14/08/2022
With rain forecast early next week (🙏), you can ready your plot to capture and absorb as much as rain as possible when it finally arrives.
With the ground baked hard after two months of near drought, heavy downpours could result in significant run off which may not reach plants and could lead to localised flooding.
Here's what you can do to make the most of the rain:
💧 Install a water butt where you can. These can be attached not only to garages and sheds but also house downpipes and greenhouse roofs and range in size from 30-250 litres to suit many situations.
💧 Help direct rainwater to where it is most needed by digging out a hollow, dip, or even just a dish-like shallow ring around a plant to hold water while it soaks into the ground, rather than running off. Sloping areas of gardens could benefit from a swale at the base to capture runoff.
💧 Surface compaction of a lawn will prevent water effectively entering the ground. While spiking a lawn (10cm deep with a fork every 10-15cm) is generally done when growing strongly, where concern about runoff is an issue this will help. Leave more compact clay lawns well alone though as spiking could cause more damage.
💧 Digging in or mulching with organic matter, such as well-rotted garden compost can help to store rainfall in beds. This can store the equivalent of 31mm of rain or 20 days’ supply over time.
For more advice on collecting and using water in your garden, visit: https://mains2rains.uk/
