What to do With a Waterlogged Lawn
If you’ve been following the news over the past couple of months, you’re probably familiar with Babet, Ciarán and Debi. Not characters in the latest reality TV series, but 3 storms that brought strong winds and heavy rain to the UK during October and November.
Storms can cause all kinds of problems for gardeners, but this month we’re going to focus on what heavy rain can tell you about your lawn and your soil, and how you can solve any issues that the rain might cause. In particular, what to do if your lawn gets waterlogged every time it rains.
What causes a waterlogged lawn?
The obvious answer would be heavy rain, but some lawns cope with heavy rain much better than others. If your lawn is regularly soggy to walk on or looks like a lake after every period of rain, then you have a problem. This type of regular waterlogging will make it almost impossible to keep your lawn looking great.
Waterlogging happens when your lawn has poor drainage, which can have several causes. Heavy clay soil tends to have poor drainage as does soil that has become compacted. Another cause of a waterlogged lawn could be the grass itself as grass with badly developed roots isn’t able to absorb water. Whatever the cause, a waterlogged lawn will create problems for you.
The results of a waterlogged lawn
If your lawn is frequently waterlogged, you may notice the following problems.
• Algae, lichens and liverworts These all flourish when the ground is waterlogged. Not only will they affect how your lawn looks, but they can also make it slippery to walk on.
• Bare patches If your lawn is regularly under water then grass will find it difficult to grow, leading to bald patches. This is particularly true of finer varieties of grass, and you may find that even if the lawn isn’t bare the grass that does grow is much coarser and lower quality.
• Moss Moss loves damp conditions, so will often do well in a lawn that can get waterlogged, especially if this is combined with other factors such as shade or acidic soil.
What can you do to prevent a waterlogged lawn?
The good news is that there are steps you can take to make it less likely that your lawn will be flooded every time it rains.
• Aerate your lawn One of the best things you can do is aerate your lawn. All Green Lawn Treatments carries out lawn aeration using a process called hollow-line aeration where plugs of soil are removed from the lawn. This vastly reduces compaction and improves drainage. We generally carry out aeration in the spring, but if you’re having major problems with your lawn, contact us todayfor a free lawn consultation as we may recommend swifter action.
• Create permeable paths While creating paths in your garden can reduce areas that become compacted because of heavy use, creating the wrong type of path may make problems worse. Bark or shingle paths reduce the amount of water running off the path onto the lawn and can in turn reduce waterlogging.
• Look after your grass We always recommend that you look after your lawn. Taking care of grass that has been subject to flooding won’t just repair any damage, it can also reduce waterlogging in the future. Remember that poor root systems can contribute to the problem. Take advantage of our year-round lawn treatments to keep your grass healthy and help reduce the likelihood of problems caused by heavy rain.
• Improve drainage If your waterlogging problem is very serious it may be worth considering a more long-term solution such as installing a drainage system. This involves digging a trench or trenches in the lawn. Trenches are then lined with a porous material, filled with shingle, layered with topsoil and then finished with turf. As you can see, this is a big commitment, and you’ll probably only want to consider this when everything else has failed.
You might think that there is nothing you can do if your lawn gets waterlogged, particularly if you live in an area with heavy clay soil. However, as you’ve seen there are things you can do, and with our help you, this is a problem that can definitely be fixed.