countering the effects of over-watering

[mjteigen]

it's been raining hard and continuously for a while. the weather service has put out flood warnings.

i have some drought-tolerant perennials (vinca) that don't like over-watering. is there anything i can or should do after this storm is over to help them out?

oddly, i was thinking that watering them might be a good idea. i remember a torrential rain some years back, and the vinca looking sort of shriveled and unhappy a few days afterwards. i gave it a quick watering, and it seemed to perk up.

what's the best way to deal with the effects of excessive rain on outdoor plants?

[opabinia51]

I don't know about dealing with them afterwards but, what you can do in your yard beforehand is dig some berms with trenches on the upslope side of the berm filled with straw and some leave then gravel then some leaves and finally some soil. These will trap water and help to hold it in the soil for long term storage. And keep it away from your plants that can't tolerate large amounts of water.

Also, use deep mulching around your yard by digging trenches and filling them with leaves and various greens (manure, grass clippings, seedless weeds and so on) Also, use sheet or lasagna composting. This will hold onto the water for storage into the summer.

You can design your berms, trenches and deep mulching so that they shunt water away from some of your plants.

And as far as your water logged plants are concerned, I would just let them be for now. Plants are usually pretty resistant and will probably weather the storm.

Any other ideas?

[jaminsgirl]

I planted some columbines in an area that ended up completely flooded shortly afterwards. Now that the area is drying out, I have "sticks" in the dirt - no flowers and hardly any leaves. Do I just give up on them, or will they come back? Does anyone know?

[TheLorax]

Any part of the plant that is green is still photosynthesizing so you've still got a shot. This question just came up in another thread. Although you're dealing with herbaceous perennials whilst the other member is dealing with a tree, I believe the philosophy would be the same-
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=37369&highlight=#37369

I'm not saying it works for me every time but I've had plants that have bounced back from death that have definitely surprised me.

I'd be very interested learning what others are doing. Seasonal flooding is increasingly becoming an issue in my area.