There are two main methods of draining swamps: drainage by open ditches and drainage by drainage.
Drainage of swamps with open ditches used in cases where underground drainage cannot be installed in newly developed swamps (from proper settlement of the swamp to compaction of the peat deposit).
An open drainage system consists of a conducting and regulating network of ditches. The first includes main canals flowing into water receivers (rivers, streams, etc.) and transporting collectors flowing into main canals.
The purpose of the conductive network is to receive and discharge water from the regulating network of ditches.
The regulating network includes drainage ditches that drain water from the drained area. In addition, if necessary, additional upland ditches are constructed to intercept surface water flowing into the swamp from adjacent hills, as well as catch ditches to intercept the flow of soil, groundwater and groundwater.
The distances between drainage ditches (with an average working depth of 80-90 cm) are determined mainly by the climatic conditions of the zone, the type and type of swamp and the composition of cultivated crops. As you move north, these distances gradually decrease.
Often swamps require not only drainage, but also two-way regulation of the water regime. A swamp that is sufficiently drained in the spring often turns out to be over-drained in the summer. In addition, as mentioned above, agricultural plants at different periods of their growth and development require different soil water conditions.
There are three methods of two-way regulation of the water regime of peat soils: infiltration of water from open channels or ditches, regulation of drainage flow and additional installation of mole drains.
With two-way regulation of the water regime, a system of sluices is installed on the drainage network according to the developed project, with the help of which the water in the canals and ditches is either retained at a certain level, or is released into them partially or completely.
In deep swamps with well and moderately permeable peat, sluicing does not require a more frequent network of ditches than is necessary for drainage; in the same swamps, but with poorly permeable peat, sluicing is effective only with mole drainage.
The main sluice is installed in the upper part of the main canal, smaller sluices are installed at the mouths of the transporting collectors flowing into it.
Based on three years of experiments to study the sluicing of swamps, carried out in the field on three different types of developed lowland swamps (the Zarechye state farm and the Borets Voli collective farm of the Byelorussian SSR, state farm No. 17 of the Oryol region), the following conclusions can be drawn (A.I. Ivitsky):
- sluicing in swamps with low and medium permeability of peat, underlain by loam, has a weak effect on the groundwater level and, after a long and large backwater of water in the ditches, extends away from them only 10-15 m;
- in swamps with shallow peat depths, cut through by dryers and underlain by sand, sluicing affects groundwater quickly and, with a large layer of water in the dryers, affects the entire width of the drained strips (60-80 m);
- in swamps with thick peat deposits and good permeability of peat, sluicing affects groundwater quickly, causing fluctuations in their level in strips 80 m wide;
- the use of mole drainage when sluicing swamps makes it possible (with a small distance between drains) to regulate the groundwater level and the moisture content of peat soil within the required limits even in poorly permeable swamps.
However, drainage systems in reclaimed swamps, consisting of an open network of ditches, do not meet modern agricultural requirements due to the small distances between ditches, which does not make it possible to effectively use agricultural machines and implements due to the loss of a significant part of the usable area (up to 10-15 %); the spread of weeds along ditches, as well as diseases and pests of agricultural crops; significant increase in the cost of operating drainage systems.
In this regard, open drainage systems in swamps need to be gradually replaced by more advanced ones - closed or combined systems.
Drainage of swamps by drainage. With closed drainage, almost the entire drainage network (except for the main canals, and sometimes part of the first-order collectors) is underground. In this regard, the disadvantages that are characteristic of an open drainage network almost completely disappear.
Underground drainage provides faster and more uniform regulation of the soil water regime over the entire area of drained strips than an open drainage network.
According to calculations by S. G. Skoropanov, carried out on the basis of experiments and production data of the Byelorussian SSR, each hectare of peat-bog soils drained by closed drainage produces on average 20-25% more agricultural products than a hectare of arable land drained by a network of open ditches.
V.S. Linevich (1951) found that the cost of tractor work in areas with a closed network is 33% lower than in areas with a dense network of open ditches. Of the various types of drainage, the first place is still occupied by pottery drainage, consisting of tubes with an internal diameter of 4-5 cm (diameters of collector drains are 7-20 cm). This drainage works well and is long-lasting (40-50 years or more). It is laid after the swamp has settled and the peat deposit has been compacted.
