Depending on where you’re living, the rain can get quite heavy, and the winds can blow strongly. With these two elements combined, it is the perfect recipe for damaging your garden.
Soil erosion occurs when the top layer of your soil is washed away due to fast flowing water. Because of this, it has the potential to be a devastating problem. It can take away your most delicate and small plants; severely reduce the soil’s fertility. It can quickly change the pH level of the soil and make it very difficult to grow plants.
But don’t fear, there are ways to face down and mitigate this problem!
If you take the right steps, you can ensure that your plants safely make it past this year’s monsoon. Not only that, but good preventative techniques will make your garden look good and tidy.
Follow below ways to prevent soil erosion in your garden:
1. Erosion Control Matting:
So the first thing is to investigate where the soil erosion might occur. Just walk around your garden and look for vulnerable areas like slopes, hillsides and the channels of water created after watering. If you see any exposed roots, puddles, splashes of mud or tunnels, then that is an area under risk of erosion.
On noticing these weak areas, begin by securing the plants in this region. Get some strong ropes, trellises or stakes and plant them deep into the ground. Tie your plants to these supports and check their stability.
Now that your plants are secure, we can begin to look at their foundation. Our next goal is to stabilize the soil. There are a few ways to go about this.
2. Terracing:
If you are at a particularly steep incline, then chances are that you can only protect your plants by carving out terraces in the surface. Terraces will help in breaking the force of the water i.e water will get absorbed in flat areas where plants grow and reduce the chances of soil erosion.
3. Mulching:
Less labour intensive ways can work if you’re in a plain area. Mulching is one of the easiest techniques. Take some bark, wood chips, pebbles, rock, gravel, etc. and cover all the bare patches of the soil. The mulch will hold these areas together and prevent the rain from getting to them. Moreover, as it adds a layer to the soil, it will help prevent excessive evaporation.
4. Overseeding:
If you were thinking about expanding your garden, now is a perfect time. You can use a technique called overseeding. Plants seeds of plants with strong roots in areas where the soil is bare. The extra roots will act as stabilizers and hold the topsoil in place. Grasses are the perfect option for this kind of solution, and they add some lush greenery to the garden.
5. Erosion Control Ground Cover:
Finally, you can take a twist on the above method and focus on a variety of ground cover. Growing creepers like thyme, poppies, daisies and certain succulents is a good option. These perennials have strong roots that will prevent soil erosion. Read about ground cover plants for your garden walkways.
Now that you know what to do, all you have to do is get the right equipment. Just head on over to ugaoo.com, and you’ll find everything you need and more!
May this monsoon be fruitful and bountiful for you!
