Many parts of the world, including the UK experience heavy rains now and then. Although rain can help irrigate plants and trees, too much can also be harmful. If you have a few trees around your property, and you’ve been taking care of them for a while now, you should also be aware of the things you should do after heavy rains and other natural disasters.
For instance, if your area doesn’t often encounter heavy rain, it’s possible to experience it anytime soon, especially since the weather is becoming more unpredictable due to climate change. So, you should be prepared if you have to deal with the aftermath of heavy rain.
In this article, we’ll give you some tips on how to take care of and help your trees recover after the damage done by heavy rains.
1. Assess the Damage
The first thing you should do after a heavy rain is assess the tree damage. You should look for weak branches, tree trunks, and other dangerous effects that can cause accidents. After that, plan on how you can manage cleaning and removing the debris.
As you know, managing your yard without any plans may result in accidents and further damage to the plants and trees. Besides, it’s not the trees and plants that you should assess. You should also look at the exterior of your house and other structures. If you think some parts need to be fixed, then you should do it first.
2. Prune Damaged and Weak Branches
After assessing the trees, it’s time to remove the weak and dead branches. However, if you don’t know how to prune properly, you can ask your local arborist to do it for you. In addition, you can let them assess the trees themselves to see if they would offer tree removal instead of simple pruning.
As experts, they know the actual state of trees and can recommend the most ideal service to ensure your safety and keep your trees healthy.
Meanwhile, if you’re planning to do the pruning yourself, you shouldn’t overdo it. Keep in mind that you still need to leave some branches on the tree to let them recover by themselves.
3. Check Soil Quality
Heavy rains can also cause waterlogging of the soil, which can significantly impact the health of trees and other plants. Although it seems like soil is compact, the should have enough space so that roots can breathe enough oxygen. If not, they’ll die.
So, if you think the soil around the trees is more compact than before, you should use a garden fork to loosen up the soil. After that, don’t forget to add mulch around the base of the trees. However, make sure to avoid mulching on the trunk since it can cause trees to rot.
4. Support Weak Trees
Some trees can be too young or too thin to hold itself during heavy rains. When this happens, make sure to add support to these leaning trees. While doing so, you can use ropes, and other materials that can help support leaning trees.
On the other hand, if the problem is that the roots become exposed, don’t wait for too long to call for professional help or tree removal services. The more you prolong the roots being exposed, the higher the chance that the tree won’t survive.
5. Observe for Pests and Diseases
In some cases, heavy rains can carry various pests and diseases from other trees. In addition, your trees can be prone to attracting them since they’re not in their best shape. So, once you’re able to check the status of your trees, be sure to look for possible since of pests and diseases, and take the appropriate measures to prevent them from spreading.
Meanwhile, there are other circumstances when the since are shown a few days after a tree becomes infected, so don’t forget to observe even if you didn’t see anything right after the heavy rain.
6. Water Wisely
Since the trees have experienced too much supply of water, you won’t need to water them right away. Besides, even if they just absorb enough water, and you irrigate right away, there’s a higher chance that you’ll create a problem that you don’t have in the first place.
Instead, keep monitoring the trees and soil, and just water them when they need to. Meanwhile, if you’re not sure whether the soil is still wet, you can dig around 10 inches from the ground. If the soil is still wet, then there’s no need to water.
7. Plan for the Future
If you often experience heavy rains in your area, you should have a more doable plan for the future. Some of these may include planting more resilient tree species, scheduling proper tree maintenance, and regular professional check-ups.
As you know, trees provide various benefits to humans, the environment, and other species, so they should be well taken care of.
Final Thoughts
Knowing the right things to do to take care of trees after heavy rains can ensure the long-term health and safety of the people and properties. By incorporating these tips into your usual heavy rain aftermath routine, you can guarantee your trees will live long.
If you want to add more to this list or share your experience in dealing with trees after natural disasters, don’t hesitate to comment below!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aliana Baraquio is a web content writer working for Sydney Tree Solutions, a company that provides tree removal and arborist services throughout Sydney. As a writer, she is passionate about providing good quality articles that help readers make the right choice.
