West Central Alberta Coldest, wettest edge | Up here in Alberta, Drainage tile is an unknown entity, I can't find anyone who has tried it, or even knows much about it. But I have alot of heavy black land sitting on impermeable clay. It has the potential to grow amazing crops when we get moderate or even no rain, but with a spring like this, it gets waterlogged and the results are disappointing. Any of the land I would be considering has at least slight slope, some places it is considerable, and at least a couple of feet ( most places much more) of elevation difference to the nearest route for the water to escape, so there must be a way to get the water from the top to the bottom. It is frustrating to see a side hill drown out, literally. Our local Alberta Ag rep ( from Denmark where they do use drainage tile) figures that they wouldn't work because they would still be frozen by the time they need to function., but I'm not convinced, they may not take away the spring runoff, but they would work on the June deluge. Are there any other ideas, such as adding enough fibre to the soil that it can be porous enough to drain, or deep ripping in the direction of drainage? I'd appreciate input from anyone who has used drainage tile no matter where it is.
And to think, at this time last year we would have given anything for some rain. Some places had none for the whole year. |
Would drainage tile work in Alberta?
