So I tried this whole Mark Boone soil and water thing last season cause honestly, my backyard looked like crap after heavy rains. Everything kept washing away and my tomatoes were drowning. Started by digging trenches like Mark suggests, took me two whole weekends with just a shovel.
The Mess I Had to Deal With
First off, that clay soil in my garden was terrible – hard as concrete when dry, total swamp when wet. Noticed water pooling near the shed every time it sprinkled. Grabbed some old roof gutters I had lying around and cut ’em in half lengthwise to make cheap drainage channels.
What Actually Worked
Did three things exactly like Mark’s guide says:
- Trenching like crazy: Dug 8-inch deep channels along the slope, filled bottom with gravel stole from my neighbor’s construction pile (shhh), then topped with soil
- Mulch madness: Covered every bare patch with grass clippings and shredded leaves till it looked like a lawnmower exploded everywhere
- Bucket brigade: Put five-gallon buckets under every downspout – sounded dumb but caught insane rainwater
Nearly wrecked my back hauling all those buckets, and mosquitoes started breeding in the trenches after week two. Had to cover them with chicken wire which looked janky as hell. But when that July thunderstorm hit? Zero washout! Saw the water actually flowing through my ghetto trench system like tiny rivers. Used all that bucket water during the August drought too.
No-BS Results
My zucchini plants didn’t drown for once. Soil stayed moist nearly two days longer between waterings. Still got clay soil obviously, but at least now it doesn’t turn into quicksand. Would I do it again? Hell yes – but I’m buying a $10 trenching tool next time instead of killing myself with that shovel.
