There are many solutions so that the plantations suffer as little as possible from excess water, which is the case during an extremely rainy period or if there is hail. Let’s see how to protect his orchardthem potted plants placed on the terrace, window sills or balcony, as well as installed plants in the groundin beds, flowerbeds, rockeries but also in vegetable garden.
Shelter plants in pots and planters
Perennials, biennials, annuals, flowering plants or ornamental foliage, hanging and garden plants as well as many shrubs in containers must be sheltered if heavy rain or downpour is expected. hailstones. We know very well that these severe weather can destroy in a few minutes many plants, even the containers in which they are installed.
We do not hesitate to store plants in pots under the courtyard, the porch, in the laundry room or in the garage, the main thing being that they are damaged as little as possible. They can also be placed under benches, tables and garden chairs so that they do not take the brunt of heavy rains…
Install bells on seedlings
A few minutes are enough for a torrential rain destroy them young seedlings which have not yet had time to put down roots. Whether for example seedlings of zucchini, melons, aromatics or flowering plants, it is absolutely necessary to protect them in the event of an announced deluge. We can for example cover them with bells either solid plastic or glass. Beware, however, of the glass, which may not withstand large hailstones.
Stake the plants
All tall-stemmed plants can be protected by stakes. Being attached, they will not lie on the ground, and therefore will not break, in the event of heavy rains, high winds and other bad weather. You just have to avoid over-tightening the ties.
Install a hail net
Every gardener should have this type of protection for plantations of all kinds. The anti-hail net protects against the impact of hailstones of course, but also against heavy rain. In the vegetable garden as in the orchard, you can save crops thanks to this solution.
Use a tarp in the garden
The tarpaulin is a one-off solution to shelter the ornamental plants and the vegetable plants when unusually heavy rain is expected. It does not take long to cover the plantations with it, and it constitutes a real screen against the risk of damage caused by temporary bad weather. The ideal is to opt for a finely perforated tarpaulin which allows plants to breathe and also limits the risk of condensation.
Install a tunnel over the plants
A rainy episode can, even in the middle of summer, cause the temperature to drop. In order to limit the thermal shocks to which many plants are sensitive while protecting them against heavy rains, a garden tunnel can be installed, inside which the temperature remains pleasant.
Clean up the garden after a downpour
We cannot protect everything and when the garden experiences heavy rain, we inevitably see more or less significant damage. So there is no other choice than to clean everything to quickly give it a nice look and allow damaged plants to recover from this difficult episode.
It is therefore necessary to identify the losses and crashes and roll up your sleeves to:
- Empty all the saucers that are under the flower pots,
- Pick up all the fruits and vegetables that have fallen on the ground, whether they are ripe or not,
- Check the condition of the fruits and vegetables that have remained in the trees or on the feet, then immediately remove any that have been badly damaged by the rain,
- Remove leaves shredded by heavy rain or hail,
- Trim broken stems,
- Rake the lawn to pick up all the small branches that have fallen from the trees,
- Hoe the garden soil to loosen it,
- Take the opportunity to weed the garden as a whole – beds in the vegetable patch, beds and paths – because the task is easier when the soil has been soaked.
Must also inspect all of its trees and shrubs et prune branches at risk of falling the next episode of bad weather or high winds. This will prevent them from injuring a person or falling on the plantations, which will inevitably cause damage to the vegetable garden as well as to the pleasure garden.
Follow the weather to react quickly in case of heavy rain
When you have a garden in which you invest a lot of your time to grow all kinds of plants, it is very useful to follow the daily weather reports. In this way, we can anticipating a stormof the torrential rains or one hailstorm. In case of’bad weather, it is indeed necessary to protect its plantations as well as possible in order not to find them devastated. And this principle holds regardless of the season because it must be recognized that the weather has some unpleasant surprises in store for us throughout the year.
Collecting rainwater is economical and ecological
Heavy rains in particular are capable of ruining all the efforts made to have a beautiful vegetable or ornamental garden. But we can simultaneously install water collectors in order to recover rainwater and then be able to water all his plants including its green plants cheaper, wash the car, the bikes, clean the terrace or even the garden furniture. Let’s not forget that watering your garden with rainwater represents savings of around €1/m² per year, i.e. €500 in twelve months for a 500 m² garden, and the we make at the same time a gesture for the planet…