Plank tubular and grooved drainage works well (pipes of a quadrangular section 5x5 or 7x7 cm, knocked down from boards 12-20 mm thick, or pipes made from stock pipes with a hole diameter of 5-8 cm; collector sections from 8x8 to 18x18 cm). The service life of such drainage is 15-20 years.
Mole drainage has given positive results in draining stumpless swamps with weakly and moderately decomposed peats and is currently used in some areas of the non-chernozem zone.
The technological process of laying mole drains comes down to the following: the working tool (knife, saw or milling cutter) cuts the soil vertically to the entire drainage depth; a drainer, that is, a metal cylinder with a pointed front end installed at the end of a knife, pushes the soil apart and forms a passage in the peat, similar to a molehill; An expander moving behind the drain expands the drain to the required size.
In swamps, drainers with extensions are used, making a drain with a diameter of up to 20-25 cm; This drainage size is needed because peat, due to its elasticity, expands again and reduces the cavity by 1.5-2 times, and sometimes more.
The depth of laying mole drains on peat bogs is 0.8-1 m, the distance between drains is 10-30 m, the length of drains is from 200 to 400 m. Mole drains are discharged either into open ditches, strengthening the mouths with concrete, pottery or wooden pipes, or into closed collectors . The service life of mole drainage in weakly and moderately decomposed stumpless peat is on average from 3 to 5 years, in some cases longer.
On stumpy peatlands, mole-slit drainage can be used, which is laid with a drainage-disc machine DDM-5 or a drainage-screw DVM, created by the All-Union Institute of the Peat Industry.
Recently, plastic drainage has been tested for draining low-lying swamps. Vinyl plastic pipes and seamless high-density polyethylene pipes are used.
Two-year experiments (1963-1964) by the Belarusian Institute of Land Reclamation and Water Management showed that plastic drainage can be used both in virgin and already developed lowland swamps; that its drainage effect is not inferior to that of pottery drainage; but the cost of this drainage is still high (about 350-380 rubles/ha).
Research work in the direction of improving the designs and technology of laying plastic drainage, as well as reducing its cost, continues.
Questions about the designs, conditions and techniques for installing various types of drainage are presented in detail in special manuals on irrigation and drainage.
The distances between drains and the depth of their laying depend on the permeability of peat, the nature of the water supply of the swamp, the amount of precipitation, evaporation and the required depth of lowering the groundwater level for cultivated crops.
The Novgorod swamp experimental station (Novgorod region) for field crop rotations in transitional swamps recommends distances between drains of 20-25 m with a depth of 0.8-1 m. In the northern regions (Arkhangelsk and Murmansk regions, Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) in lowlands and transitional swamps close to them for the same crop rotations, the distance between drains is 15-20 m at the same drain depth.
According to the Minsk Marsh Experimental Station, high yields of field crops, including vegetables and industrial crops, were obtained in lowland swamps with a distance between drains from 20 to 50 m and a depth of their laying from 0.9 to 1.2 m.
When draining swamps in the northern, northwestern and central regions of the non-chernozem strip of the European part of the Union, the following approximate distances between drains are recommended.
Large distances between drains should be used on slightly and moderately decomposed peat, since it is more permeable to water. For the northern regions, smaller drainage intervals are accepted, and larger ones for other regions.
Combined dehumidification, that is, the use of open ditches in combination with closed drains (collectors are open and dryers are closed), makes it possible to drain areas of such sizes that can fully meet the requirements of mechanization of field work and grazing use of wetlands.
Drainage by more sparse open or closed ditches in combination with mole drains is now a fairly common method of draining swamps. Mole drainage, as mentioned above, is laid on stumpless peatlands, and mole-slit drainage - on stumpy peatlands with a thickness of at least 1 m. The stability of these drains depends on the type and degree of decomposition of peat (they can be laid only with a weak and medium degree of decomposition), and also on their correct design (choice of diameter, slope and outlets to the collectors).
