Lawns require a lot of care and maintenance to maintain their lush and evergreen look. They are susceptible to damage too, especially if it’s raining cats and dogs. Yellowing blades, bald spots, and pooling water are some of the effects of heavy rain, and seeing them on your lawn isn’t a good sight.
To protect your lawn against heavy rain, proper drainage is the best line of defense. With proper drainage, the excess rainwater can flow away from your home and prevent water from pooling out on your lawn. Other ways to protect your lawn from heavy rain include regular aeration, cleaning gutters, installing rain barrels, disconnecting water storage, and building a rain garden.
In this article, we will discuss the ways to protect your lawn against heavy rain.
12 Ways to Protect Your Lawn from Heavy Rain
Heavy rain often leads to lawn damage, and a flooded lawn will have a hard time taking in water and nutrients from the soil. A flooded lawn can also have bald spots and yellowish blades. Also, there’s no definite time for a lawn to dry after heavy rain. Drying times depend on the grass type and soil conditions of your lawn.
Puddles and pooling water can drown your lawn, though these problems are not inevitable. They can be prevented using the 12 following techniques.
1. Proper Drainage
Proper and efficient drainage is the key to protect your lawn from heavy rain. If you live in low-lying areas, it is best to build a drainage system that can drive the water away from your lawn. Building a drainage system depends on the lawn grade you have. This process can be a lot of work, but it is a long-term line of defense if water pools in your lawn or if you live in a location that experiences lots of rain. If rainwater is pooling in your lawn, fix it by adding soil and grade the surface away from your home.
2. Aerate the Lawn
Aeration is a procedure that consists of eliminating the plugs in your lawn and loosen the compacted soil. Your lawn’s soil gets compacted over time, making it hard for water to penetrate it. Regularly aerating your soil allows water to seep through the earth, solving the problem of stagnant water in your lawn.
If your lawn isn’t big enough, you can use a rake to poke the soil of your lawn to aerate it. You can also use heavy equipment, like plug or spike aerators, which require you to poke holes in the soil. The aeration process is usually performed yearly or every few years, depending on the foot traffic on your lawn. Walking on your lawn frequently is more likely to make your soil compacted and impervious.
3. Clean the Gutters
Another solution to prevent rainwater from pooling into your lawn is to clean the gutters in your home. Make sure that all the gutters are squeaky clean, free of debris, and draining efficiently. One of the major causes of rain runoff is clogged gutters, which can cause rainwater to flush out from your roof gutters and pool onto the ground, which isn’t healthy for your lawn.
This can also lead to soil erosion, basement flooding paint damage, water stain, mildew, mold, and wood rot. If your gutters are weak, rusting, aging, leaking, or showing signs of damage, fix them immediately for your lawn and home’s sake. You can work with a professional if your gutters require fixing and replacement.
4. Level the Lawn
To prevent rainwater from pooling onto your lawn, you should level the ground and slope it away from your home in all directions. To do this, examine and locate your lawn’s high and low points and use soil to slope it away. This will prevent rainwater and thawing snow from flowing into your residence and pooling in your lawn.
You can hire professionals to make sure that everything is done properly and to make sure the basement windows, pipes, drains, and the various areas of your home are not affected during the grading process.
Having the perfect lush and green backyard is every suburban homeowner’s dream. Getting the grass to spread and grow evenly, however, is a nightmare. Want to know how to get grass to spread in your backyard? Read our article to know our tips and tricks for a greener and lusher lawn.
5. Use Local Plants
Planting local plants is another inexpensive solution to protect your lawn against heavy rain. Local or indigenous plants can indeed prevent soil erosion and help rainwater to seep through efficiently. You can ask your local nursery what plants best suit your area.
6. Use Mulch
Another inexpensive solution to protect your lawn against heavy rain is to use mulch. This helps prevent rainwater from pooling in your lawn and flowing into your home. To do so, fill a few inches of it in your lawn away from your house. If mulching near your house, keep at least 6 inches from the siding to prevent moisture from building up as moisture build-up can cause rotting in your home’s exterior.
7. Plant New Grass
Planting new grass can help reduce the impact of heavy rain on your lawn and flooding. The root structure of the newly planted grass helps absorb water, and when the grass is growing, avoid cutting it too short. This is one of the side effects of planting new grass; mowing it too short can weaken the roots and may lead to water pooling on your lawn and possibly flooding your home. Thus, before planting new grass, consult and check your local nursery regarding what kind of grass is best and more effective in your area.
8. Install Rain Barrels
Another eco-and-budget-friendly way of protecting your lawn against heavy rain is to install a rain barrel. These are placed at the bottom of your home’s downspout to collect rainwater. In this way, you can redirect water and protect your lawn from flooding. You can also use big and tall containers if you don’t have any rain barrels.
Collecting rainwater helps you conserve water and is an eco-friendly way to water your plants during the dry season. It also decreases water pollution runoff into lakes, rivers, and other natural waterways.
9. Know How to Test the Sump Pump
A sump pump is a piece of equipment that moves water from your basement out of your home. Keep it well-maintained to ensure that your basement stays dry. A sump pump discharges the collected water out of your basement onto designated areas, such as a dry well, pond, creek, or neighboring drain.
Just be careful not to set your drain point near your house, otherwise, water could return to your home. Also, check your sump pump regularly to ensure that everything is working properly. A sump pump can help you avoid costly water damages and provide a proper water flow.
10. Disconnect Water Storage Equipment
If you already have rain barrels to collect rainwater, check them regularly so that when heavy rain comes, they will not overflow. Make sure the barrels aren’t full of water or disconnect the downspouts before it overflows. Also, ensure that the downspouts are directed toward the drainage systems so that the water will not stagnate onto your lawn.
11. Build a Rain Garden
One of the ideal ways to keep heavy rain from ruining your lawn is to build a rain garden. If water is frequently pooling on the lower points of your lawn, consider building a rain garden at this point. A rain garden is designed for water-loving plants. Some rain gardens include a special soil mix with a high amount of sand for better drainage. A rain garden collects the overflowing water and reuses it, protecting your lawn from any damages. You can consult and hire a landscaper who has experience in making rain gardens to ensure that it is done properly and that it will be successful.
12. Keep Off from the Lawn
After heavy rain, avoid any traffic on your lawn as much as possible. Traffic can increase the compaction of soil in your lawn, slowing the drainage. Stepping on your lawn can cause a muddy mess that will choke your lawn grass. If you do need to step on your lawn, put plank boards to walk on. In this way, the weight will be distributed over the grass, preventing any lawn damages.
A thin and unhealthy lawn is definitely not an ideal sight for every homeowner. The thing is, having a thick and healthy lawn is not that difficult to achieve. Want to know how to make your lawn thicker? Read our article to find out what you need to do to achieve your dream lawn.
Conclusion
Water is an essential element that is needed by plants in order for them to grow and flourish which is why rain is always welcomed by farmers, gardeners, and simple home owners that have lawns to maintain. Although lawns may love rain, too much water can cause damages that could, luckily, be saved.
With the ways to prevent and protect your lawn from heavy rain discussed in this article, you no longer need to worry about whether your lawn will drown and have bald spots and unhealthy grass growth. For instance, you should consider building a proper and efficient drainage system to avoid bigger lawn damages. There are a lot of ways to address the problems caused by heavy rains, all you need to do is figure out which one will work the best for you and your lawn.
