Tips For Preventing Your Lawn From Flooding This Winter

by Grace Motley

Winter brings stormy weather to most areas of the U.S., hitting areas hard with snow, ice, or rain. This precipitation can often make your yard flood, which can lead to poor soil, flooding in your house, and messy conditions all around.

Here are some tips that can keep your lawn from flooding this winter:

Treat your lawn with topsoil and mulch.

If your lawn is prone to flooding after a storm, it may contain a lot of clay. While clay is a natural part of soil, too much clay can make the soil too dense and be unable to absorb all of the precipitation from a storm.

To help your soil absorb more precipitation, add a thin layer of topsoil and mulch to your lawn. This adds organic matter to your lawn and helps improve the soil's ability to absorb water. It's best to add topsoil and mulch right before you fertilize and reseed during the fall. If there are any low-lying areas, you can add a bit more soil to help even out the ground and keep water from pooling.

A great (and cheap) way to add mulch is to mulch your lawn with grass clippings as you mow. Most mowers have mulching attachments that make this job very convenient, and this also saves you the hassle of bagging your grass clippings.

Aerate your lawn.

Regardless of the type of soil that you have, lawn that is unnaturally compacted will do a poor job of absorbing water. Compaction can occur after the lawn experiences heavy traffic from people, animals, bikes, or vehicles.

To aerate your lawn, run a core aerator over the grass to pull out small cores of soil. Then, sprinkle compost over the holes. This process enhances the overall health of your lawn and improves the circulation of air, nutrients, and water.

A core aerator can usually be rented for the day from a local garden supply company. If it's more convenient to hire professional help, most lawn care companies should be able to help you out with this special project for a minimal fee.

Install a rain barrel.

Sometimes lawns flood because they receive so much water running down from your home's downspouts. If this is the case with your property, you can buy a few rain barrels to help collect some of the excess water. Rain barrels can be connected to a home's downspouts via a small series of connecting PVC pipes, and many companies now sell rain barrel kits that are specifically designed to connect to your downspout for maximum water collection.

The best part of using a rain barrel is that you can use that excess water for watering your plants and lawn during dry spells, as many rain barrels can even be hooked up to regular hoses.

Take a look at your lawn and think about which areas of your yard have been most prone to flooding. Then, decide whether you'll add a rain barrel to help with flooding close to your house, or aerate and add topsoil and mulch to help with outer areas of your yard. Any, or all three, of these strategies can help keep your lawn flood-free this winter.

To learn more, contact a company like Pro-Tech Lawn Care with any questions or concerns that you have.

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