Depending on where you live in the world, wet weather is either a blessing or a curse (I’ll stick with the second one). With the cooler months upon us, keeping our garden friends happy and healthy is getting a little hard and less tempting, while their needs increase. Once you get on top of them, it’s not too much work and won’t steal a lot of time away from your cocoa and blanket-covered sofa.
Help! My lawn looks more like a swamp
Now, this relies a lot on knowing which type of soil you have, but because of its physical make up it (generally) holds water really well, so unless your plants have determined roots, they may have a bit of trouble trying to push through. Personally, I have a lot of trouble with this because I was “blessed” with clay-based soil so after a good bit of rain I have to be careful not to tread anywhere near whatever I’ve planted (especially important in the spring) to avoid making it worse.
But, if we’re already far enough to need help with it, I’d suggest trying to bring in a whole bundle of earthworms. They’re great for increasing airflow generally, but in this case, they’re miracle-workers. Also, if possible, try to incorporate some peat. Peaty soil is a master of drainage and it can flush all of your problems away (you can see why I didn’t start a comedy blog).
Speaking of adding soil, while the rain is beating down on your garden, you’ll be losing a lot of the fertilisers you may have had (artificial or otherwise) so rejuvenating it with a bit of home made fertiliser isn’t a bad idea.
Lastly, put some form of mulch (I’d recommend wood chippings) over the top as an extra layer of protection. They’ll keep the roots warmer and soak up some of the rainfall which would otherwise do a bit more damage.
I’d say the biggest beef you’ll have with the rain is getting anything started off outside. I had an absolute nightmare with my basil getting a bit flooded, so I’ve pulled it indoors (as I may have showed you in an earlier). You’ll probably have a similar experience if you’re in a rainy area too, so if I were you, I’d build a specific area of the garden to store your peaty soil and transplant your indoor-started plants out into it as soon as they’re ready. Just don’t keep them somewhere warm as the shock of going from being pampered indoors to the great outdoors might be a little too much for them. As always, snip off any flowers (or move it in a pre-flowering stage) before you transplant, or if you have the choice, get them outside before they get he chance to start flowering.
