As we learn more about how climate change is impacting different regions of the globe, we are seeing more and more cases of extreme weather.

In this article, we are going to talk about how to prepare your garden so that it can still be thriving after periods of heavy rainfall.

We’ll go over how to tend to your land so that it becomes a sponge, able to absorb the water and even store it for later use. This will help your garden to stand tall and survive instead of becoming destroyed due to flooding.

Build a flood-proof garden: find resilience during heavy rainfall

To build a flood-proof garden, you’ll need to implement the following regenerative techniques:

• increase the water holding capacity of your soil
• implement water capture and storage
• build flood-proof structures in your garden
• install drainage systems

Let’s dive into each of these components and look at everything there is to consider when improving the flood resiliency of your garden. We’ll break down the problem, look at why flooding occurs, and detail the actions needed to prevent flooding on your land.

What causes flooding?

During times of heavy rainfall, flooding occurs when the soil reaches its maximum water holding capacity and can no longer absorb the rainfall. Instead, water accumulates on top of the soil, causing areas of high water levels.

Flooding after heavy or long rainfall is a sign that your garden needs to be remediated with regenerative techniques so that your soil can hold and retain more water.

How to prevent flooding in the garden?

1. Reduce roof runoff by installing a water catchment system. The average roof area is 1700 square feet, and can drain over 1000 gallons of water per 1 inch of rainfall. That’s a lot of water! If your drainpipes go into your garden, this problem needs to be eliminated.

Luckily, the solution to this issue is easy to solve and has multiple benefits: rain water capture tanks are a great way to reduce instances of flooding, and creates a store of water for future use in your garden. This can in turn reduce your water bill, relieve well pressure, and improve the quality of local waterways.

2. Add organic matter and layers of mulch to absorb water. Apply a thick layer of wood chips in the pathways of the garden - often times you can get wood chips for free from local arborists or through chipdrop.com. Wood chips can also be placed around trees and other long-lived perennials to help build the water holding capacity of your soil. Wood chips act as a sponge and will absorb water and release it slowly over time.

Heavily mulch around your annuals with organic hay, straw, leaf mold, or grass clippings. These organic materials will also hold water.

All organic mulches will break down over time and nourish the soil, which in turn will build the water holding capacity of your garden.

3. Plant cover crops in the off season. This will prevent your precious garden soil from getting washed away during times of heavy rainfall. Before the cover crop goes to seed, crimp it back onto the soil. In this way, the cover crop acts like a blanket, protecting the soil from flooding. The green material will further help to build the soil’s organic matter content and build resiliency to flooding.

4. Elevate your growing space. If you’re able, install raised beds in your garden. When you fill in the raised bed either with rich compost or in a hugelkultur method, it will better be able to hold and drain water, and give the plants a better chance of surviving.

Hugelkultur is a way to fill a raised bed inexpensively and regeneratively. Instead of filling the bed with 100% soil, you fill the bottom 50-70% with logs, sticks, organic straw, grass clippings, and chopped leaves. The materials with the biggest surface area, such as the logs, go on the bottom, followed by sticks. Then, layer straw, grass clippings, and leaves in alternating layers. The top 50%-30% of the raised bed then gets filled with compost.

5. Practice no-till gardening. No till regenerative gardening has been shown to improve soil structure over time, which in turn will help your soil to hold more water during heavy rainfall.

6. Turn to permaculture earthworks for a solution with swales: A swale is an area of land that is formed to serve as a water capture source.

The swale should be installed on contour, near the high point of your land. A large mound, or berm, is created on contour, creating a lip on the land that will stop water from continuing on the surface level down the slope.

From there, the berm absorbs the water and diverts any excess under ground.

The berm should be planted in order to help it work optimally.

Learn more about swales and how they work in this video by Geoff Lawson:

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Fast action steps to save your garden if you know heavy rainfall is on its way

If there is heavy rain in the forecast, and you want to be sure that your garden doesn’t flood, here are some things you can do in a short amount of time that will help your garden to weather the storm.

1. Mulch heavily around your plants: Buy a few bales of organic straw or organic spent hay and mulch heavily around your plants. The organic straw will work best if you’re able to chop it ahead of time. You can also buy bagged chopped straw from the brand Garden Straw, which might be in stock at your local garden center.
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2. Install a rain barrel under any drainage spouts near the garden: A local farm or garden store should have these in stock, and installation should only take an hour or so.

What do to if your garden is flooded now

Maybe you weren’t expecting a heavy rainfall and your garden is currently flooded. Here are some things you can do to help your plants.

Dig a trench to channel water out of the garden

1. Find an area in the garden where if you dug a trench, water would flow out of the garden and into the trench.
2. Dig the trench in such a way where the water will be diverted towards a drain or area with improved drainage capabilities.
3. Make sure the trench is at a slope so that the water can travel along it.
4. If the trench collapses or seems like it is going to collapse, line it with a tarp to reinforce it.
5. If you have gravel, line the trench with some to help with drainage.
6. Dig side trenches as you evaluate how the water is flowing

Use a yard sump pump

This will pump the water out of your garden and into a different area. While it might be more expensive than digging a trench, it will be far less time, energy, and effort.

You may be able to rent one from a local Lowe’s, Home Depot, or True Value.

Create drainage with a broadfork

If you have a broadfork (a great regenerative gardening tool!), you can use it to open up space in non-planted areas of your garden to allow for better drainage.

Other things do after your garden recovers from flooding

Remove leafy greens, such as salads, from your garden.

According to Iowa State Extension, leafy greens should be cut back and new seed should be sown for these crops to help prevent illness.

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Evaluate the rest of your produce and decide if it’s edible or not.

WVU’s Extension office mentions that any root vegetables that are under 4 months from harvest should be discarded after flooding, in addition to any soft fruits that were in contact with flood water.

Anything that has been in the flood water and eaten raw should be thrown out.

Anything that can be cooked and peeled should still be handled with care. See WVU’s page for a recipe on cleaning vegetables thoroughly after a flood.

Replant seeds once flooding is clear.

It’s likely that the seeds are no longer viable and will need to be resown.

A flood proof garden extends its benefit to your home and neighborhood

Regenerative no-till gardening techniques ripple…or prevent rippling…outwards from your garden and into your community.

If your yard is able to hold more water, your surrounding streets and neighbor’s yards that are downhill from you will be spared from excess water runoff from your property.

This goes for regenerative agriculture as well - when the soil is built up to have more water-holding capacity, streets surrounding the farms are less likely to flood, and car accidents are less likely to occur due to hydroplaning.

In the long run, implementing regenerative techniques turns you into a land steward, for your own garden and for your community.

Learn more about land stewardship and regenerative gardening techniques:

Discover the principles of regenerative agriculture and learn how this gardening technique is a nature-based solution to climate change.

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