Dry summer then rain: Garden Drainage Drama

Are you sick of seeing your garden turn into a soggy wetland every time it rains lately? After a long, dry summer, heavy rain isn't going to just go away when it hits your lawn. The good news is that, with the help of some handy Wellington plumbers tips, you'll be able to recede that water and enjoy your garden without wading into it! 

When water sits in your garden for hours (sometimes days) after rainfall, you can blame poor Wellington garden drainage. It's a common landscaping problem, and one that can and should be fixed. 

'Should be fixed'...why? 

Soggy lawns are a bit of a health and safety hazard. Some of the issues you will be dealing with after rainfall if your lawns suffer from poor drainage are as follows: 

An abundance of mosquitoes 

As their eggs are laid and hatched in the pooling water in your garden. After rain, warmth from the sun heats the pooling water and hatches the eggs...hello bug bites! 

Unusable grass

When your grass is a soaked, soggy sponge, you won't be able to safely park any cars or trailers without destroying your lawn with tire tracks. Oh, and depending how bad things get, your car could actually get stuck! Not ideal when you're in a rush to get to work, right? 

Root rot

Like us, plants love a good drink of water...but not a good 'drowning' of water. Turf grass and several common species of kiwi garden plants will suffer root rot when succumbing to too much water for too long; they simply aren't able to grow in saturated soil due to the lack of oxygen.  

Moss, on the other hand, thrives in these conditions. If you've ever seen a garden with a higher moss-to-grass ratio, that's a sure way to tell that said lawn doesn't drain in the rain. 
A common landscaping problem associated with poor lawn drainage is that most plants are not adapted to water clogged soils.

Compromised house foundations 

If water after rainfall is pooling around the perimeter of your house and its foundations then you might have some seriously pricey Wellington plumbing issues on your hands. When the foundations of your homes are saturated due to poorly drained Wellington gardens, issues such as cracks. buckling walls, and mold are on the table. 


What can your Wellington plumber do to help? 

​Any garden in Wellington can have a hard time absorbing excessive quantities of water. In the CBD and surrounding suburbs, most of the space is covered by buildings and materials that are not permeable to water, so rain trickles down to wherever it can. If you're situated at the bottom of a steep hill, this can amplify the amount of water being drawn into your garden. 

If your lawn is surrounded by large roofs and driveways emptying rain water in the same direction, and if all that water ends up on your garden, it’s no wonder that lawn drainage is an issue! Diverting excess water away from your garden is an excellent way to fix most, if not all your Wellington plumbing problems in the garden department! 


The team at Maxey Plumbing Wellington are adept at solving all your Wellington plumbing emergencies and issues, both indoors and outdoors. Got a garden that drowns every time it rains? Give our team a call for a plumbing inspection today!