How To Repair Water Damaged Lawn

Repairing a flood damaged lawn The UK has always suffered from more our fair share of wet weather but with prolonged rainfall and flooding increasing, unfortunately your much-loved outdoor space is likely to take taken a hit. Depending on where you live, the consequences of this tin can range from a slightly soggy backyard to some serious flood damage.

All is not lost

If the state of your postdiluvian lawn has reduced you to despair and yous are already thinking about extending the drive, laying a super large patio or excavation a koi pond, take a deep jiff and have another look out in that location. The situation might non be as irreparable as yous fright. With a little fourth dimension and not necessarily a lot of money almost lawns can exist rescued. Some patience and following sound communication will soon have your lawn back to its erstwhile glory.

Bide your time

It'southward best to go along off the backyard until it'southward visually dried out and doesn't wait like it requires wellies to venture onto information technology. How quick this process will be, depends on the soil underneath. Lawns that benefit from a sandy, light soil usually drain well and once the h2o level has dropped, tend to recover quickly. If you take a heavy clay soil then you lot will discover the h2o hangs around longer.

Assess the situation

Once the surface water has subsided you can get on there with a rake and remove any leaves, debris and dead affair and so yous tin have a closer wait to appraise the impairment. Are there thin or even blank areas? Are in that location areas where moss or weeds take invaded? Does the lawn need major overseeding or minor dressing to recover or is information technology simpler to just supersede it with new turf?

Aerate and top dress

Turf is a relatively robust entity and, in one case the lawn is fairly dry, you lot can start the repair procedure. If you are finding surface water is taking a long time to bleed abroad you tin can assist by using the sometime technique much loved of premiership football pitch groundsmen, namely the garden fork driven into the lawn and wiggled around. Doing this every 150mm across the lawn will open up upwardly the soil and help the drainage. If your lawn has stale this technique is also useful to introduce air into the root zone, as your lawn is likely to take become compacted with the sheer weight of standing water. If you are not blessed with naturally quick draining soil, then brushing topdressing into the many holes you lot have just created will also boost the drainage quality of the soil for the time to come.

Mow if its mild

Once the frosts take subsided and nosotros feel some mild spells it will exist time to think most mowing the lawn. A good mowing regime will make a large difference in stimulating grass growth during the spring, which in turn volition assist recovery of the lawn. Your mower needs to be in tiptop condition and if y'all oasis't been able to maintain it over a wet winter, now is the fourth dimension to ensure everything is sharp and oiled properly. Remember (as ever) non to remove more than than ane third of the grass height during ane mowing session.

Feed

Lawns that have not significantly flooded this winter volition still have experienced torrential rainfall which will have leached vital nutrients out of the soil. Consequently, almost gardens will benefit this spring from some work and TLC to improve growing atmospheric condition; for lawns this means ensuring your grass has access to the right 16 essential elements so it can grow and flourish. Now is a skilful time to employ a suitable spring lawn food. With the degree of leaching which this winter's weather has created the lawn volition benefit from a echo application subsequently four to six weeks.

Repair with new seed

Now the soil issues of drainage and nutrients have been addressed information technology's time to think near repairing damaged areas.

Overseeding any lawn that is looking thin will improve the advent and reduce weed and moss invasion which are likely to have been the only things to really flourish this winter.

Re-sow specific areas where found loss has been particularly bad. Spring is a expert time to practise this and a quality seed such as Medallion Premium Lawn Seed can either be sown evenly across the whole lawn or on specific bare patches without treating the whole backyard. If you are filling in blank areas then sowing rates should be adopted as if you were sowing a brand new backyard (effectually 35g per square metre). Seed left sitting on the surface of soil will not grow well unless the soil has been prepared correctly to provide a nice seed bed. With an existing lawn a spring tined rake tin be used to suspension up the soil surface; with specific patches the area should be broken up more thoroughly.

For general overseeding the seed tin be mixed into some topdressing, however, this may involve a little trial and error with the application rates. If it doesn't rain (and chances are, when we all need it, it won't) and then don't forget to water ii or three days after sowing. Seed formation can be accelerated by heating the soil upwards before sowing and past covering the seed for the first few days. Both tasks can exist done with something like a black bin bag, pegged over the area in question. Bank check the area daily and when new grass growth tin can be seen remove the black bag and allow the grass plants to develop naturally.

Try and avoid walking on the newly overseeded backyard for at least a week and upward to 21 days if possible. If you demand to protect the new seed from our feathered friends, netting or garden fleece tin be used until the new shoots offset to come through the soil.

Returf patches

For large patches of 'drowned' turf the simplest option may be to lay new cultivated turf. This will need the soil to be prepared correctly, particularly to get the height of new turf to match up with the existing or remaining. But you get the obvious benefit of an instant transformation. New turf and existing turf volition probably vary in colour and appearance initially, even if putting new Rolawn turf with existing Rolawn turf, which is due to the age of turf and the relative level of nutrients in your lawn and the turf supplied. With a good growing flavour and appropriate maintenance any variations volition gradually blend together.

Hopefully these tips will help your lawn recover from the wettest wintertime in living memory and avoid that actress-large block paved area in your garden! Don't forget, a healthy lawn assists during heavy rainfall past existence absorptive which reduces surface run-off, it also absorbs CO₂, produces oxygen, traps dust and particulates, is cocky-cleaning, condom to play on, and during hot weather helps reduce urban warming by being upward to thirty degrees cooler than tarmac and paved surfaces.

Caput to our Information Middle for more lawn maintenance advice.

Updated Jan 2022