7 Tips For Landscape Gardeners To Prepare For An Impending Storm
BMNL
No matter where you live, and how agreeable the prevailing climate and daily weather might be, there is always the risk of a storm hitting your location, and when you are aware of such an impending storm then there are several actions you must take to protect your landscaping. This is especially the case versus normal gardens given that landscaped gardens are likely to have more features, furniture, and plants, plus it is also an investment that you want to protect.
We appreciate that there are different types of storms and where you live will dictate which of them is the more prevalent be that rainstorms, thunderstorms, snowstorms, or storms where the winds are extremely destructive. It is the latter of these that our advice mainly focuses on, although it should go without saying that no matter what type of storm is forecast for your area, you must take some action to ensure no or at least minimal damage to your landscaped garden.
Tip #1 – Bring Everything Movable Inside
The simplest and most obvious step you can take to protect your landscaped garden from an approaching storm is to bring inside anything which is not fixed and thus movable. Even if an item in question is relatively heavy, remember storms have been known to lift an entire house off the ground, so a heavy piece of garden furniture is certainly not immune to the risk.
Tip #2 – Reinforce The Fixtures
Fixtures refer to everything that is fixed such as fencing, walls and fixed decorative features. Given the damage they could do to other items in your landscaped garden should they be blown over, including the plants, you should do what you can to reinforce them, especially those sections which you fear are exposed or not as strong as others.
Tip #3 – Trim Large Plants And Tree Branches
Given that large branches can be extremely dangerous and destructive projectiles should they break away during strong winds, it is best practice to trim these should you be given notice of an approaching storm. If you make trimming large branches part of your normal landscaped garden’s maintenance then this should be less of a task before a storm.
Tip #4 – Wrap Large Bushes And Vegetables
Whilst larger plants will have bigger and stronger root systems and thus be more able to withstand strong winds, what is above the soil is somewhat less secure given they are exposed to the elements. If a large storm is approaching, you can help to protect larger bushes, vegetables, and other plants by wrapping their leaves with hessian fabric and securing this with twine.
Tip #5 – Create Barriers
If you have plants that are especially exposed and vulnerable to being damaged by high winds then you could choose to create barriers adjacent to them for protection. These could be constructed using either strong aluminium sheets or sandbags
Tip #6 – Turn Off The Irrigation System
One of the dangers within landscaped gardens during a storm is that the irrigation system gets damaged and as a result, the garden gets flooded, not just from torrential rain but also water flowing from a pipe broken by flying or falling debris, for example. As such, turn off your irrigation system before the storm arrives.
Tip #7 – Add A Layer Of Mulch
What a layer of mulch can do is provide an additional layer of protection to the soil in your landscaped garden to prevent the soil from being washed away when there is extreme rainfall. For areas that experience extreme temperature lows, mulch also insulates soil to prevent it from freezing which would otherwise create a risk to the plants in that soil.