Lowland and transitional swamps with well-decomposed peat, unstable for mole drainage, can be drained by combined drainage using various types of tubular drains - planks, pottery, plastic, etc.
The drainage of ground-fed swamps, located mainly in the near-terrace parts of floodplains, has its own characteristics. Here, a system of deep trapping open ditches or drains located in the zone of pinching out of soil, groundwater and groundwater becomes of great importance. With ground-pressure supply, in addition to regulating the water intake, an additional drainage network is required.
In drained lowland swamps, the so-called aeration mole according to the Tyulenev-Rudich method is sometimes used. This enhances the drainage effect of the ditch network, and in addition, improves the thermal and nutrient regimes of the soil.
Mole cutting is carried out using a five-hull KDM-6 machine developed by UkrNIIGiM. The bodies of this machine are spaced 1 m apart from each other and can go deep into the peat bog up to 50-60 cm. The diameter of the molehills is 10-20 cm. By turning off the individual bodies, the molehills can be laid at a distance of 1, 2 and 4 m from one another. Machine productivity is 1-1.2 ha/hour.
As special studies have shown, aeration mole in lowland floodplain swamps of the Ukrainian SSR has a beneficial effect on the water-air, thermal and nutrient regimes of peat soil, makes it possible to speed up sowing time and significantly increases the yield of agricultural crops.
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If the purchased country plot is located on a peat bog, its owners will have to carry out a number of works to improve the soil on it. The land in such places, unfortunately, cannot be considered too suitable for growing various types of agricultural crops. The soil in peatlands contains very little oxygen, which replaces methane. Also, such areas in spring and autumn turn into a real swamp due to flooding. How to drain peat land if necessary - we’ll talk about this later in the article.
Ways to improve
In some cases, the problem of swampy land can be solved in a very simple way - by adding a certain amount of soil brought from outside. But this technique, of course, can only be used when water is collected on the site due to the fact that it is located in a lowland and has a relatively small size. In all other cases, water must be drained from the allotment.
The answer to the question of how to drain an area, in this case, can be two technologies:
superficial;
with pipe laying.
The first method is considered the simplest. It will be absolutely easy to do open drainage in a wetland with your own hands. But by using pipes, you can create a more efficient drainage system.
Drainage using ditches
This method is a good answer to the question of how to drain a swamp on a peat bog. The advantage of this method, among other things, is that when using it, owners will not have to spend a penny on draining water from the site. For drainage in this case, along the edge of the plot on the side that is located below the others, a ditch about 50 cm wide and at least 1 m deep is dug.
If there is a slightly higher, also marshy neighboring area nearby, a trench should be made on the border with it. This will block access to water from someone else's plot.
Subsequently, during the implementation of various types of channels on the site, it will be necessary to fill with all kinds of construction and garden waste. This could be, for example, stones, broken bricks, weeds, etc.
Advantages of using pipes
The open method of draining water through ditches is simple and inexpensive. However, this technique is used only in areas that are not very wet. In all other cases, it is advisable to equip the plots with full-fledged drainage systems using perforated pipes.
The answer to the question of how to drain a swamp in a garden, this technology in most cases is simply ideal. The advantages of such outlet networks, among other things, include:
more uniform and rapid regulation of water balance in the soil;
possibility of covering absolutely the entire area of the site.
When using this method, the hoses pass underground. Thanks to this, the usable area of the site is not reduced. When growing garden crops on such an allotment, beds can also be made directly above the pipes.
How to set up a closed system
In this case, ditches are also first dug on the site to drain water. In this case, the main trench is located around the perimeter of the plot. Next, ditches are dug across the area of the site.
When using this drainage method, a waterproofing agent is placed at the bottom of dug trenches - a thick film or roofing material. Next, pour a layer of medium-sized crushed stone or pebbles into the ditches. Perforated pipes are laid on top. To prevent the holes of such drainage lines from becoming clogged in the future, they are pre-wrapped with geotextiles.
Connect pipes at the points of convergence or intersection of ditches using tees or elbow fittings. Above these network elements, inspection wells made of plastic or concrete must be installed. If there are such additions in the system, in the future it will be very easy to remove blockages that appear in the lines and clean them from accumulated sludge.
