Let Work Wait Until the Storms Have Passed

With storm after storm dumping double the normal rainfall, is there a chance there can be too much of this good thing in the garden?

All of this recent rain has kept gardeners out of the garden, or at least it should. Even though we are in the midst of the bare-root rose and fruit tree planting season, a once-a-year opportunity, the last thing we should be doing is walking, or digging, in our gardens.

The bare-root season will last into the middle of February and any planting is best put off until the soil can dry out a little, which may take a week of clear skies at this time of the year.

It should go without saying that all automatic irrigation systems should be shut off for now. It will be quite a while before any irrigation is needed.

If there are watering basins around any plants in the garden, break them down and rake the soil flat so water doesn’t stand too long around plants. But don’t walk into the garden beds to do so.

Walking on or digging in a wet garden compacts the soil--it compresses the structure and squeezes out the tiny pockets of air that let soil breathe. These little spaces also allow excess water to drain deeper into the soil, what gardeners call “good drainage,” which keeps the dirt from becoming so soggy that roots rot.

Puddles in the garden that last past a rain are a sign of poor drainage. If you did walk through the garden, note that your footprints often become little puddles. In my own garden, I make note of any puddles and figure that is where some soil improvement is needed come spring.

On level lots, don’t be surprised if you lose a few plants, particularly drought-tolerant ones, that require this good drainage. They may not die until spring, but the damage from a too-wet soil is being done now, to the roots.

But most plants will fare fine, because the cool winter temperatures make root diseases inactive so plants can stand a lot more water now than they can in summer.

To improve a compacted soil, wait until spring or for a long break in the weather, and add organic amendments, what nurseries call planting (not potting) mixes. Thoroughly mixing these into a soil fluffs it up by adding air spaces. Organic amendments separate the soil particle and add tiny pockets of air, and though it often surprises people, roots need air as much as they need water.

Similarly, potted plants should be watched. If they puddle at all, even for a few minutes, it’s a sign that the potting soil is worn out and needs replacing, and the plant repotting. Make a note to do so in early spring.

Be sure to empty the water from any pans or trays under potted plants because standing water will rot off the roots at the very bottom of the container, which is often where the most roots are concentrated.

Where the days are not cold, indoor plants will certainly enjoy being set outside in the rain for a few hours. It will help flush out harmful salts that tend to accumulate when plants are watered only with tap water.

You might also might make note of important points in the garden that you haven’t been able to get to during all this rain, without walking through garden beds or through the mud. Here are some likely places to put a path come summer, and there is no shortage of time to make plans right now.

Mulches are usually thought of as a summer thing--to help keep moisture in the soil--but you can easily see, after all this rain, the benefits of a mulch in place during winter.

Winter mulches (I use the leaves that fell in the fall), keep the force of the rain from destroying the surface of the soil. Heavy rains tend to float the smallest soil particles to the surface where they make a crust that impedes the natural flow of water and air into the soil.

When we get a break in the weather, it’s a good idea to break this crust up with a cultivator, being careful not to cultivate too deep, damaging surface roots in the process. Then, if you still have some leaves lying around (they’re still falling from a few trees), mulch the soil to protect it from the next storm.

That’s, of course, assuming that we do get a break.