Storm Bert, coping with a flooded garden and natural flood management

The calm after the storm

This week’s post is two days earlier than usual to help those readers whose gardens are waterlogged or flooded at the moment.

Despite having well covered grassland soils, a lot of silt ended up in my pond!

Having experienced Storm Bert first hand, I feel for all those who now are suffering the aftermath of the flood waters. We got through relatively unscathed, the winds were strong, but we didn’t get as much rain as threatened, although water levels are very high. It was of immense relief to get up on Sunday morning, look out the window and see that the five veteran oaks in our front field were still upright.

The poultry pens didn’t get off quite so well and I had a panic when I saw that the calf hut that shelters our two turkey stags had blown to the other side of their pen. Fortunately, it doesn’t have a floor and sits on a pad of straw so it just lifted up (despite being tied down), leaving what were probably rather surprised boys unharmed.

Some of the nets had lifted and it was a bit of a game getting them back in place. I definitely don’t recommend trying to tie down 30m long poultry nets in strong winds. The ground is now waterlogged which doesn’t worry the geese and ducks, who make muddy pools everywhere, but the hens stayed inside all day.  

We had 18mm of rain over the weekend, which seemed a lot, but is nothing in comparison to a month’s worth of rain and winds of more than 82 mph that some parts of the country experienced. And all this coming swiftly after the chilly, snowy weather of last week. The weather really is topsy turvy.

Coping with a flooded garden

I have written about coping with floods in the past and there are some links at the end of this section. Here are a few do’s and don’ts if your garden is flooded or waterlogged.

• If there is standing flood water in your garden, avoid going into that area of the garden until the water has drained away and before you do so check that any outside electricity sockets are switched off, including those in greenhouses.

• Flood water brings all sorts of contamination, especially in urban areas, so if there is debris in the form of plastics, paper, wood etc carried there by water, it is classed as contaminated waste and should be thrown away in special council skips.

• If you have sand in a play area, bark chippings, bags of compost that have been under flood water, bear in mind that they too are contaminated and should be disposed of.

• Flood water can damage to the foundations of buildings and retaining walls, so check for damage. Unblock drains and hose down hard surfaces such as patios, paths and walls. Then check for any cracks or other signs of damage. Don’t forget that wooden arches and pergolas may be damaged at ground level.

• Don’t walk on your lawn or flower beds.  Waterlogged soil is so easily damaged and can be easily compacted so stay off! If you need to cross a bed, use scaffold boards to spread your weight.

Allotments after flooding from surface water runoff.

Can I eat veg that’s been covered with flood water?

No! Never, ever, eat any vegetables that were in the ground at the time of flooding, even those that will be cooked. Guidance suggests that the ground should not used for at least one year and even longer for salad crops, to make sure that any contaminants, spores, and disease-causing bacteria are long gone.

If your vegetable plot has been flooded and you have lost your crop, the quickest way to recover is to build some new raised beds and fill them with bought-in compost so that you can use the growing space. The ultimate 'quick fix' raised bed is a one tonne bulk bag filled with compost. You can make use of containers and grow bags too. But don’t be tempted to fill the new beds with compost from any compost bins that have been flooded.

My previous posts on this topic include Flood prevention – slow water and Rain, more rain, famine and Hansel and Gretel

If you are a paid subscriber, you will be able to access this post in the archive: My garden’s been flooded, what can I do? which deals with the immediate problems, as well as advice on looking after plants that have sat in waterlogged ground, and suggestions for plants that can cope with short term flooding.

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Flood defences

Now people are clearing up and looking at the damage, there is the usual clammer that we need more flood defences. Locally, several millions of pounds have been spent on flood defence schemes in the River Stour catchment area in Dorset, but the usual flood risk areas were overwhelmed by the volumes of water coming down the River Stour this weekend.  This is not unique. Billions have been thrown at various flood defences across the country over the last 20 years or more. But climate change is bringing more intense storms with stronger winds and more water so traditional flood defences are not going to cope, regardless of how much money we spend – King Canute comes to mind.

The answer lies elsewhere – in the from of slowing the flow as I keep on and on about! We need to slow the rate at which storm water runs into our streams and rivers and it has to be slowed at source – upland areas, farmland, gardens and parks etc - and if we all did something, the overall effect would be huge.  

So, did you remember to empty your water butts before Bert arrived?

Natural flood management

I’ve read about some brilliant schemes that are taking place in the upper reaches of rivers, where natural defences in the form of rewiggling (unstraightening becks and streams etc) and planting riparian woodlands etc, are proving to be incredibly effective. Research has found that these schemes are reducing peak flows, enhancing soil permeability and increasing storage capacity, as well as diverting water away from the channels and onto land which slows the flow considerably. If you want to learn more about some of these schemes you can watch this seminar : Slow the flow: Nature based flood responses that took place at the Oxford Real Farming Conference last January, which I found so inspirational.

More and more farmers are working together to implement natural flood defences to protect communities downstream.

The stream that runs straight across my land empties into the River Cale, a tributary of the Dorset Stour, so I’m looking to implement natural flood management on my land to help slow the flow of water and hopefully, reduce flooding in the next village. One way will be unstraightening, or rewiggling, the stream so it meanders through a low lying meadow.  Another is to plant even more trees, especially on one of my sloping fields that runs down to the stream, which may mean that less water enters the stream at that point.  

Let’s hope the weather in the coming week is quieter!

Happy Gardening

Sally

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Talks

4 December Castle Cary Gardening Club

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