8 Things You Should Always Do in Your Yard After It Rains

Here’s how to put rainwater to good use in your garden and prevent it from causing damage to your yard and home.

Rainwater can be a useful resource. But sometimes, a lot of rain can impact yards with standing water, floods, and drainage issues. You can minimize rain’s negative effects by evaluating how water runoff and drainage occur around your yard. Then you can take measures to protect your property and divert excess water for other uses. Here are 8 things to do in your yard after it rains to get the most out of rainwater and prevent damage to your home and garden.

Related: 4 Lawn Care Tasks You Should Never Do After It Rains (Plus 2 You Should Do)

1. Check for Pooling Water

After a rain, walk around your property to check for any drainage issues. If you’re consistently faced with a soggy yard from pooling water, note where you can slow down or redirect the movement of storm water. One way to fix pooling water is to make a rain garden to catch and filter runoff.

A rain garden helps reduce water pollution and makes your yard more colorful with a combination of border plants, native plants, and grasses. Rain runoff can be redirected toward a rain garden with drainage pipes, depressed pathways, or sloped areas.

Related: 14 Pretty Perennial Plants that Like Wet Soil

2. Ensure Gutters and Downspouts Drain Properly

When heavy rains overflow your gutters, it’s a sure sign that debris, such as leaves, sticks, or dirt, has become trapped in the gutter. The overflow can cause water damage to your home’s roof, siding, and foundation. If you notice overflowing gutters, clear any blockages to ensure rainwater drains quickly from your roof and into the gutter system during the next rain storm. Also check that downspouts are in good condition and directing water away from the house.

Tips

If clogged gutters are an ongoing issue, consider installing gutter guards to prevent debris from entering the gutter system.

3. Check Plants Near Downspouts

The area around your downspouts can become saturated after heavy rains. This extra moisture can make the soil too soggy for many types of plants. If the plants near your downspouts are waterlogged and droopy, replace them with plants that thrive on plenty of moisture and tolerate occasionally soggy soil.

4. Repair Bare Soil Areas

Fast-moving storm water can wash away soil and mulch, leaving areas in your yard bare and rutted. Wherever this occurs, rake back as much soil and mulch as you can. Add more mulch to exposed soil if needed, and look for ways to slow down and redirect water from the area to avoid further erosion. If possible, add plants such as groundcovers to help hold soil in place, or add a layer of gravel if the area can’t be planted.

5. Pull or Dig Out Weeds

Weeds are easier to pull up when soil is moist, so the day after a rain can be a good day to get your weeding done. However, if conditions are muddy or soggy, wait until soil has a chance to dry out a little more to avoid a mucky mess and compacting your soil.

Related: Shoppers Say Amazon’s Best-Selling Weeding Tools ‘Slice Weeds Down Like Butter’

6. Use Your Rain Barrel

If you’re using a rain barrel to collect and store rainwater until you can use it, check it after a rain to make sure it’s not overflowing. If it is, look into hooking up a diverter for your downspout that will stop filling the barrel once it’s full, and instead send rainwater out the spout. Or you can link multiple rain barrels together to help contain the excess. Use your fresh rainwater on garden beds and container plants, helping to reduce your water bill.

7. Empty Your Rain Gauge

Accurately measure how much precipitation your yard gets with a rain gauge by remembering to empty it after every rainfall. You can use this data to give your plants the right amount of supplemental water between rain showers. The general rule of thumb is one inch of water per week, so if your gauge shows less than that, you know that you likely need to break out your hose or sprinklers.

Related: The 7 Best Rain Gauges of 2024 to Keep Your Garden Thriving

8. Empty Standing Water

An easy way to prevent mosquitoes from invading your yard is to eliminate standing water where they lay eggs. After a rain, you should always empty items that collect water in your yard, such as pot saucers, trash cans, deck furniture, and yard toys. Go ahead and dump out your bird bath too, then add clean water.

Related: How to Install Drainage Around a Patio to Avoid Standing Water

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