How To Care for Your Lawn After Heavy Rain

Rain is good for turf, right? Although regular rain can do wonders for our gardens, and especially our lawns, when we have a consistent downpour, it can cause serious problems. In 2024, the UK experienced prolonged periods of rain, with some areas receiving more than 190mm in one month. This amount can lead to water pooling, soil compaction, damage to grass roots, and lawn waterlogging. All of which can impact the health, resilience, and appearance of your lawn.

This article highlights the common lawn issues caused by heavy rain, but most importantly, it discusses how to resolve them, bringing your lawn back to life and making it look as good as new.

Risks To Your Lawn During Rainy Seasons

Whether it’s April showers or an unexpected downpour, too much rain can cause numerous problems for our turf. Here are some of the most common lawn issues due to rain:

Suffocation – Pools of water on top of your lawn’s surface can prevent oxygen, sunlight and nutrients from reaching the grass roots, ultimately suffocating and killing them.

Dead roots – Too much water can block the vital gaps in the soil. This leads to soil compaction, which stops the air supply from reaching the roots – halting their growth or, in the worst case, killing them.

Discolouration – This is a sign of water stress, and your grass is screaming for help! You’ll most likely spot yellow or brown patches where your grass is suffocating and struggling to access nutrients.

Weakened grass – Heavy and consistent rainfall can dislodge and dilute your soil, removing essential nutrients. This can result in thinning and frail grass that struggles to grow and looks unhealthy.

Fungus – Sodden soil or water pooling can become a breeding ground for lawn fungus. As your grassroots rot due to excessive water, fungus thrives, destroying your grass or turning it a nasty yellow colour.

Weed growth – with rainfall damaging healthy grass, this makes room for weeds to take over. Weeds are incredibly resilient; even torrential rain won’t kill them off!

Quick Fixes for Water-Damaged Lawns

Your main goal is to put preventative measures in place to protect your lawn from future downpours. We’ll go into this further in the article, but for now, we wanted to highlight how you can help your lawn immediately after heavy rainfall.

Avoid walking on saturated soil – This can cause further damage, breaking already weakened grass. You’ll also leave deep footprints across your lawn, creating an uneven surface and providing more opportunities for water to pool.

Clear large debris – Heavy rainfall is often paired with strong winds, which means you may have broken branches or fallen hedges across your lawn. These should be cleared straight away to allow healing sunlight to reach your lawn.

Rake up smaller debris – Fallen leaves should also be cleared off your lawn. If left, they can create microclimates for fungi to thrive and prevent sunlight and oxygen from reaching your grass and roots.

Never mow – It seems obvious, but avoid mowing your lawn after lots of rain. Your soil will be extremely soft, and your mower will churn up your soil and grass, causing further damage. Wait until the ground has dried, and make sure your first cut is on a higher setting.

Assess The Damage

First things first, you need to understand what you’re dealing with. Once the rain has stopped, walk around our lawn and look for the following signs of lawn damage and how you can repair them.

Pooled Water

Pools of water will appear in low dips or divots where water collects. If there’s poor drainage, water will sit on the surface. This can cause root rot and prevent oxygen from reaching the roots if left unaddressed.

The Fix: Using a garden fork, spike holes deep into the soil. This will help break up compacted soil and form channels for the water to drain into. You should also apply topsoil and grass seed to level out these areas, preventing water from collecting in the future.

Waterlogged Lawns

Waterlogged lawns are the extreme version of water pooling. Where water pools on the surface of the ground and eventually soaks through. Waterlogging indicates that the soil beneath is saturated, and you can tell by the soft, sticky texture of the soil. This can be due to soil compaction, poor drainage or both.

The Fix: Aeration can often resolve a waterlogged lawn, but in severe cases, you may need to dig a ditch at the edge of your lawn for the water to drain away. For more top tips on waterlogged lawns, read our blog on preventing my lawn from being waterlogged.

Soil Erosion

This is a common problem for sloped gardens, as soil can be dislodged with the force of the rain and damage your turf. Not only can this create areas of exposed soil, but you may also notice piles of soil across your lawn where it has collected. Exposed soil is at risk of weed invasion, while piles of soil prevent oxygen and sunlight from reaching your healthy turf.

The Fix: Remove large piles of soil or rake over smaller piles, making sure the grass blades are coming through. With bald patches, grass seed and fertilise the area to encourage and repair growth.

Grass Discolouration

If you start noticing yellow or pale green patches across your lawn, this may indicate areas with water stress. This is where the roots are saturated or damaged and do not get the goodness they need.

The Fix: Depending on the time of year, use a spring/summer or autumn/winter fertiliser to give your lawn a much-needed injection of goodness. Fertiliser will strengthen your grass over the winter months, encouraging healthy growth and vibrant colours in the spring.

General Lawn Care Tips After Heavy Rain

If your lawn has survived the latest storm, that’s great! This means the lawn was correctly laid, and a robust root system was established to maintain healthy grass. However, it always helps to give it a helping hand, especially after such severe weather. Once the ground is fully dry, take some time to complete these lawn care tasks to boost your grass.

Aerate – Using a garden fork, spike holes down into your soil. Do this across your lawn, focusing on areas that particularly struggled. Aerating breaks up any compacted soil, creating more holes for oxygen to flow and water to drain.

Fertilise – This is a great opportunity to add some extra goodness to your lawn, as many key nutrients will have been diluted with the rain. Depending on the time of year, use an autumn/winter or spring/summer fertiliser to restore your grass’s strength and encourage healthy growth.

Spot treatment – If you notice particular areas of your lawn struggling with the rain, prioritise these. Seeding these areas can help encourage grass growth and refill any bare patches where grass may have died.

Weed – As we mentioned, heavy rain is no problem for weeds. In fact, they love it! You will probably notice an invasion of weeds after rainfall. Don’t let them get carried away and start weeding as soon as possible. If there are bald patches, add grass seed, reducing the available space for weeds to grow.

Preparing For Future Rainfall

The good news is that there are lots of things you can do to protect your lawn from future rainfall. If you live in the UK, this is probably a good idea! Here are our top tips to get your lawn ready for heavy showers.

• Take note of areas that were impacted before
• Use topsoil to level areas where water previously pooled
• Install additional drainage where possible
• Aerate your lawn to enhance drainage into your soil
• Invest in a water butt – think of how much water you’ll collect and can reuse in the summer!

Speak to the Experts

For any more queries on maintaining and caring for your turf, no matter the weather, get in touch with our friendly customer service team.