MINTER: Continuous wet weather an opportunity to correct gardens

Published 3:00 pm Wednesday, December 24, 2025

During this period of continuous, excessive rainfall, our hearts go out to the many farmers and homeowners who have suffered heavy losses. These extreme weather patterns are a result of our changing climate, and we really need to be aware of how damaging this situation can also be for our home gardens. It means we need to change the way we grow plants. As more people are starting to produce their own food crops, they need to know how important location is, especially for fruits and berries.

The folks at a major greenhouse supply company told me that many of their customers are gardeners who want to expand their food-growing capabilities. They want a longer growing season in a controlled environment where weather is less of a factor. As a matter of fact, controlled-environment agriculture is becoming a far more significant topic of discussion among Canadian agricultural and gardening communities and is a serious factor in regard to successfully growing our food.

When we have so much wet weather, we should go into our gardens and check a few things. If water is sitting in any area, it’s a clear indication that the drainage in that spot needs to be improved.

In smaller spaces, it may not be possible to drain the water away. So water won’t accumulate there again, it may require digging a pit, filling it with drain rock and covering it with landscape fabric before replacing the soil.

Heavy, wet soils that persist in holding water need to be opened up by working in fine fir bark mulch or fir sawdust to allow for better drainage. Reducing the level of saturation in these areas will dramatically improve the growth of so many vegetables and other plants.

Raised garden beds are another way of combatting this problem, and they are becoming far more important today. The soil in raised beds is warmer, allowing for an earlier start to the growing season, and raised beds also help manage the amount of moisture in the soil because water can drain away far more quickly – two factors that will make a significant difference in your gardening season. However, if you aren’t doing any winter gardening, and the soil in your raised beds or containers is going to sit exposed until spring, I suggest covering them with plastic to prevent the soil from becoming supersaturated.

If your fruit, flowering or shade plants are sitting in water, you need to correct that situation as soon as possible, either with better drainage or water diversion. Even your flowering shrubs won’t tolerate wet feet over an extended period.

This continuous wet weather gives us the opportunity to assess and correct any problem areas in our gardens. It’s important that we take the necessary steps as soon as possible.