How to help your garden cope in wet weather
Rain is usually welcomed in the garden, but it can also cause damage when too much rain falls all at once.
It can lead to erosion, waterlogged plants, pest outbreaks and disease problems. Here are six helpful tips to help your garden survive a big wet.
Set up a trench
If you have a large garden, don’t waste the much needed rainwater in heavy downpours. Harvest it instead by digging a trench to redirect the water to places where it is needed, including areas suffering from dryness.
Swales can also help here, especially if your garden is on a slope. They are infiltration trenches which harvest the water by slowing it down and allowing it to soak into the soil.
Pest control
Pest control With rain comes unwanted pests, most notably snails and slugs.
To stop them from taking over your garden, you can sprinkle crushed egg shells around the base of your little seedlings. The sharpness of the eggshells is difficult on the insects’ delicate slimy tummies and deter them from damaging young plants.
Bake the egg shells on a tray for around 10 minutes until they become hard before placing in your garden.
Slow release fertiliser
In order to keep nutrients within your soil, and replace the ones lost during major rainfall, it is best to feed your soil with plant foods which release their nutrients gradually. This can include granules and organic manure pellets.
Harvest regularly
Jump into the practice of picking edible plants once they reach harvest stage during humid weather. If left for longer, it can increase the risk of spoilage (deterioration of fruits and veg) and they can become a pest hot spot.
Mulch
Applying a layer of mulch does wonders. It absorbs the rainwater and helps keep moisture within the soil. It also helps reduce splashing and prevents soil erosion due to it acting as a protective barrier.
Add organic matter
To hold moisture in the soil, make sure you add plenty of organic matter, in the form of manure and compost. This is equally important with sandy soils as it is with clay-based soils, which otherwise can become waterlogged during wet periods and crack when the weather turns dry.
