Having garden beds full of moist, well-draining soil is one of the key factors that ensure optimal plant growth. Getting the right amount of moisture can be challenging, however. Fortunately, there are several ways to keep your soil moist but not soggy.
Here are seven ways to keep your soil moist but not soggy:
- Invest in a drip irrigation system.
- Ensure your plants have good drainage.
- Practice deeper, less frequent watering.
- Cover your garden 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 might never need to struggle with soggy or dry soil ever 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. It’s one of the best ways to ensure that your soil stays moist but not soggy and refers to the controlled, slow application of water to soil through a system of plastic pipes fitted with outlets called drippers.
These emitters are located close to the plants at different spacing.
Because the water released is minimal, the chance of oversaturating your garden soil is low. Compared to hand watering, drip irrigation is far less likely to make soil soggy.
The constant benefit of water supply in small quantities to the plants keeps moisture levels at an optimal range for proper plant growth. In addition, drip irrigation reduces weed growth since the rows between plants and weed patches don’t get watered.
Only the immediate root zone of each plant gets watered.
You can set drip irrigation to run automatically to make watering your plants easy and convenient by connecting an automatic timer to an outside faucet. This YouTube video by Grow Your Heirlooms shows you how:
However, consistently moist garden soil isn’t the only benefit of switching from hand watering to drip irrigation.
Benefits of Using a Drip Irrigation System
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 dozens of gallons of water, especially during the warm summer months. But drip irrigation systems can minimize your water usage and waste, as it provides a near-constant source of slowly-dripping water directly to plant roots.
Remember, plants consume water via their roots, so having a system that targets roots instead of allowing water to spread out over large patches of soil is bound to reduce water waste. But you may wonder if that increases the risk of root rot.
Root rot is 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.
The water released by drip irrigation systems is just enough to keep plants hydrated, but not to the point that it fully saturates the soil surrounding the roots. 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 your home’s outdoor water spigot, allowing water to course through a series of hoses and pipes to water plants instantaneously.
With drip irrigation, watering your plants could be as simple as turning a spigot on and off.
Potential Drawbacks of Drip Irrigation Systems
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
You risk giving your plants too much water if you don’t adjust your watering schedule during the rainy season.
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 receive the least amount of rain nationwide.
Overwatering causes the soil to become waterlogged. And when this happens, roots suffer oxygen deficiency, inhibiting water and nutrient uptake. To prevent this, ensure your soil has good drainage.
Adding drainage holes at the bottom of plant pots will give the excess water an escape route.
For plants planted in the ground, install a garden drainage system to divert surface water away from your garden. Two common choices include French drains and surface drains. While the former removes excess water from the root zone, the latter removes excess water from the land surface.
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, which is the roots. Deep watering means water soaks into the soil at least 8 inches deep. This watering technique encourages deep root growth, which gives plants an advantage in capturing water and nutrients.
And because the upper portion of soil dries much more quickly, soil watered deeply retains moisture for several days.
Infrequent watering and slow delivery are crucial when using this method. Plants that get used to being watered frequently will not develop the deep root system that’s important for drought tolerance, while rapid delivery may lead to standing water and soggy soil.
4. Cover Your Garden Soil
Another way to help your soil retain moisture without making it a soggy mess is to cover it up. After all, when the weather is warm and sunny, the moisture inside your garden soil will begin to turn gaseous, evaporating into the air, leaving your soil dry and brittle.
In perfect conditions, it’s relatively easy to ensure your plants get the correct water amount, as you only need to stick your finger into the soil to measure soil moisture.
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. Covering exposed soil, and leaving only plant stems uncovered, can help reduce overwatering.
Think about it like this: The tiny circles of still-exposed dirt can become tiny bullseyes for your watering can. Even better, the water you apply to these spots will seep directly to plant roots where it’s needed most.
Applying mulch, such as grass clippings and pine needles, 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.
But which material should you use to keep your garden beds covered up?