What you need to know
Of course, in order for the water to subsequently leave the area through the pipes by gravity, they must be laid at a slope. Otherwise, it will not be possible to drain the plot. Unfortunately, it is impossible to install drainage network lines at too great a slope. In this case, the pipes will subsequently silt very quickly. It is also not worth making the slope of the drainage channels very small. Otherwise, the system will subsequently work ineffectively.
In most cases, when installing garden wastewater networks, pipes are laid at an angle of 0.5 to 3 cm per linear meter. There is no need to deviate from these parameters up or down.
Reception well
Thus, we found out how to drain the area using pipes. But where can you put the excess water itself? You can drain it from the site, if it is located on the outskirts, simply beyond its aisles - into some ravine, stream or pond. But if there are neighboring plots next to the wet garden, a special well will have to be installed to receive wastewater. If desired, such a container can be built in a remote area. After all, the water collected during drainage can subsequently be used to water the same beds.
Reception wells are installed at the lowest point of a suburban area using the following technology:
a hole is dug in the ground into which the main drainage trench is inserted;
The bottom and walls of the pit are concreted with a layer of 5-10 cm.
Of course, when pouring concrete structures of a well, holes should be provided for installing pipes.
Instead of a concrete structure, a plastic one can be used when arranging a drainage system. It will be easy to purchase such a container from companies specializing in the supply of equipment for drainage systems.
Reception pond
In most cases, owners of vegetable gardens on peat bogs build, of course, a well for water drainage. But instead, if you wish, you can make an artificial pond on the site - a beautiful decorative pond. In this case, a pit is also first dug in the ground, but wider.
The bottom and walls of the pit for arrangement on the site of an artificial reservoir are thoroughly cleaned of roots and stones. Next, the pit is lined with durable waterproofing material - preferably a thick film. Drainage pipes are led into the pond through holes in the film. You can camouflage them at the bottom, for example, with beautiful stones or some aquatic plants. In summer, it will be possible to release unpretentious fish from the aquarium into this reservoir. Spectacular marsh plants are usually planted around the pond.
Main difficulty
In principle, as you might have noticed, the answer to the question of how to drain an area of water with your own hands is quite simple. The most difficult task in this case will most likely be physically difficult excavation work. After all, there are actually a lot of ditches that will have to be dug on the site. However, in order for such a system to work as efficiently as possible, trenches on the site, of course, should first of all be in the right places.
It is best, of course, to entrust the project of arranging the drainage system of a swampy plot to a specialist. A professional will be able to take into account all the nuances of the relief of a given area. However, drainage system projects in suburban areas are, unfortunately, quite expensive. If you don’t have the money to order a pipe laying plan, you can try to develop it yourself. To find out where the best place to dig drainage trenches is, you will have to wait until the first heavy rain. By observing the flows flowing along the ground, it will be possible to quite accurately determine the optimal location of the trenches.
How to drain a swamp: using moisture-loving plants
Of course, in most cases, draining a wetland can only be done in drastic ways - by constructing ditches or laying pipes. But as an additional measure, such a garden should also include plants that draw a lot of water from the ground. These could be, for example, willows, birches or maples. Such trees, since they are significant in height, are, of course, usually planted on the northern side of the plot. Otherwise, in the future they will block the plantings, which, in turn, can easily lead to a decrease in the yield of garden and vegetable crops.
The high groundwater level in the area can also be reduced with the help of shrubs. For example, hawthorn, rosehip, bladderwort, and shadberry can take a lot of water from the soil. Such plants can be planted around the perimeter of the site to create a hedge.
Methane in soil
Of course, after drainage by open drainage or by laying pipes, the soil on the site in any case will become more suitable in composition for growing vegetable and garden crops. But in order to further improve its quality, site owners will have to:
sprinkle a thin layer of a mixture of clay and sand over the area;
carefully dig up the plot using a shovel or, preferably, a motor cultivator.
Of course, a very good solution would be to scatter manure mixed with sawdust around the site before digging, in addition to clay and sand. This will not only improve the structure of the soil, but also make it more fertile and nutritious. Adding various types of mineral fertilizers to the soil will also make it more suitable for growing vegetable and garden plants.
