5 garden chores to do after a heavy rain

After a heavy rain, there are a handful of garden chores you will want to do before the soil dries out again.

#1. Weed

The moisture in the soil makes weeding so much easier than after a week of dry weather. The soil is soft and you have a better chance of pulling the whole root out.

#2. Deadhead

After a heavy rain, some perennials and annuals may need to be cut back if they were damaged or flattened. And any spent flowers can be trimmed off.

Gerber daisies – deadhead spent flowers and they will rebloom all summer long

#3. Check for wet spots

Area that are slow to drain and stay wet for days after a storm need special attention. If this area is up against your house foundation, you may need to reroute your gutters or install a French drain.

If it is a spot you would like to plant, you will need to choose wet-tolerant plants. Many trees, shrubs, and perennials can thrive with “wet feet” (like river birch, dappled willows, Ligularia, Siberian iris, Chelone, and the ground cover Lysimachia.)

#4. Plant

Again, the moisture in the soil makes digging easy. After you’ve cleared out the weeds and deadheaded spent flowers, you will see spaces in your garden that need color.

When you visit the nursery, the perennials and shrubs blooming now are the plants that will bloom at this time every year. Shopping and planting throughout the season this year is a way to guarantee continuous color for years to come.

Show-stopping lupines will spread by seed and naturalize in your garden

If you have a young garden and you are waiting for perennials and shrubs to grow to their mature size, you can fill in holes just for the summer with annuals.

#5. If you haven’t already, lay down a 2″ to 3″ layer of mulch. Mulch helps retain the moisture in the soil during the hot dry spells that can happen throughout the summer.