Have you ever observed how your grass goes brownish after a period of heavy rain? When rainwater penetrates the soil, the plants absorb nitrogen, which causes the leaves to turn green and lush, indicating that they are healthy.
Despite the numerous benefits of rainfall for lawns, heavy and frequent rain can also negatively impact. Excessive rain can cause brown spots on your grass, leading it to deteriorate.
Too much rain can kill your grass and cause heavy weed growth. If you find that heavy rainfalls negatively affect your lawn and plants, you should seriously look into drainage solutions. Extra-heavy rains that don’t quickly drain away will cause root rot and other fungal diseases and infections and play havoc with, if not kill, your lawn.
Rainfall can save you a lot of time and energy when it comes to watering. Rainwater is also far better for grass than tap water since it is free of the pollutants found in tap water.
However, when the grass is too moist for an extended length of time, illnesses such as brown spots develop.
The grass requires oxygen to thrive, and too much water can cause air holes in the soil, drowning and killing your grass. Heavy rain also can cause your grass to become infested with weeds that are tough to eradicate.
Excessive rain and overwatering cause lawn issues – fungus-caused disease. Too much water can cause root rot – grassroots decay. It will result in disease that appears as yellow patches in your yard.
Once the fungus has taken hold, there is nothing you can do except reseed the dead spots in the autumn.
Disadvantages of Heavy Rainfall in Lawn
Lawn Disease
The grassroots might decay if there is too much water in the soil. It promotes fungal development since the excessive wetness provides an excellent environment for them to thrive.
Yellow or brown patches emerge across the blades of grass in your yard, indicating the presence of the disease. You could even see growing mushrooms on your lawn, albeit they are not edible.
Drowning Roots
Heat and humidity, as well as heavy rain, can stifle grass growth during the summer months.
Excess water retention can prevent oxygen from entering the soil and reaching the roots – essential for grass growth – thus interfering with photosynthesis, resulting in reduced grass growth.
Shallow Root System
When there is an excess of water in the soil, grassroots will not have to grow as deep to reach groundwater. It will be resulting in a shorter root system. Because of the small roots, they cannot reach the groundwater as the weather gets drier.
It will be leading them to dry up and develop brown patches above ground. They are considerably more vulnerable to pests and illnesses because of their poor root structure.
Weed Growth
Excessive rainfall might harm your lawn growth. However, it promotes the development of weeds. It provides weeds with food, allowing them to thrive and take over your grass – even if herbicides have been applied – and kill it.
Rainfall can reduce the efficacy of herbicides by washing them away. Furthermore, the overflowing water wipes away nutrients that would usually be taken as food by the plant roots.
Five Lawn Drainage Solutions You Can Do Yourself
A lawn drainage system is usually the best response to excessive rains that might damage your grass. The most crucial factor to consider is topography.
A property that slopes softly and gradually away from your home over the first ten feet surrounding the foundation and descends six inches creates good drainage.
Any yard may be anticipated to be a little swampy after unusually heavy rain. But if yours frequently hosts standing water, you are correct in looking into lawn drainage solutions.
Once you have determined the source of your problem and the most likely reason, it is time to devise a strategy for improving drainage in your lawn.
You have a variety of alternatives from which to choose. Ensure you thoroughly investigate each of them and have the required equipment before committing to one.
1. Reduce Your Watering Schedule
Consider whether you are overwatering your yard and garden before embarking on a pricey and time-consuming DIY drainage project. Reduce your watering and keep an eye on the problem regions to see whether or not they drain.
If they do, it’s possible that the soil is draining adequately but cannot keep up with your watering plan. If you have not already, it’s time to get your hands dirty and find a solution.
2. Extend Your Downspout
If you discover that your gutter system is causing your lawn drainage issues. The solution might be as simple as extending the downspout away from the house. So that it doesn’t form a basin in your manicured areas.
If you’re diverting runoff away from your home, make sure it goes into a storm drain or another safe drainage source rather than a neighbor’s yard.
Don’t forget to double-check that the gutters are in good shape. Water might overflow into your yard due to clogged or damaged gutters and drains. When it rains, your roof may transform into a cascade, signaling that gutter repairs or cleaning are needed.
3. Dig a Creek Bed or Swale
If a downspout extension is not enough to get rid of a puddle in your yard. Rather than have your lawn become a marshland, perhaps you should have an artificial stream created for your drainage.
This will be required to divert water away from low places. In most cases, these projects entail excavating a long shallow trench and filling it with gravel and ornamental pebbles.
This structure will effectively function as a slide for runoff to escape down if your yard has the correct downward slope. A dry artificial stream may be a beautiful addition to your landscape even when it is not in use, which is an extra advantage to this project.
4. Construct a Rain Garden
Suppose you have a low location on your property that accumulates water. If it doesn’t have enough slope to drain it with a stream bed, try turning it into a rain garden. Rain gardens are meant to collect rainwater and are typically filled with water-loving plants.
Plant such as Hostas, Ferns, and decorative Mosses help to dry up wet regions. In extensive wet areas – more like ponds – you could look at willow trees, etc. None of these plants may fix the lawn drainage problem, but they are certainly more appealing to look at than a muddy pit or huge puddle filled with damp or dead grass.
A well-constructed rain garden should be able to drain water within 24 hours. Together with the porousness of the soil you’re working with; this measure might help you figure out how deep to dig the garden. Your rain garden can also serve as the last destination for a downspout or creek bed.
5. Install a French Drain and/or Dry Well
When surface-level changes are not enough to fix your soil’s drainage problems, it’s necessary to dig deeper.
Both French drains, and dry wells are constructed beneath the topsoil. This is to distribute and channel surplus water. However, their application and design vary significantly.
A French drain linked to a downspout going away from the house and terminating in a dry well is a popular and practical option for heavy-duty yard drainage. Check the soil conditions at the location where you plan to put your dry well.
A dry well will only help if the earth is porous and drains effectively. Using a post digger, dig a small hole, load it up with water, and see how long it takes to drain.
We hope the information in this article will bring hope to those in need of a ‘watery solution’ and get them started working on the correct technique.
The problems in your garden can usually be turned into projects if you remain positive. You could become analytical and try to discover a workable strategy.
Better yet – read everything you need to know about gardens and gardening on the Green Garden Tribe Website. We’ll give you all the answers. It’s that simple!
Jenny Marie
Tribal Writer
Edited By
Patricia Godwin