Pros of peat bogs
So, we found out how to drain a plot of water with our own hands and improve the soil on it. Such an allotment can, of course, cause a lot of trouble for its owner. However, peat bogs, in comparison with other types of soil, also have their advantages. For example, in such areas, plants usually tolerate winters much better. The soil on peat bogs freezes slowly, in thin layers. At the same time, the soil on such plots never freezes too deeply. So on such a plot after draining it, you can plant, for example, heat-loving roses, apricots, etc.
It happens that a summer resident gets a wetland for use. There is little joy in this, but do not despair, because many effective ways to combat this deficiency have been developed. Even the territory of the world-famous Versailles was once an impassable swamp, and many botanical gardens, for example, in Sukhumi, are located where even a hundred or two years ago it was impossible to even pass.
Swampy areas
Many people try to deal with excess moisture by filling the area with brought sand or soil - this is a gross mistake that will not bring results. The swamp is very tenacious, being the most resistant hydraulic system, so in just a year or two the land will become swampy again. To fight effectively, you need to resort to other, longer, more complex and expensive technologies, but all the efforts are worth it.
The easiest way to have a beautiful front lawn
You've certainly seen the perfect lawn in a movie, on an alley, or perhaps on your neighbor's lawn. Those who have ever tried to grow a green area on their site will no doubt say that it is a huge amount of work. The lawn requires careful planting, care, fertilization, and watering. However, only inexperienced gardeners think this way; professionals have long known about the innovative product - liquid lawn AquaGrazz.
First, you need to decide on the type of swamp, because they can be lowland and upland, and the differences between them are very significant, therefore the methods of control are different. Lowland swamps are located in depressions of the relief; excess moisture is observed due to the close occurrence of groundwater. In such areas, the soil itself is very fertile, contains a large amount of nutrients and even peat, but plants, and especially fruit and berry bushes and trees, grow poorly, disappearing after just a couple of years, so in order to grow a real garden and vegetable garden, and not a flowerbed with unpretentious annuals, you will have to put in a lot of effort.
Pond in the garden
Plants disappear because the wet soil does not allow enough oxygen to pass through, and the roots suffocate, and groundwater contributes to their rotting. Also, toxic products (aluminum salt, nitrates, various types of gases, acids) are often formed in wet, swampy soil, which interfere with plant growth.
Methods for draining lowland swamps
Drainage of low-lying swamps is possible using the following methods:
Help from professionals
You can invite a team of specialists who, using pumps, will almost instantly pump out all the excess water from the area; significant drainage can be observed on the same day. But this is quite expensive, and sometimes the problem of waterlogging returns.
Sanding
Adding sand in equal proportions to the parent rock improves the quality of the soil, and also increases air exchange. In order to improve the yield of the resulting soil, it is recommended to add humus to it, which will allow you to grow vegetables and herbs on the site.
Drainage
To effectively and permanently drain a swampy area, all experts recommend making a drain or drainage. It is best done using a system of plastic pipes with small holes in the walls. They should be laid in specially dug ditches with a depth of about 60-70 cm for clay, 75-85 for loam and up to a meter for sandy areas. Drains must be dug with a slope, so the water will not stagnate in them, but can flow into a sewer pipe, well or reservoir; this should be the lowest point of the site.
Trees in a swampy area
It is most effective to use a herringbone system, in which small pipes collect excess moisture from around the area and carry it to the main pipe, which carries the water out of the area. In swampy gardens, as a rule, there is already a common drainage ditch; if it is missing, the water can be diverted to the nearest body of water. You can also dig a well, the lower boundary of which will be below the groundwater level, fill it with crushed stone, and water will flow into it. With such an integrated approach, the drying of the area will be noticeable within a couple of days to a week. The drains themselves can be covered with earth, but to make maintaining them easier, you can fill them with gravel or crushed stone.
