5 tips for Growing Vegetables in Cold Wet Soil
Here’s some good, practical advice for anyone who’s tried with limited success, or tried and failed to grow vegetables on cold, wet soil.
1. Search out vegetable varieties that don’t mind of wet conditions. Plant cabbages and other members of the Brassica family- kale, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli are all good choices for cool, damp ground.
2. Create drier conditions using raised beds. Build frames from rot resistant treated tiber or even plastic and fill with soil as high as possible to allow plenty of room for roots to grow so they don’t sit in wet soil beneath the beds. Build sides to at least 30cm high- or higher if you want to growing root crops like carrots or turnips.
3. Use containers like half barrels, buckets, large flowerpots or old bathtubs to create mini-habitats more appropriate for plants needing drier conditions. Stack two or three tires one atop another and fill with soil for a quick, recycled raised bed. See vegetable varieties suitable for growing in pots
4. Plant indoors where conditions can be kept exactly as warm and dry as you like. Fairly cheap plastic greenhouses and mini polytunnels are fairly easy DIY projects.
5. Look at the drainage under the plot. This maybe a bigger job, but it will create a permanent solution. If the garden is smallish, dig it out, add drain tiles or gravel beds and replace soil, shaping it with a slight slope to aid drainage. Consult a landscape architect if more extensive changes are needed. It may be worth your while….