Need help?Special interestProduct guideGardening calendar
Melaleuca

Dealing with water-logged gardens


Water-logged ground is dangerous for plants.

If the water cannot drain away and open up the pores in the soil so they can be filled with air, the plants basically drown.

What should you do if your garden climate goes suddenly from one extreme to another, from "droughts" to "flooding rains"?

Do you need to rethink plantings?
Perhaps choose hardier plants like Callistemons?

Here are some practical ways to manage gardens that could suffer from water-logging.

Enhanced with Hydraflo2®

Hydraflo2Want garden care products that include a wetting agent?

You'll find Scotts® Hydraflo2® Wetting Agent in selected Osmocote® and Lawn Builder™ products.

Subscribe to In & Around Your Garden

Easy gardening
tips & news
every month

Subscribe to In & Around Your Garden.

Bush alive with bottlebrushes

Replace plants in water-logged areas.

Take note of the areas where water lies.

If plants are lost, consider replacing them with plants that tolerate both drought and periodic inundation.

For example

  • Callistemons (Bottlebrushes)
  • Melaleucas (Paperbarks)
  • Grasses such as Carex appressa.

Replace water-logged gardens with raised beds.

Water drains well from raised beds and raised beds have other advantages!

Raised beds are much easier to weed and it's not nearly so far down if you want to smell the violets, sniff the stocks or pick the pansies!

Improve soil condition in the water-logged area

Hydraflo2® Wetting Agent can be helpful as it promotes good drainage.