Open ditches
To remove excess moisture directly from the surface of the earth, you can make open ditches, the edges of which should be beveled by about 20 degrees to avoid shedding, but this method is not used in sandy areas, since the ditches quickly collapse and the sand is washed away. This method of drainage is very common; it can be seen in almost every garden. The disadvantage of this method is the gradual crumbling, clogging of the watercourse with plant particles and debris, and water blooming, so these structures must be regularly cleaned with a regular shovel.
French ditches
In France, drainage of wetlands is carried out using deep ditches filled with crushed stone. For the system to be effective, you need to either dig trenches and lead them into the well, or dig ditches down to a layer of sand that will allow water to pass through. Such ditches are more aesthetically pleasing, do not clog and do not bloom, but if they are clogged with earth, cleaning becomes very difficult. But the ditch can be disguised as a path by strewing it with pebbles, crushed stone or laying wooden slices on top.
Wells
The technology of their operation is similar to ditches; for this it is necessary to dig holes one meter deep, about half a meter in diameter at the bottom and up to two at the top. They should be dug at the lowest points of the site, and then covered with crushed stone. All excess water will flow into such wells.
Dig a pond
After the construction of a decorative pond, excess water will flow into it and evaporate, and soon a significant drainage of the area will be observed. For these purposes, the Cross Canal was built a long time ago in the French residence of the monarchs at Versailles - the effectiveness of the method is obvious.
Drainage of swampy areas
Tree planting
Some tree species can save a wetland from waterlogging. The most useful for these purposes are willows and birches, which can evaporate large amounts of moisture through the leaf blades. These trees effectively dry out nearby areas of soil, although it may take several years to completely dry the area. You can think through the design of the site in advance, initially planting only moisture-loving crops, and when the trees have completed their task, move on to the desired types of plants.
Raised beds
To be able to grow vegetables and herbs, owners of wetland areas must make raised beds, thus, excess moisture will collect in the ditches between the beds, and the areas themselves will become noticeably drier. Moreover, there is such a pattern: the higher the plot is raised, the more diverse crops can be grown on it. Many people think that it is impossible to farm in waterlogged areas, but you just need to look at photographs of a Dutch or Finnish vegetable garden surrounded by a complex system of canals to be convinced of the effectiveness of the method. After all, in these countries, with the help of technology and labor, almost everything is grown, and they also make good money from it.
Imported soil
The level of the site can be raised with the help of additionally imported land, which, after plowing, will be mixed with fertile but heavy marshy soils, as a result the site will become suitable for growing crops and very fertile; experts note that cultivated marshy lands do not require fertilization for several more years.
come to terms
It is not necessary to fight the swampy area; you can interestingly play up the unusual moisture content of your summer cottage: dig a pond, plant it with moisture-loving plants, choosing the design of a traditional swamp corner. In such conditions, lingonberries, cranberries, iris, Volzhanka, hydrangea, rhododendron, spirea, thuja, chokeberry and cotoneaster feel great. Ferns and virgin grapes will complement the beauty of the swamp garden. Perhaps you will like such beauty so much that you will no longer want to change anything.
Arrangement of the reservoir
Raised bog is formed on watersheds, that is, hills, and does not depend on the level of groundwater. Excess moisture in such areas is formed due to the fact that incoming precipitation is delayed, unable to penetrate below due to a waterproof horizon, most often clay. The soil of the raised bogs is not fertile and is quite acidic. To use such areas, it is necessary to reduce the acidity of the soil; dolomite flour, slaked lime and chalk are suitable for this. It is also necessary to constantly supply fertile soil and manure to such places in order to obtain a plot suitable for growing vegetables in a couple of years.
Having become the owner of a swampy area, you should not despair, because if you know what and how to do correctly, you can not only make this piece of land suitable for growing vegetables, berries and fruits, but also build a country house on it. You just need to approach this important matter comprehensively, responsibly and wisely. From all of the above, we can conclude that there are a huge number of ways to deal with a wetland, but it may turn out that even these effective methods will not help, and then all that remains is to resign yourself and equip such an area in your dacha. To do this, there are a huge number of different effective ways that will even help decorate such an area.
In our large country, swamps and wetlands occupy significant areas. Ordinary plants, which constantly need oxygen to nourish their underground parts - roots and rhizomes, cannot grow and develop in swampy soils. Standing, motionless water quickly becomes deprived of oxygen, and most plants die. Only those that have managed to adapt to life in the swamp survive - swamp plants.
