Keeping Water and Soil in Place

Retaining water where it falls is the primary way to prevent erosion of soil. Plants benefit from the moisture and need the nutrients found in good top soil...

  • Topic: Soil
  • Author: Cindy Bellinger
  • Keywords: water, soil, nutrients, erosion,
  • Date: June 2006

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Retaining water where it falls is the primary way to prevent erosion of soil. Plants benefit from the moisture and need the nutrients found in good top soil to ensure healthy growth. Many places have such shallow top soil that losses even by fractions can’t be tolerated.

Holding water can be done several ways.

  • Use a good cover of mulch on flower beds. The mulch helps absorb excess moisture so the water does not form a sheet and flow away.
  • Even on slight slopes a system of swales and berms slows the runoff. A swale is a slight depression made on the contour of the slope; a berm is a raised area beneath the swale, also along the contour line of the slope. The swale will collect extra water and be a place where plants requiring extra moisture can be planted.
  • Adding compost to planting areas makes the soil better able to retain moisture.
  • Terracing slopes make level planting areas and minimizes erosion.
  • Hard surfaces, such as driveways or parking areas, can create a great deal of runoff so the edges should be contoured to catch the runoff. This runoff can be used to advantage to make moister planting areas.
  • Roofs also create an enormous amount of runoff. Catch this water in a cistern for later use as irrigation water.