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| Photo Credit: © Pennystone Gardens |
| In spring, our “swamp” plants showed us how much they appreciated their wet home by putting forth new growth. |
What do you do with swamp-loving plants when you don’t have a swamp? Well, you can water them endlessly, give up and dispatch them to the compost heap or make a new home for them in a raised-bed swamp.
Believe it or not, this is a relatively easy weekend makeover – and in our case, the project had added advantage of fixing other design problems at the same time. Our raised-bed swamp began with the mistake of trying to grow an assortment of plants that really like wet soil – in soil that wasn’t really wet. You’re probably familiar with the problem. Every gardener, at one time or another, tries to cheat habitat with excess optimism about light or moisture, only to wind up with plants that languish in places they really don’t belong. | Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: © Pennystone Gardens | | Among the benefactors of a nice wet spot is a Rhododendron arborescens, which bloomed gloriously for the first time under its new swampy conditions. |
We had some azaleas, hibiscus and swamp milkweed (among other plants), and they predictably weren’t doing well. Mostly they were struggling to stay alive, especially when one of Pennsylvania’s regular dry spells arrived to bake everything to a crisp. Of course I’d water constantly, but that’s not the best conservation practice – especially when you have a well that you need water from, too.
One day I was reading about a species that “requires good drainage,” and I got the bright idea of creating a bed with absolutely awful drainage, like you’d find in a swamp, to help me deal with our struggling plants. Conveniently, there just happened to be an old raised bed that had a few annoying issues: The stone wall around two sides had a sharp corner, the adjacent path was uneven in width, requiring extra passes with a mower, and the bed was overrun with groundcover plants (mostly foamflower and a spicebush) that could be put to better use elsewhere.
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| Facts |
- Just like highways and railroads, gentle curving garden paths are the easiest to navigate with machinery – and the most attractive.
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| Tips |
- While organic matter can hold moisture, the relationship of silt, clay and sand impacts how fast water will penetrate the ground. To improve drainage, add sand and even light gravel to your swamp bed.
- To figure out a comfortable turning radius for your equipment, lay out a garden hose in a big circle and drive around it. Hitch up a cart or trailer if you have one. When you can’t keep the tires off the hose, you’ve hit the minimum.
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| Tools |
- Next time you’re at your local home center, pick up a 4-inch plastic pipe from the plumbing department (the thicker the better). Have it cut to match your ideal path size. This makes a handy tool for measuring, leveling and tamping.
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| Resources |
- Did your garden just get swamped? We’d love to see how your raised-bed project is growing! Share your green thumb accomplishments with our Learn2Grow community and post pictures in our forums.
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