If you live in a rainy area, or just had a big storm, the chances are that your lawn looks terrible.
The soil is waterlogged. The grass is also soggy. Worse than these, a wet lawn is susceptible to pests like mosquitoes that are dangerous to your family’s health.
Here are some proactive and practical steps you can take to dry out your wet lawn as quickly as possible—rather than to let it dry on.
For those situations, there are some steps you can take to dry out your wet lawn as quickly as possible because we all know that having a wet lawn is bad for the grass and also makes it more susceptible to pests such as mosquitoes.
It’s not hard to see why many homeowners don’t even bother mowing their lawns when it’s wet outside.
But while you may be tempted to give up on your lawn for the rest of the month, it pays to take some proactive steps towards drying out wet soil rather than waiting for it to dry out on its own.
Determine the Cause of Your Problem First
Before you get started, the first thing to do is try and determine why your lawn is so soggy.
Is it because of a lack of sunlight? Or maybe the soil is clay and doesn’t drain very well.
Once you know what’s causing your lawn to stay soggy, you can focus on the problem area rather than trying to fix everything at once.
Luckily, there are many different methods for drying out a wet lawn.
These methods include improving drainage, aerating the soil, and adding organic compost or mulch.
Each method works best depending on what type of ground you have and how much time you can dedicate to it each week.
In this article, we will go over 7 proven ways for getting rid of puddles so that your yard looks great again!
Here are 7 DIY Methods for Drying Wet Lawns
1. Improve Your Soil’s Drainage
One of the simplest ways to dry out a wet lawn is by improving your soil’s drainage so that it can absorb more water during rainfall.
With improved drainage, there will be fewer puddles on your lawn after a hard rain.
Since less water will accumulate in one spot due to the drainage holes, the excess water will flow from one area of your lawn to another.
To improve your soil drainage, try digging a few holes or trenches in different areas of your lawn. The holes don’t need to be very big, and you can always fill them back up after.
For a better chance of success, make sure that your holes and trenches are located underneath the areas where you usually see the biggest puddles after heavy rain.
2. Aerate Your Soil
There are many advantages to aerating your soil. But if you want to reduce puddles in your lawn after a rainstorm, this is one of the best ways.
When you aerate your soil, you are effectively creating more space for water to flow through it. This means that instead of forming massive puddles, the water will flow through your soil more quickly.
Typically aerating your soil involves using a machine with metal spikes that will be driven vertically into your soil.
However, this process is rarely performed by homeowners unless their yard is too large to manage.
So if you have a smaller yard, it is best to hire someone who has aeration equipment to come over and do the job for you.
3. Add Organic Compost to Your Soil
If you’re looking for a cheap and easy way to dry out your wet soil, you can also try adding organic compost to your soil.
Organic compost is great for mulching because it’s an organic material.
It not only promotes healthy soil, but it also has a drying effect.
In order to add organic compost to your soil, you will need to do some measuring.
You’ll need to add a 1-inch layer of compost to the top 6 inches of soil in your yard.
It will not only allow water to drain more easily, but will also help reduce soil compaction.
4. Soak Up Water With A Towel
This is a somewhat unconventional method for drying out your wet lawns, yet it’s also one of the most effective.
To do this, you have to lay down a large towel on top of your lawn when it is wet outside.
This will effectively soak up all of the water in your lawn, which means fewer puddles in your yard after a hard rain.
The downside to this method is that it will be incredibly time-consuming for you since you will have to lay down a towel on top of your lawn multiple times per week.
Therefore, this is not a viable method for short-term solutions since it requires such frequent attention.
In any case, if you’d like to eliminate puddles on your lawn after a rainstorm, this is a great way to go about it.
5. Towel Method
This method shakes off as much excess moisture from your lawn as possible.
Lay towels over the top of the grass, ensuring that there are no overlapping folds.
Place bricks or small rocks on top of the towels to keep them in place.
Leave them there overnight. Remove them in the morning.
The towel method is one of the fastest ways to dry wet soil. It works by allowing moisture to evaporate through the towels while simultaneously absorbing more moisture from the soil.
Therefore, the towels will effectively soak up all of the water that your lawn has accumulated. This will prevent puddles from forming.
6. Blow It Out with Air
The first thing you can do for a wet lawn is to use a common household item such as a leaf blower or even a fan to blow the water off of the soil.
This works great for small areas of wet grass. It will allow the water to dry out fairly quickly. This method is quick, easy, and doesn’t cost anything so it’s a great place to start.
7. Dissipate the Water with a Tarp
If you don’t have anything like a leaf blower, you can use a tarp or large plastic sheet to remove water from your lawn.
Drag the tarp over the wet areas and the water will drain through it.
However, the downside of this method is that you have to be outside and on your hands and knees. But if done correctly, the water should drain through the tarp rather quickly.
Benefits of Drying Out your Wet Lawn
1. Faster Growth
If you have a wet lawn, the roots of your grass will not be able to grow as deep because it takes time for a plant to soak up water from the soil.
Consequently, if the soil is wet for a long period of time, lawn growth will be restricted.
However, if you are able to dry out your lawn quickly, then the roots will have no problem growing deeper, which means greener and healthier grass.
2. Prevents Disease And Other Issues
If you have wet soil for an extended period of time, then there is a much higher chance that your lawn will develop a disease or other problems.
3. Stop Mosquitoes Breeding
Additionally, if you have a wet lawn, the water in it becomes stagnant.
This could cause mosquitoes to breed and make your lawn a breeding ground for mosquito larvae.
Therefore, drying out your lawn will reduce or eliminate the risk of mosquitoes breeding on your property.
4. Eliminate Puddles
This can be one of the biggest reasons for wanting to dry out your lawn quickly.
If you live in an area where your lawn will develop puddles each time that it rains, then you can save yourself a lot of unnecessary work and hassle.
5. Safer For Kids To Play In
If you have young children, then you likely want to dry out your lawn so that they can go back outside and play in it.
Wet soil is simply unsafe for children to play in and can lead to accidents. It’s also safer in general, even if you don’t have kids.
Final Thoughts
A wet lawn can be extremely aggravating, but there are ways to fix it without spending a lot of money on expensive equipment or services.
By using one or a combination of these methods to dry out your wet lawn, you will have a much easier time maintaining it in the future.
Take your time with each of these solutions and pick the one that makes the most sense for you and your property.
Now that you know how to dry out a wet lawn fast, you can enjoy the benefits of a beautiful and healthy lawn.
Thanks for reading!
