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Water, Water, Everywhere...

By Wayne Hobbs Environmental Horticulture Agent
Posted 6/27/18

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Rain is usually a welcome sight for gardeners, helping to keep the soil moist, our plants growing and our irrigation systems off. However, this year has been extremely wet for …

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Water, Water, Everywhere...


Posted

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Rain is usually a welcome sight for gardeners, helping to keep the soil moist, our plants growing and our irrigation systems off. However, this year has been extremely wet for many people in our county and some plants are starting to show their complaints that it has just been too wet. Here are some tips on how to tell if your landscape is waterlogged and how to protect your plants.

When is Wet too Wet?

Many of our landscape plants may actually be quite happy with the last few months, especially in landscapes that are found on sandier upland soils. For these sites, which often dry following rain events in just a couple of days or less, you are likely just having to mow the grass more often and get to keep your irrigation system off.

However, if you live on the eastern side of the county, where the heavier black soils are found, your plants may be showing signs of water stress. If roots stay saturated too long they cannot properly exchange oxygen in the soil and then can become damaged or die. Look for symptoms such as leaf yellowing, drooping or wilting foliage, leaf drop, die-back or even plant death. In fact, the effects of too much water look a lot like drought damage.

If your plants were under standing water or the ground has been soggy and soaked for a long period of time, it is likely you may see some damage but it does also depend on the type, age, and overall health of your plants.

Dealing with Water Stress

If your plants are showing the signs of water stress, the best first step is to try to get them to dry out. If in containers, put them up on blocks or gravel to allow drainage and clear any blockage of the pot’s drain holes. If in the ground, pull back mulch away from the plant for a few days and allow the soil to dry. Hopefully the weather will cooperate as well and give your plants some time to recover.

Additionally, if it is raining consistently, you should not need to irrigate your landscape or lawn. Make sure your rain shut-off device is working properly or just turn off your irrigation system until dry weather returns and your plants actually need it. This will save you money and keep water from going to waste.

Wait and See

After water damage, you may have to wait awhile to see how the plant recovers. There is no steadfast rule on which plants will pull through or not, but just treat them right and give them time. Some plants are still just now showing their damage from Hurricane Irma.

You may also have additional issues with diseases after having too much water in the landscape, with turf diseases such as brown patch or take-all able to flourish and many root rots being found in other landscape plants. If the plant does succumb to the issue, try to find species that tolerate wet conditions better when you are replanting.

If you have any horticultural, agricultural, 4-H, or family and consumer science questions, contact the University of Florida/IFAS Clay County Extension Office online at http://www.clay.ifas.ufl.edu or call by phone at (904) 284-6355.