Slow Drainage

Usually, gardeners have to diagnose bad drainage by subtle signs, such as squishy footing the day after a rain, or yellowing leaves on the black-eyes Susans next to the garage but not by the fence, or the way the dirt sticks to the spade when you make a hole to plant a shrub.

We did not have to be sleuths. We just had to look at the brown water that stood for days in our mudhole. Occasionally, I would climb around the excavation, pick up a gob of clay, and roll it between my palms, more in wonderment than any spirit of investigation. I could make cylinders as thin as a pencil.

By the way, this is a quick test for any soil: Dig a hole ten inches deep, take a handful of dirt from the bottom of the hole, squeeze it hard, open your hand, and poke your new clod with a finger. If the clod holds together, your dirt has a lot of clay, which means slow drainage or worse. If it crumbles with a poke, it has a bit of sand or organic matter, and the drainage is likely to be fine.