Meanwhile, in terms of their chemical composition, swamp soils are extremely fertile. They can produce high yields of a wide variety of agricultural crops. But to do this, you must first drain the swamp. Then barren lands harmful to human health will turn into rich fields and pastures. Fat cornfields will begin to sprout where recently only stunted marsh grasses and low-growing shrubs grew.
In our country, a lot of work is being done to drain and develop swamps. The agriculture of the socialist country has already received millions of hectares of new fertile land.
Swamp drainage is now almost entirely mechanized. Soviet scientists and engineers have created many wonderful machines that do all the hard, tedious and monotonous work for people.
How are swamps drained?
First of all, you need to remove excess moisture from the soil, that is, let it drain. And the water should, of course, flow into the nearest river. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to deepen and widen the bed of such a river, and in some places straighten it. Here you have to remove the soil mainly from under the water.
Nowadays, soil is removed from the river by floating and land excavators, as well as dredging units.
Floating excavators are used in cases where the width of the river allows dumping of excavated soil onto the shore. This soil thrown out by an excavator is leveled with bulldozers.
Depending on their performance, floating dredgers are used on both large and small rivers. The soil they extract from the bottom of the river, mixed with water - pulp - is pumped through pipes to the shore and spread over the surface of the soil. There is no need for a bulldozer here.
But standing swamp water will not flow into the river on its own even after its channel has been deepened and widened. For drainage, more canals have to be laid across the entire area of the swamp. First they dig the main, i.e. main, canals, then the collector canals. The latter collect water flowing from the swamp through a shallow closed or open drainage network and divert it into the main canal.
An open network of small drainage ditches serves to receive and drain surface water into collector channels, as well as to lower the groundwater level in the drained area.
Along with an open network of ditches, a closed network - drainages - is used when draining swamps. They are made of planks, pottery, fascine or mole. Board drainage is made from boards, which are knocked together in the form of rectangular pipes. Pottery consists of pottery, i.e. fired, clay pipes. Fascinous drainage is made from brushwood of various tree species, cleared of leaves and small branches. And finally, the mole channel is a system of underground channels resembling mole tunnels.
Main and collector channels with a depth of 1.5 to 2.5 m are laid by excavators specially adapted for working on swampy soil.
Plow ditchers work to lay an open shallow drainage network of ditches. This is a highly productive machine: in an hour it can dig ditches up to 2 km long and up to 80-100 cm deep.
A trench for laying the drainage is dug using a multi-bucket excavator or a plow ditch digger, then the drainage is lowered into it and covered with earth on top.
To lay mole drainage, mole plows and mole drainage machines have been created. They are driven by a tractor specially equipped for working on swampy soil.
Immediately after laying the canals, their slopes are strengthened with turf or sown with grass to avoid landslides.
But time passes, and open channels and ditches are gradually filled with sand or silt, overgrown with marsh grasses, become shallow, collapse and, as a result, begin to drain water poorly, or even become clogged. They have to be cleaned and repaired periodically.
So, the swamp has been drained. All of it was covered with a network of large and small canals. Standing water that has accumulated in the soil for years flows freely through these channels into the nearest river. But this is only the first part of the work of land reclamation workers - this is the name given to people involved in radically improving the natural conditions of lands with unfavorable water regimes. Now the drained swamp needs to be reclaimed and prepared for sowing crops. To repair and clean ditches and canals, special cleaning machines are used: some for cleaning ditches of a small drainage network, others for cleaning collector and main canals.
The first step is to clear the soil of small bushes, stumps, hummocks and woody debris. You can't do much here with an ax and a shovel - this is a very labor-intensive task.
A brush cutter mounted on a tractor easily cuts bushes and small trees and removes hummocks.
