Waterlogging (of gardens) in the N?

I've been told by someone in the N (Leeds) that they have had so much rain recently that the plants are dieing? Specifically willow (leaves going yellow) plus other unidentified plants.

This doesn't sound likely to me, as I haven't heard this from anywhere else (it's very much the kind of thing the media would have jumped on!) and wondered if anyone on here could confirm or deny it. Of course it could be a very localised microclimate affecting this particular person's garden as there are fairly major differences even in my own village between what is doing well and what isn't right now.

 

Plants die due to waterlogging, there's no shock there i dont think. Plant's die from drought aswell as too much water.
I dont think there's a story here not unless its a sign of the impending armageddon !!

G

 

I meant does anyone know if they have genuinely had that much rain there? I know there's been quite a bit of rain in the north, but surely you'd need a massive amnt to cause a willow to suffer from waterlogging. I'm wondering if she is mistakenly attributing its ill health to the rain, which is why I hoped someone from the Leeds area could reply and either say yes or no! Previously she was saying it was so dry that bottoms of ponds were visible so I think that the roots suffered then and she is seeing the results of the dry period now, but is assuming it is due to the rain.

 

Well i'm not from Leeds but live in East yorkshire....I can confirm that it has 'persistantley' poured down since Oooh erm....2010....i'm lying again....but that's what it feels like...again the lawn is more than saturated but all my plants look in pretty good nick....they learnt to swim at an early age

 

I'm in the north west AkkaN and I can confirm what the person's saying. This is our third wet summer on the trot and this last year until now has been abysmal! The rain has been almost endless with the exception of two weeks of sun in April. There's been no snow here in the winters either, just more rain.

Plant's are way behind. Although they've grown very tall they are slow coming into flower and only yesterday I picked up three tall poppies (Papaver) that had collapsed having rotted through the base of the stems. My Escallonia hedge is not doing to well either as they prefer it dryer. I garden on a free draining, coastal sandy soil and it's very unusual for plants to actually rot.

The only things that are enjoying this weather are my lawns, growing well, but can't get out there to mow them.

 

No just there, we've got acres & acres of dead fields, grazing and crops. Even a willow will suffer if its got no air at all round the roots. The decomposition down here has been anerobic, the oxygen has been depleted from the water and it stinks.

 

http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Far...vastate-life/story-16338047-detail/story.html

 

I'm in Leeds. I think it depends where you are and what the micro conditions are. But yeah, it's pretty much rained every day for the last two weeks. Today it actually has not stopped raining. My gardens ok but feels like everything is about 3 weeks behind.

If you're in an area that gets waterlogged, yes I could foresee problems. But nothing on a scale that's newsworthy re plants dying!

 

It does all look a bit more serious now as the rain continues to fall and saturate land and consequently plants. Here in N.Wales there is a serious amount of surface water around as grounds are at saturation point.
In my garden, flowers such as cosmos and poppies are losing their petals as they just get soaked with no sun to dry them out after they have flowered. And poppies are also rotting at the stems as mentioned above.
All my containers/pots are coping though as I always make a point of providing good drainage. Plastic pots are easy to keep drained as they are easy to hole. Ceramic pots are a bit more difficult, but I always put a couple more holes in the bottom, and an overflow hole or two near the top in some pots in case the bottom drainage does fail. I use a drill bit made for cutting tiles which goes easily through the glazing and through the clay.
I never use small gravel in the bottom of these containers but always use much larger stone, typically used for hard core. Even then, roots may block the drainage holes and if the pot is sitting directly on the floor it will flood. Again, buying pot feet can be expensive for all my pots so I just put 4 of the stones I use for drainage under each pot to lift it off the ground. This might all seem excessive but in this present weather I'm glad I made the effort and I've never had a pot flood yet.
Here's hoping things improve
gazania

 

Just think, for the past 20 years the powers that know everything have been preparing us for drought......................now they are preparing us for flood.
Wet and warm winters spell catastophy now we have had a few cold and snowy ones that's also due to climate change.
The powers that be bang on about the "average". Is there any weather around the world that is "average" ?

You cant win !!!! Or is it me just be Grinchy

 

I see what you mean, but I think they haven't been preparing for either. Far better to take our money and not actually spend it on infrastructure, as that maximises profit.

It occurs to me that if the government and the water boards really wanted to make our great nation immune to the problems that arise from our unpredictable weather, then there's a very simple thing they could do that would have a massive impact.

What if, the government and the water companies teamed up, and through a combination of new legislation, plus subsidies etc, you get a system in place whereby all new builds, plus any major renovations have to have rain water storage facilities. Then because the developers would whine about the extra cost (of a couple of hundred quid, which they just stick on the final price anyway), the government and water companies counter by giving them 50% of the cost of installing such water collection and storage kit.

Then on top of that, when you get ordinary people like me, living in an older house, the gov offers a grant to me for 80% of the cost of such kit, then what you end up with is a situation where during drought, we don't have to worry about hosepipe bans, and during this horrid soggy weather, less water is entering the drainage network, which means less flooding (as we know that many flash floods happen when the drainage network is overwhelmed, and the water suddenly bubbles up out of the drain covers and fills the streets with mucky water).

 

Pestilence next? !!

 

What's the weather like up north I hear you ask?

Here's our local weather forecast.

 

Ive had loads of aphid this year, does that count