My garden is a 2 in 1 garden. I have 2 different gardens in the same space. It’s unbelievable how different can the garden be just a few meters apart. One side is always sunny and the other is in shade, one side is quick to dry and the other is constantly wet and one side doesn’t mind the rain, and the other is stuck in a neverending circle. 

The last photo was taken in the noon and clearly shows what I’m talking about. The left side of the garden is getting lots of sun, during the summer this side gets over 12 hours of sun. It quickly dries and doesn’t mind the excess rain. This side doesn’t have lots of weeds, mostly couch grass and it’s easy to maintain. I usually plant tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers here. 

The right side, although it doesn’t look like it is a completely different story. It’s always wet. Even when there is no rain at all this side is still wet. This side has much more weeds and very high chances of seed and plant rot. Maintaining this side is much more complicated and depends a lot on the ability to make good drainage and this year that has been an impossible task. Even when there hasn’t been any rain for over a week this side is still wet. 

Over the years I’ve learned that the best way to control this side is to make good drainage. The best way to do it in a downhill garden is to make good paths which collect water and take it away from the garden. In a flat garden we dig gutters around the garden to drain the water away, it a downhill garden gutters are paths between the beds. The paths need to go from the top of the garden till the bottom and need to be very smooth.

I make my paths during May and they are usually ready before the flooding showers start. This year I didn’t get the chance to make them and now I’m stuck in a neverending circle. The excess water is making the garden too wet, water is staying in the garden and I can’t clean the paths and make them smooth as they should be, the rough paths are not working as drainage and the water is staying on the beds. The story starts again with every rain and it has been like this for the past 2 months. 

Finally last week I managed to do some cleaning in this part of the garden and to make the paths smoother. I can’t do it while the garden is too wet, when you step on wet soil there are footprints left and I need an almost ice flat surface. But this week I managed to do it and I’m hoping the next rain will make the soil even smoother and that the drainage will finally start working.

The excess water already did lots of damage and there are lots of seeds that didn’t germinate. Many of the beans didn’t grow so I had to sow them again. I’ve sown some extra beans, sown cucumbers instead of beans, resown lettuce, and zucchinis and added some more carrots. 

While I was sowing I found a few unplanted tomato seedlings. I have no idea which variety they are, but they should be determined so I just planted them all together in a small empty space. I’ll grow them as a bush. I don’t really have any other option since my garden is full and I have no more poles left. 

Now after this cleaning I’ll be waiting for the next rain to see if the drainage is working. I will have to shave and clean the paths once more and hopefully, this will make my garden mud-free.