With La Niña officially declared, our lawns are going to be facing a lot (and we mean a lot) of wet weather, especially if you’re on the Australian East Coast.
While rain is always welcomed in Australia, too much rain can damage our lawns. If not managed properly, excessive rain and moisture can lead to issues like waterlogging, lawn disease, and poor grass growth.
But with the right preventative and recovery measures, you can keep your lawn looking lush, even when the weather takes a turn.
We've put together a guide on exactly what La Niña is and how you can protect your lawn so that it prevails through this wet season.
What is La Niña
Essentially, La Niña is a complex weather pattern that occurs when equatorial trade winds become stronger and push warm water towards the western side of the Pacific Ocean, resulting in increased rainfall across Australia.
Keeping in mind that no two La Niña’s are the same, we will typically see heavy rainfall, particularly across Eastern, Central and Northern Australia. It is also likely that there will be cooler daytime temperatures, more tropical cyclones and a greater chance of widespread flooding.
What prolonged rain does to your lawn
Too much rain can do some serious damage to your lawn and the soil below. When your lawn becomes waterlogged, essential nutrients for healthy root and grass growth will be lost, leaving your lawn stressed and more susceptible to weeds, pests and diseases.
Key signs of stress to look out for include drooping, brown patches in the lawn, or yellowing leaves.
Problems that your lawn can succumb to after heavy, prolonged rain include:
- Soil compaction
- Lawn grubs and/or insects
- Loss of essential nutrients
- Root damage
- Excessive weed growth
- Bacterial or fungal diseases
Get rain-ready: How to prepare your lawn for wet and wild weather?
Storm’s a-brewin’? Your lawn’s best line of defence against wet weather is having in-built resilience, proper drainage and excellent water penetration. Your lawn may still show the impacts of extreme conditions, but it will bounce back faster when the weather settles into a more consistent pattern.
Preparing your lawn for wet weather is easy. Just follow the steps below:
1.Improve drainage
Aeration is the first thing you should do to improve your lawn’s drainage. Regularly aerating your lawn allows water to absorb into the soil.
The best way to achieve this is to physically open the soil up. For smaller lawns, you can use a garden fork – drive it in around 5cm deep and gently rock the fork back and forth. Repeat around 10cm apart across the whole lawn area. For larger lawns, you can hire a lawn aerating roller or get yourself some aerator sandals and take a walk around your lawn.
2. Nourish with a good fertiliser
A strong, resilient lawn will be able to survive and, if damaged, better recover from wet and wild weather. Improving drainage is a big part of this, but the most important step is keeping your lawn well fed.
A fertilised lawn is thicker, denser and provides better protection for the roots and soil. Feeding your lawn is very simple - you just need a bag of Scotts Lawn Builder All Purpose Slow Release Lawn Fertiliser and a Scotts Spreader.
Fertilising your lawn just before rainfall is a good idea because the rain can help the fertiliser penetrate into the soil. Try to time it so that you fertilise two days before the expected rainfall.
Learn more about the benefits of a well-fed lawn here.
3. Mow regularly
Regular mowing helps promote healthy and resilient lawns by allowing sunlight, nutrients, and water to reach the soil and lawn roots. It’s particularly important when it comes to preparing for wet weather because overgrown, wet grass can hold onto moisture and create an environment for disease.
Don’t mow too short. If you do mow too short, you’ll find yourself mowing more often as the grass will push hard to regrow those essential, lost leaf blades. Ultimately this weakens the lawn too as it’s stressed by the rapid regrowth process. It also increases the likelihood of heat and cold damage as the roots lose the insulating layer of grass above them.
How to fix a soggy lawn
From soggy swamp to lush lawn, here’s how to recover your lawn after heavy rain or flooding.
1. Aerate the lawn to help it breathe
While you should keep a regular schedule for aerating your lawn throughout the year, a great time to do it is when the soil is moist from rainfall. Although you never want to aerate overly wet lawns – wait a few days instead.
Heavy rain will leave your lawn compacted, worn down and patchy. This means that the soil is compressed, and water, nutrients and air have a harder time passing through to the deeper root zone. You’ll want to decompress the soil to improve water penetration and help reduce runoff and erosion, as well as to ensure that the local water table is being topped-up.
2. Fertilise for a nutrient boost
After aeration, apply some fertiliser to your lawn to replace nutrients lost during the rainfall or flooding. The soil’s pH may have changed due to the rain, so assess your soil using a soil pH test kit. Adjust your fertiliser choice based on the results – pick the right fertiliser to rebalance your soil’s pH levels.
4. Ditch the mower
Don’t cut the grass when wet. This can lead to a host of fungal problems and make an awful mess as clippings clump together. You also risk damaging soil, as wet soil is more prone to compaction, leaving unsightly wheel ruts and tracks.
Wait until the water has completely soaked into the soil and the grass has completely dried out. Touch the grass to check that it’s dry and don’t forget to check shady areas too.
3. Treat disease
Heavy rain creates the perfect conditions for bacteria, fungi, and disease to thrive. Common lawn diseases and fungal infections include Brown Patch, Dollar Spot and Fairy Ring. Keep an eye out for signs of lawn disease like brown or yellow patches, thinning grass, mushrooms, mould, or dark spots on the grass leaves.
Prevention is better than cure when it comes to treating disease and mould in lawns. Healthy resilient lawns will bounce back better and faster than unhealthy lawns. But if you suspect your lawn has a disease, remove the affected area by raking up and disposing of any dead or diseased grass. Your next steps will depend on the disease. For lawn fungus, use a suitable fungicide to stop the spread. For moss in lawns, use a moss killer with iron sulphate.
So a little planning and care and your lawn will be better able to survive virtually anything that comes its way, even La Niña!
