TL;DR: Avoid walking on the soil and empty saucer trays regularly.5 Pull back mulch and watch for disease.4 Give plants time to recover once drainage improves.6
Your garden after weeks of heavy rainfall can look like a swamp, and that is hard to see. This year, many areas of the UK have experienced rain on most days since the start of January.1 Here are seven calm, practical steps to help your plants bounce back.
What You Will Need
- Soft plant ties and stakes
- Garden gloves
- A bucket or watering can for emptying pots
- A little compost
- A notebook for tracking soggy spots
Why Wet Soil Hurts Plants
Why does so much water land at once? A warmer atmosphere holds on average seven per cent more moisture for every one degree Celsius of warming, so downpours can be heavier and more intense.1
The damage happens out of sight. Water displaces air from the spaces between soil particles, and roots can drown unless they are adapted to wet conditions.2
Long spells in saturated soil reduce the oxygen available to the roots and cause yellow leaves, root rot and death.2 Treat yellow leaves as your cue to act.
Rescue Your Garden After Heavy Rain
Work through these steps in order. Do them in a dry gap between showers.
Step 1: Stay Off the Soil
Avoid walking on the soil to reach your plants.5 Waterlogging is common when heavy soil is compacted, so keep to paths and the edges of beds.2
Keep children and pets away from deep puddles and sodden ground while you work. Make the checking round a family job from the path.
Step 2: Empty Pots, Saucers and Trays
Containers can turn into tiny ponds. Dump excess water out of every pot, tub and planter.3
The tray under a pot may need emptying regularly to keep on top of the rainfall, or you can flip the saucer to avoid the problem altogether.5 Check again after each shower, because a quick daily walk-round keeps small problems small.
Step 3: Pull Back the Mulch
Mulch, the layer of material covering your soil, is usually your friend, but during heavy rain you should temporarily remove it around your plants so the soil underneath can dry out much faster.4
Pile the mulch nearby and spread it back once the weather settles. Take care around stems so you do not snap them.
Step 4: Prop Up Battered Plants
In between storms, survey the damage and tie up and support battered plants.3
Use soft ties and keep them loose enough that they do not squeeze the stem. Stakes pushed in gently, from the path side, avoid trampling the bed.
Step 5: Give Roots Dry Ground
One gardener saved a drowning tomato patch by mounding compost around the plants' bases, giving them dry areas to root.6
Step 6: Watch for Disease and Pests
Wet conditions and the humidity that comes with them can increase diseases such as early blight and downy mildew, and a season of excessive rain can also bring weeds and pests.4 Check the undersides of leaves as well as the tops.
Pick off and squish pests such as potato bugs when you find them.3 Remove any diseased leaves you spot, wear gloves, and wash your hands afterwards.
Before using any spray or treatment, read the product label and your local rules. Keep children, pets and pollinators away from treated plants.
Step 7: Give Plants Time
Once the water stops pooling, be patient. Even without added soil, if you can improve drainage, the plants will likely recover with better weather.6
Keep watching for yellow leaves, which are a symptom of roots sitting in saturated soil.2 Note which spots stay wet longest, because those are your trouble areas.
Get Ready for the Next Downpour
Winters are expected to feature more days with significant rainfall, so a little planning now pays off.1
During the next heavy shower, put on a raincoat and note where water collects. Write the soggy spots in your notebook. Use a dry spell this autumn to improve drainage there, or move delicate plants to drier ground.
Keep your stakes, ties and spare mulch in one spot so you can act fast next time.
Start with three jobs: avoid walking on the soil, empty the saucers and pull back the mulch. They need no special kit. Then check back in a few days to see how the soil is drying.