by Garden Writer

Kelly Clark is a certified Master Gardener living in Wisconsin (Hardiness Zone 5). She has been gardening since she was 10 and her expertise is mostly in shade gardens, although she enjoys all aspects of gardening – Even weeding!

Fixing a low spot or run-off area in the garden is a heavy job, but not that difficult to cure. Although this problem is a bit bothersome, it can be turned into a functional, beautiful garden spot again. All it takes is a little bit of work, muscle, fieldstone and some river rock, along with moisture-loving plants.

As you can see in this picture, water runs right through the middle of this little berm. To fix this issue, we need to pay special attention to where the water runs and with that, dig a small trench about 2 inches deep around the entire outside of the garden, cleaning it out thoroughly. Then loosen the soil to a depth of about 6-8 inches and amend as necessary with more topsoil to build the sides up – This will help keep the water running through the middle.

Start by placing the bigger fieldstone near the edge of the main run-off area. This will slow the water down during a heavy rain or spring run-off. Using river or pond rock to fill in the main runoff area helps with slowing of the water as well. Follow the path of the water as seen here and plant such things as Hydrangea (Penny Mac), Spirea (gold mound), Hosta and Coral Bells. When there is another heavy rain, you may need to make adjustments to the stones to see where the problems may still exist, but this small garden is an easy fix to a big problem – Plus, very nice to look at!

To learn more about Kelly and her gardening, please like her on Facebook.