Garden and care after the heavy rain

February 26, 2020

When it rains it pours. Well, this seems to be the case for many areas around the Sunshine Coast lately.

Extreme weather has wreaked havoc on our region for the past few weeks, causing localised flooding and damage to property, destruction of buildings, erosion of valuable topsoil and the complete removal of vegetation.

And although the loss of your garden ben is heartbreaking, the real damage that flooding caused to gardens lies underground.

Healthy soil provides plants with anchorage, nutrients, oxygen and water. Once this soil becomes saturated, all the air pockets are removed.

Studies show that within 24 hours of immersion, the root hair zone, which is right at the tip of the roots, begins to die, leaving plants vulnerable to a range of diseases.

Given the damage that waterlogged soil can so quickly cause plants, it’s a good idea to undertake a bit of restoration work.

Here are our tips to follow if you have been impacted by rising flood waters.

Let the soil drain naturally first
A shortcut is to add lots of coarse organic material to the soil.
Compost is always the best for this, but you can also use mulches such as pine-bark, which create an artificial pore structure and lets the air get back into the soil.
It has one disadvantage though – it removes some nitrogen from the soils as it breaks down.
Waterlogged soils can become acidic.
To overcome this, add a handful of lime per square metre on the surface.
Apply blood and bone or some poultry manure – about a handful per square metre will kick the soil back into life.