Materials You Can Use To Cover Garden Soil
You could use several types of materials 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 might be the most commonly used type of ground coverage material, and it’s undoubtedly one of the most affordable options. Two cubic feet of wood mulch, which can cover eight square feet with a three-inch 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.
Since wood is an organic material, it can also become a hotbed for mold growth. For these reasons, many gardeners prefer using other materials, like recycled rubber.
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 more affordable than landscaping stone.
Small Stones
Landscaping stones come in several sizes and colors and are 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, then use 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.
But you might also be able to 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 weeds.
5. Add Water-Absorbing Materials to Your Soil
You can improve the water retention properties of your soil by mixing soil amendments into the topsoil. You can either use organic or inorganic soil amendments. Organic amendments like compost, peat moss, manure, sawdust, and grass clippings are most beneficial if looking to increase your soil’s water-holding capacity.
Additionally, organic matter additives improve soil aeration, water infiltration, and nutrient-holding capacity.
Most organic amendments also supply nutrients essential for plant growth, and some double as organic fertilizers. Inorganic soil amendments that increase soil’s ability to retain water include vermiculite and gypsum.
Besides adding organic and inorganic amendments to your garden soil to improve its physical properties, you can also use these materials to make soilless growing mediums for container gardening.
Omitting dirt reduces the risk of plant disease caused by soil-borne pathogens.
Commonly used soilless media include perlite, vermiculite, coconut coir, peat, and sand. But rather than being used alone, these growing mediums are typically mixed with others. And since soilless mediums contain virtually no nutrients, fertilizers are almost always added to provide nutrients. You can make your own potting mix or buy a premade one at a garden center or online.
You can also use the following to keep your soil moist but not soggy.
Add Perlite Beads to Your Soil
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 their own. That’s where perlite beads come into play.
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.
When the soil dries out, the tiny perlite beads release moisture back into the soil, keeping it moist 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.
Before adding this stuff to your garden soil, you’ll need to remove any pre-existing plants. If you’re adding perlite beads to in-ground garden soil or the dirt in raised garden beds, try to aim for one part of perlite per every three parts of soil.
When mixing perlite into potting soil, you may need a higher or lower ratio, depending on whether your potting soil already contains perlite. If it doesn’t, aim for one part perlite for every two parts soil.
Mix Biodegradable Water Beads Into the Dirt
Perlite isn’t the only material that absorbs and then slowly releases water. Water beads can also perform this magic and are often far more visually appealing than gray-white perlite.
And while you might think that these brightly-colored, 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. Roots need plenty of oxygen to convert glucose into usable energy via respiration, so adding water beads to your garden might encourage faster plant growth.
How To Mix Water Beads Into Garden Soil
The best way to make the most of water beads in your garden is to till them into the soil before you begin planting. But determining how many water beads to mix into your soil can be challenging. Water beads are granular and tiny when dry, typically only measuring between 1mm and 4mm in width. (For context, the eraser at the bottom of a pencil is about 5mm wide.)
So, when mixing water beads into garden soil, it’s best to add about 10 cups (approximately 4.7 liters) of beads per cubic foot of garden soil. If you notice that your soil is struggling to retain moisture, you can mix in a few more handfuls for good measure.
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 like a web when applied to a raised garden bed’s soil.
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.
Because a tiny bit of soil will likely lodge into the bottom of the stem, only a small trickle of water will seep into the soil, resulting in consistently moist but not overwatered potting soil. 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 gloves could be a lifesaver.
The rate of emptying will depend on various factors, including the size of the bulb and draining 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 two inches 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.
Is It Wet, Moist, Or Dry?
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 and neglect.
- 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.
Key Takeaways
Many plants thrive in moist, well-draining soil. Consequently, gardeners must master the art of balancing moisture and drainage when constructing garden beds or growing container plants. Fortunately, there are several ways to keep the soil moist without making it soggy.
Some of the best methods include:
- Using a drip irrigation system.
- Spreading mulch or pebbles over exposed soil.
- Adding perlite beads to garden soil.
- Mixing biodegradable water beads into the dirt.
- Placing water globes in container plants.
