How to protect plants from wet, windy weather

Keen to protect your plants from drowning and minimise the risk of waterlogging? Garden expert Jonathan Webster shares the following top tips…

1. Clear out your gutters: This will ensure water isn’t flooding towards your borders and is being drained off to the right place.

2. Avoid walking on grass: Try to avoid walking on wet soil or soaking grass, which will become compacted (especially with heavy clay soil) if you start treading on it during prolonged wet weather.

3. Add mulch: Mulch or leaf litter, which will help minimise soil compaction on the surface, which may be caused by torrential rain.

4. Choose the right plant for your soil: Plants which thrive in a heavy, wet soil – such as dogwoods and willows – are more likely to survive, as are bulbs such as camassias, which love a wetter soil. Tulips, on the other hand, are more likely to suffer in persistently wet conditions.

5. Position your plants in the right way:

If you have a heavy soil, pierce the sides and the bottom of the planting hole when you plant, adding crocks and gravel at the base to help moisture seep through. Avoid smearing the sides of planting holes on heavy soils – use a fork for digging and break down the sides.

You may want to try ‘mound planting’, where half the rootball is sticking out of the soil, which is mounded up. If you have a high water table, that takes the rootball out of the danger zone.

However, remember that during the hotter, drier spells you will need to look after it and make sure it doesn’t dry out. You won’t need to replant it deeper come summer, as the mound planting remains in its permanent position.

This planting method is good for rhododendrons, which don’t like sitting in wet soil.

6. Create raised beds

If you live in an area with a high water table, having raised beds can help your plants avoid the wettest area.