Q: I have a low area in my yard. It floods periodically sometimes a few hours up to a few days. I can’t seem to get anything to grow there. What can I do?
A: Trying to correct your drainage problem will be best. Waterlogged soils push out oxygen that roots need to survive.
Every living cell in a plant must have oxygen or it dies. Some plants have mechanisms to provide oxygen to the roots even under saturated conditions, but most vegetables and flowers do not. The longer plants are subjected to saturated soils, the more likely damage will occur.
Usually, as long as water drains within 24 hours, the impact on plant health is minimal. However, shallow, stagnant water under hot, sunny conditions can literally cook plants, reducing survival time to as little as a few hours.
Under the cool conditions of early spring, turfgrasses often can survive several days of flooding. However, during hot, sunny conditions with shallow, stagnant water, lawns may be damaged quickly, sometimes in a few hours. This situation often occurs when shallow depressions in a lawn allow water to pool. Note such areas and fill in with additional soil once the waters have subsided.
Trees differ markedly in their ability to withstand flooding. Some trees have mechanisms in place to provide oxygen to the roots of plants with water-saturated soils, and others do not. However, most trees will maintain health if floodwaters recede in seven days or less.
It also helps if water is flowing rather than stagnant because flowing water contains more oxygen.
If the roots of sensitive trees are flooded for long periods of time, damage will occur including leaf drop, iron chlorosis, leaf curl, branch dieback and, in some cases, tree death.
Try to avoid additional stress to the trees this growing season. Ironically, one of the most important practices is to water trees if the weather turns dry. Flooding damages roots, making the root system less efficient in making use of available soil water. Timely watering is vital to a tree’s recovery.
Flood-tolerant trees can survive one growing season under flooded conditions. These include:
Red maple, silver maple, pecan, hackberry, persimmon, white ash, green ash, sweetgum, sycamore, eastern cottonwood, pin oak and baldcypress.
Trees moderately tolerant of flooding can survive 30 consecutive days under flooded conditions. These include:
River birch, downy hawthorn, honeylocust, swamp white oak, southern red oak, bur oak, willow oak and American elm.
For more information contact the OSU Extension Center, 14001 Acme Road in Shawnee at 273-7683.