However, it is beneficial to use brush cutters in cases where the swamp is overgrown not only with bushes, but also with small forests. If the bush does not have small forests, it is simply plowed deep into the ground. This work is performed by a unit for plowing bushes. Such a hydraulically controlled unit, driven by a tractor, consists of two parts: a hollow drum and a ski with a knife are hung in front of the tractor, and a plow body is hung behind it. The drum, rotating, tilts the bush forward and presses it to the soil surface; the knife cuts the layer with rhizomes in a vertical plane, and the plow body wraps the layer and plows the shrubs to a depth of 20 to 50 cm.
Uprooting stumps and removing woody debris is one of the most difficult jobs in the process of developing drained swamps. Stumps are uprooted by the direct pull of a tractor with hooks on chains or cables, or with a rooter, or with a powerful bulldozer that turns out huge stumps, or with a uprooter-collector.
After clearing the drained area of bushes, stumps, hummocks and woody debris, it begins to be prepared for agricultural use. It includes three processes: plowing, cutting and rolling.
Plowing of peat soils in a drained swamp should be deep, with complete coverage of the surface vegetation cover. For this purpose, special swamp plows with a wide grip are used, which plow the ground to a depth of 50 cm, while wrapping the layer and embedding all vegetation deep into the soil.
The layer of earth wrapped by the plow must then be loosened to the greatest possible depth so that oxygen can freely penetrate into the soil. The layer is loosened using disc harrows or special milling machines.
Then the surface of the drained swamp is rolled - leveled with special swamp loading rollers.
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"Fifteen
years ago I started mastering
inherited land on a peat bog. This turned out to be not an easy matter
(I had to study the relevant literature) and very labor-intensive. I'll tell you how
drain the swamp at your summer cottage. Maybe the experience I have accumulated can be useful to someone
will come in handy." This is the letter sent to our website by Gennady Veselov from
Leningrad region. Here is his story.
We rarely cultivate peat-boggy soils. Together with
However, they can bring good harvests. Naturally, when due
processed in a manner. The disadvantages of a summer cottage on a peat bog are known. This
saturation of swamp methane gas in the soil and lack of oxygen, as well as
proximity to groundwater surface. Therefore, to the question, a plot on a peat bog - what to do, the answer is with
the correct solution to the problem is simple: enriching the soil with oxygen, getting rid of
methane and lowering groundwater levels.
How
to drain the swamp at the dacha, where to start? The first summer I had to dig drainage
ditches 50 cm wide and 70 to 140 cm deep. They must be dug with a slope of approximately
1 cm per linear meter. Brushwood was laid at the bottom of the ditches. Covered the branches
old roofing felt, which I still had after re-roofing. On
roofing material laid dry grass, which
I mowed it before the seeds appeared, so that the summer cottage would not be overgrown with weeds. This grass
covered it with crushed dry peat, and laid the excavated soil on top, so that
it turned out to be a small hill. After it settled, almost no bedding was required.
The construction of such drainage ditches on a summer cottage made it possible to make the land more
loose, get rid of methane gas and lower the groundwater level.
How to drain a swamp to make garden beds
plot.
Peat is known to be a source of nitrogen necessary for plant development. But
as long as it lies in a compressed layer, there is no benefit from it. However, it was worth
dig up and grind it, just like bacteria started working after taking a breath of oxygen,
turning peat into soil suitable for planting. Of course, here too it was necessary
work hard. After all, in order to get good harvests, on a summer cottage
draining the swamp is not enough. Necessary
It was necessary to add clay, sawdust from a cow farm and sand to the soil. The first few
years we had to feed our peat bog also with mineral fertilizers and additives
microelements.
Peat
retains moisture well and is an excellent mulch. Its top layer (3-5 cm)
needs to be kept dry. This will save your garden from pests and diseases, and your vegetable garden from
tedious weeding. In addition, peat soils freeze and thaw
slowly and do not freeze deeply. Therefore, in our beds, in place of drained
The swamps of the plant never froze even during winters with little snow and frost.
Thus, having drained the swamp at my summer cottage, I was able to
in a few years create fertile soil here that is suitable for
growing most agricultural crops. Moreover, having ennobled
plot, they planted plum trees, apple trees, cherries, pears, sea buckthorn and chokeberry trees on it
rowan, which began to produce abundant harvests. So the garden plot is
peat bog - this is quite feasible. You just need to put your hands to it.
