives to mulch or landscaping stone, though it’s not nearly as decorative. The primary purpose of landscaping fabric is to prevent weed growth, though you can also use it to help your garden beds retain moisture. But it’s crucial to carefully select breathable landscaping fabric.
Landscaping fabric made of a waterproof tarp or nylon material can prevent excess water in the soil from evaporating, increasing the risk of mold growth throughout the soil. It’s also an excellent idea to choose landscaping fabric resistant to UV rays, as this coverage material can degrade after prolonged exposure to sunlight.
Yard Debris
Though it might not be the most attractive option, you could use yard debris to cover your exposed soil. Fallen tree limbs and leaves are a budget-friendly alternative to pricier coverage materials, and they’re also entirely biodegradable. Even better, these materials will slowly add nutrients to your garden soil as they decompose, acting as a natural fertilizer.
But, as mentioned before, half-mulched yard debris spread across your garden beds isn’t the most aesthetically-pleasing choice. Additionally, large limbs and twigs can result in lumpy, uneven coverage.
Fortunately, you can shred yard debris to make it more uniform and visually appealing. Residential leaf shredders have an average price of about $300 and could be a handy long-term solution to piles of yard debris.
You can also rent a chipper-shredder from your local home improvement store to get the job done. The latter option tends to be best for mixed-source debris that contains a rough mixture of tree limbs, leaves, and dead plants. Don’t include any weeds with seeds to avoid spreading the problem around the rest of your garden.
5. Add Water-Absorbing Materials to Your Soil
You can improve the water retention properties of your soil by mixing organic or inorganic soil amendments into the topsoil. Organic amendments like compost, peat moss, manure, sawdust, and grass clippings are most beneficial if you’re looking to increase your soil’s water-holding capacity and overall soil health.
Organic matter additives improve soil aeration, water infiltration, and nutrient-holding capacity. Most organic amendments also supply nutrients essential for plant growth.
There are also several inorganic amendments that absorb moisture and slowly release it, or improve drainage to stop soil from becoming soggy:
Perlite
Though drip irrigation systems can help prevent overwatering and coverage materials can protect your garden beds from excessive rainfall or dry, hot weather, neither option helps garden soil drain more effectively on its own. That’s where perlite comes in.
Perlite is made of volcanic glass, and much like sand, it can help soils drain more quickly. But unlike sand, perlite doesn’t repel water. Instead, it absorbs it, pulling it away from the surrounding grains of dirt and increasing the space between soil particles to flush the excess moisture.
When the soil dries out, the tiny perlite beads can release some moisture back into the soil while preventing it from becoming soggy. So, if you’ve noticed that water takes several hours to drain away from the surface of your garden beds, you may want to mix in some perlite beads.
Biodegradable Water Beads
Perlite isn’t the only material that absorbs and then slowly releases water. Water beads can also perform this magic.
While you might think that these gelatin-like beads are made of plastic, they’re actually made of biodegradable superabsorbent polymers (SAPs). These polymers can absorb a significant amount of water without bursting.
They’re also non-toxic and typically decompose within ten years of initial use. While water beads’ lifespan is shorter than perlite (which doesn’t decay), those who have in-ground gardens may prefer this shorter product lifespan, as it won’t permanently alter their yard’s soil texture and drainage.
These qualities make water beads ideal for garden moisture control. When mixed into potting or garden soil, water beads expand to absorb excess water, then shrink down when the soil dries out. When the beads shrink, they leave behind tiny pockets of air, helping to aerate your soil.
6. Use Watering Globes for Container Plants
When working with potted plants, achieving the ideal balance between moisture and drainage is tricky. After all, water can only move in one direction (downward) in a container, whereas it can spread out much more when applied to garden beds.
To solve this, you can use self-watering bulbs for potted plants.
Watering globes are glass bulbs with long, thin stems. You place the stem opening beneath a faucet to fill the bulb, then stick the stem into the soil of your container plants, preferably near the roots.
Water will slowly seep out, providing a steady water supply for your plants and keeping your soil moisture constant over time. These watering devices are easy to use and come in a wide range of sizes, so you can select globes sized to meet your container plants’ needs.
If you often forget to water your potted plants or find it challenging to keep container plants hydrated while you’re on vacation, watering globes can be a lifesaver.
The rate of emptying will depend on various factors, including the size of the bulb and drainage hole and the type of soil in the pot. But generally, you can expect a watering globe to last for 1-2 weeks if used correctly.
7. Monitor Soil Moisture Levels Regularly
One of the easiest and most effective ways to keep your soil moist but not wet is by checking the soil moisture conditions before watering. Water only when your plant’s soil feels dry 2 inches (5 cm) below the surface, making sure to water slowly and deeply.
If you prefer not to stick your fingers in the dirt, there’re various soil moisture monitoring tools available, including soil moisture meters, which measure the moisture content in your growing medium at the root level.
Using moisture meters takes the guesswork out of watering by telling you exactly how moist your soil is. This way, you only water your plants when they need it, preventing overwatering and, in turn, soil that is too wet.
To use a soil moisture meter:
- Insert the probe into the soil such that about ⅘ of it gets buried.
- Wait 30 to 60 seconds, then check the moisture level reading in the display window.
- Depending on the reading and your plants’ watering needs, you can either decide to water or hold off on watering. For instance, a result on the dry end of the scale for philodendrons and begonias means the plant needs water stat. But the same reading for succulents doesn’t necessitate immediate watering as succulents thrive on dry soil.
- Remove the probe from the soil, wipe clean with a soft, dry cloth, then store the moisture meter in a dry location. Moisture meters should never be left in the soil as the probe will rapidly degrade.
Conclusion
Many plants thrive in moist, well-draining soil. Gardeners must therefore master the art of balancing moisture and drainage when growing plants outdoors and indoors. Fortunately, these tricks will help you manage soil moisture, ensuring it remains moist but never too wet for your plants.
Written by Alexander Picot, Reviewed by Madison Moulton
